Ginger

Fresh ginger is very different from the dried, pickled, or powdered forms. Pale gold shiny-skinned knobs of fresh ginger grown in Hawaii are now increasingly available in supermarkets throughout the continental United States. Choose firm knobs; break off a piece to check the aroma. You will often notice a bluish rim on the inner edge of fresh ginger; that is fine and typical of certain botanical types. Ginger tends to be stringy, and you’ll find that I often recommend that you squeeze the gratings to extract the juice. A Japanese grater, called an oroshi-gané, with its well to catch the gratings and juice, is a convenient tool to have.