Thanks for the spoon tip! I've always used a knife & lost a lot of ginger that way. I used a grapefruit spoon for the first time today & it worked beautifully.

I think they recommend spoon over peeler because you waste the least ginger and you can get in all the nooks easier.

These are all good answers but I would just add that when I'm in a hurry I just grate it with the skin on because most of it just stays intact or gets stuck on the teeth side of the grater. I have not noticed the skin in any of the dishes I've done this with.

If you are going to do that, be sure to wash it.

I always use a vegetable peeler to peel ginger-much easier than a spoon or knife. How come no one else recommends a peeler? Is there a reason not to use one? If recipe calls for chopped, instead of grated, ginger I slice thinly and put the slices between 2 sheets of waxed paper and then pound with a meet pounder. After that the Ginger is very easy to chop finely.

I always use a vegetable peeler to peel ginger-much easier than a spoon or knife. How come no one else recommends a peeler? Is there a reason not to use one? If recipe calls for chopped, instead of grated, ginger I slice thinly and put the slices between 2 sheets of waxed paper and then pound with a meet pounder. After that the Ginger is very easy to chop finely.

I'm a bad wasteful person. I just go around it with knife and toss off off some of the good bits with the skin. Quick and easy. Or slice into "Poem card" style cut with the skin on and then trim the skin off and toss it and dice or matchstick the good parts.

I keep a big "hand" of ginger in a ziploc in my freezer. When I need grated ginger, I use either my very fine microplane or the next coarser one, and just go at the frozen ginger. It grates easily & quickly, and doesn't get juicy until a moment later, when the ginger 'snow' thaws. I leave the peel on & freeze it after a good scrubbing, but you could peel it before freezing. Then back in the freezer...I usually use up a big one in about 4 months...

I agree peeling it with the edge of a spoon is a snap, much easier than using a knife. I like the inexpensive ceramic graters you can get at Asian stores. Also the microplane. If you don't have those, you can use the side of a box grater that has the rough holes. If you don't have that you can slice thinly then mince. Keep rocking your knife thorough it to get a very fine mince.

The spoon trick is fantastic, but for it to work you need really fresh crisp ginger. I like to use a Japanese ceramic grater, which gives you pulp and juice.

As usual, ChefDaddy gives great instructions. I typically use my microplane, and it is a bit of work. If you dice make sure it is quite fine, as a lot of people don't appreciate biting into a chunk of raw ginger.

I've been scraping ginger with a knife blade for a long time but I have seen others that use a spoon. Either way use something with an edge and scrape in a lengthwise fashion and the thin skin should come off. Grate with a micro-plane or fine grater. I cut into match stick size pieces and dice. a very fine dice.