Candied Ginger

I love stem ginger or preserved candied ginger both are preserved with sugar syrup but one is left in the syrup whereas the other one is dried off.  It is easy to make but a little time and effort is required.  This recipe produces the candied dry sugared ginger.  I will provide a stem ginger in syrup recipe in due course as I am particularly partial to this and I always add some to a home made stir fry.  Saying that if you have candied ginger and the recipe calls for stem ginger you can still use the candied in place  - the effect is just as good.  Buy the freshest looking ginger that you can if it looks as though it is drying and hard don't buy it if the skin is relatively smooth its good to go.

This was the ginger I worked with

I have done double the quantity.

You will need

Ingredients:
12 oz fresh root ginger
8oz granulated sugar
Caster sugar for coating


What to do

Place the ginger into a saucepan and then cover with water and boil gently for about 15 to 20 minutes until the ginger is tender.  Drain the ginger  and then when it is cold peel it - I use the edge of  a teaspoon to scrape away at the skin. cut into 1/4 inch slices/chunks whichever way takes your fancy chunking it uses all the odd shaped pieces up nicely..

In a heavy based saucepan dissolve the sugar in 4 fl oz of water and cook without stirring over a low heat until the mixture becomes syrupy which should take approximately 15 to 20 minutes.

Add the sliced ginger and continue to cook over a low heat occasionally shaking the pan to prevent the ginger sticking until the ginger has absorbed the syrup.

This is where I have got to  with my current batch of ginger I will show you the finished product in a couple of days.

But in case you want to take it further here are the rest of the instructions.


Remove the cooked slices/chunks then place on a wire rack and leave to cool.  When they are cool enough coat the ginger slices with the caster sugar and spread them out on greaseproof paper for about two or three days until the sugar has crystallised.  Store in an air tight glass jar where they will keep for at least a year (that is if you dont eat them all first).

Hope this helps

Pattypan

x

It tastes lovely