While some of my coworkers use their kitchens as at-home culinary labs, mine is definitely more low-tech. The wares from my pantry could be described as Little House on the Prairie meets the 21st century: tomato-port jam and jalapeño pepper jelly, a blushing red onion marmalade, turmeric-laced zucchini pickles. My philosophy: Why buy it if you can make it (and make it better)?
However, it didn’t occur to me to make my own candied ginger until I was hit with sticker shock at my local specialty-foods store ($10 for 3 ounces? and don’t even try to find it at your nearby supermarket). While I was staring in disbelief at the package, I let my eyes wander to the ingredient list: ginger, sugar. Simple enough. So I walked over to the produce aisle, dropped the gnarly rhizome in my basket, and set to work.
For just a few dollars and in just a few short hours (the majority of it hands-off), I had a half-pound of glimmering, spicy-sweet ginger coins. Unsurprisingly, starting with the fresh stuff amps up the peppery heat, proving that not only is store-bought candied ginger overpriced, but also tame.
Now, if I want to toss a handful of my new favorite staple into homemade granola, crumble topping, or mashed sweet potatoes, all I have to do is open my pantry door.
Step #1 FIND IT
Step #2 ▼
Sugar and ginger—that’s it. Most markets carry ginger in its mature form (pictured here), but if you’re looking for a little less bite, seek out young ginger, also called spring ginger (Asian markets often carry it). You’ll know it by its thin, nearly translucent skin.
Step #2 PEEL IT
Step #3 ▼
I like to use a spoon to peel ginger: Its edge removes the skin just as well as a peeler or a knife, but it’s easier to navigate around all of the bumps and knobs.
Step #3 GET SIMPLE
Step #4 ▼
Start by making a simple syrup—equal parts water and sugar. This is the “glue” that will eventually bind the sugar to the slices. Next, add the sliced ginger, and cook until about 30 minutes or until tender.
Step #4 STRAIN IT
Step #5 ▼
Instead of draining over the sink, place a large container (like a 4-cup measuring cup or a bowl) underneath. This allows you to capture the ginger-infused syrup and refrigerate it for later use. I’ve made mock ginger ale when I just wanted a glass, and it goes great with rum.
Step #5 DRY IT
Step #6 ▼
It’s important to spread the ginger in a single layer and allow it to dry completely, at least 5 hours (it will still be tacky to the touch). The first time I tried to make candied ginger, I was in a rush and tossed the slices with sugar after an hour—big mistake. The sugar melted into the ginger instead of sticking to the surface, creating a sticky, gooey mess.
Step #6 SUGAR IT
Step #7 ▼
And now, the moment of truth: Add sugar to the bowl, and toss or stir until the slices are completely covered. It’s OK if you end up with extra sugar in the bottom of the bowl—you can save that to flavor tea or sprinkle on top of cookies.
Step #7 EAT IT
Stored in an airtight container, the candied ginger should keep for a few weeks… unless, like me, you keep a stash at work at arm’s length. Good thing this recipe easily doubles.
About the Author: Shannon Hatch
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This is great!.
I love candied ginger, for…well, just about anything.
Will definitely be trying this this weekend.
Just finished my first batch. I dipped half in dark chocolate. Both are delicious. Can’t wait to try the syrup.
Fantastic, pattypro! That sounds delish. FYI, the syrup also makes great cocktails or is an easy way to sweeten iced tea.
I had wonderful ginger ale out of this just by adding club soda.
I noticed that the ginger was a little more oxidized than the store bought ones I had on hand. Is that normal, and do the mass-produced versions use a preservative or something to keep it yellow?
Ohh fooey.
I either didn’t candy them long enough or dry long enough, but after storing they turned furry.
Hi Justin,
I’ve had that happen, too, usually after the two- to three-week mark. When you make your next batch, plan on using some of it in a recipe. In fact, the possibilities for Thanksgiving are endless: you could slice and stir it into sweet potatoes or cranberry sauce, sprinkle it over roasted Brussels sprouts, stud it on a pie, or nibble on a bit with your aperitif. Next time I make a batch, I’m going to stir it into my yogurt for my morning snack. Let me know if you have any other ideas!
I will be candying this morning.
Question: to avoid the ‘furry-ness effect’, can you store in the fridge?
My ginger slices are drying right now, and I’d like to share what I did with the syrup.
Parallel to making wonderful spicy candies out of the best root there is, I made wonderful spicy ginger cordial out of the very same root. The process is like this: ginger is chopped finely and boiled together with black pepper (I used a fresh red chilli pepper). In the meantime, peel the zest off of two limes, and mix with sugar. When the ginger has boiled for about 15 minutes, remove from heat and mix with the lime zest and sugar. I didn’t have any lime, so I took some pineapple instead. Let the mixture cool for a couple of hours, then strain.
I took the pepper, ginger and pineapple and mixed it with the syrup from the candied gingers. I let it boil for 15 minutes, and then strained. Now I have ginger pineapple chilli syrup.
A King’s Life: I haven’t tried storing it in the fridge, but give it a try and let us know what you think!
Hedmeister: Sounds fabulous. Thanks for sharing!
So I’ve never worked with fresh ginger before, what’s the secret to properly slicing it? I failed miserably and ended up with stringy pieces.
HI twoeightnine, Shannon might have some special trick, but one thing you might want to check is the sharpness of your knife. Here’s a good rule of thumb: http://www.americastestkitchenfeed.com/60-second-video-tips/2011/08/is-your-knife-sharp-enough-video/
I left the ginger slices to dry for over five hours, and still ended up with the sugar coating dissolving and turning into the sticky, gooey mess you describe. Perhaps this recipe isn’t best adapted to a cold, damp, English winter climate.
I may try drying them in a cool fan oven next time.
I dried mine for over 5 hours and still ended up with the gooey mess, but I put them in the convection oven at 175 degrees for 30-60 minutes and that seemed to dry them out sufficiently. It even made them a little chewier like candy, which I kind of liked. I’m going to keep experimenting with it and see where it takes me!
If you cook it a little longer the syrup will crystalize and you have your sugar coat for the pieces, then you don’t need to use more sugar and they’re not sticky at any point and you have coarse ginger-sugar leftovers. I think I might use it in some ginger-snap cookies:)
I also am having the problem with the ginger staying wet and absorbing the sugar coating. I’ve left them on the rack for two days now and they’re still moist. I will try putting them in a low heat oven for a bit.
But I also have the problem that they are very fibrous, even though I cut against the ginger’s grain. I only have access to one type of ginger, is that just the way the cookie crumbles? Thanks.
Diana: We were able to get the ginger to dry out every time, but, depending on how fresh it was, it could take as much as 12 hours. (You could try leaving it out overnight next time.) But your idea of using a low oven should work just fine. The age of the ginger will affect the fibrousness; using a sharp knife and cutting against the grain is basically the only way to tackle it. You might try slicing them thinner so that they’ll both dry faster and have shorter fibers. Hope this helps!
I used a food processor with a slicer attachment to slice it all up nice and fast. I started out with a 2 lb root and slicing it up was gonna take forever, plus my syrup was already boiling. I ended up with a little bit of mush leftover that I didn’t boil, but over all I still got well over a pound of finished candy.
I do have a question though. My main reason for making this was for the stomach ache curing properties. It is definitely the best tasting thing ever for that problem, but how much is recommended, in terms of number of slices? I don’t wanna over do it with all the sugar and make the stomach problems worse. Thanks.
I made 2 batches of this, using the sugar syrup from the first batch for the second. I thought the syrup too sugary to make ginger ale, but after the second round of candied ginger I boiled the syrup down and made it into hard candy. My 16 year old son didn’t agree with me but the candied ginger in some seltzer made a good ginger ale for me.I used my potato peeler to make the second batch into small pieces since I couldn’t slice the first pieces very thin, the second set is less hot tasting. But as I told my husband that when I’m nauseous I’m not about to complain about the taste. I’m making more this weekend and I’m thinking of using less sugar to see what that tastes like.
Late chiming in here, but I’ve read several places that unless you have sugar issues, e.g., diabetes, sucking on a spoon of sugar helps settle an upset stomach. Not recommending that, but if that really is the case, then the sugar in this ginger would not be an issue. Try Googling it.
If you can find stem ginger in the early spring, you’ll have the best results of all — not fibrous, still nice and gingery. I try to plan my ginger preserving/candying then, doing enough to last until the next spring. But you may have to find an Asian market to get it. Call around and check when it will be available. About the same time as fresh water chestnuts, IIRC, which are a treat and a half in themselves.
What about drying it in a dehydrator??
I use a _lot_ of candied ginger.
Comments on problems with the making the candied ginger…
I’m not certain but suspect that the fuzzy ginger is caused by inadequate cooking and/or drying of the ginger. Thinner slices should help a lot. Or a longer, more active drying (see tmarrison’s comment). There are other solutions on the drying: many ovens have a bread proofing setting; or, if you have a gas oven, the pilot light in a closed oven might do the trick. If you seek out garage sales, you might watch for a second-hand dehydrator. Or use Alton Brown’s technique where he rigged some air filters on top of a floor fan to make a dehydrator.
The solution for slicing the ginger is younger ginger and/or a really sharp thin knife. I live in an area with a lot of Asian markets and watch for the spring ginger. I believe it can be grown fairly easily in a sandy soil.
So, how do I use candied ginger? Well, I have a son-in-law who loves ginger so I use it quite a bit.
I use it all the time in lieu of raisins in cookie recipes. It’s especially good in oatmeal cookies (instead of raisins). There’s a brand of Chinese ingredients you can find in many grocery stores called Dynasty. On the back of their little box of candied ginger is a surprisingly-good recipe for ginger cookies that doesn’t use eggs. I used to make them for a friend w/an egg allergy
I often sprinkle candied ginger on top of ice cream. It’s also good as a condiment on chicken curry.
I make a triple ginger biscotti w/fresh, ground, and candied ginger. I bought dried white ginger from Penzy’s and I grind my own dried ginger too. I also made a dark chocolate biscotti with candied ginger in it.
My SIL likes to drop a couple of the whole candied coins into his hot tea to sweeten and flavor it. He then happily fishes out the bits at the end. He will also stir some of the chopped ginger into yogurt.
At this time of the year, I will grind enough of the coins in my food processor to make a coarse powder and substitute 1 cup of that for a cup of sugar when I make peach jam. I use Jeanne Lesem’s peach jam recipe (a lower sugar version) and it’s pretty amazing. When I make it for my SIL, I also some extra fresh ginger so it’s even more intense.
Also, don’t forget that ginger is good for any kind of an upset stomach. While many of our mothers and grandmothers used to give out a glass of ginger ale — you can also nibble on a ginger coin.
Thank you for this recipe. Mine turned out amazing! This is what I did….
I couldn’t believe how easy it was. After peeling it with a spoon (genius by the way), I sliced it up fairly thin, put it in a medium saucepan and covered with water and boiled it for 10 minutes, then drained it and did this 2 more times. Then I put 2 cups of filtered water & 2 cups of sugar in the pan, brought it to a boil, and when the sugar was dissolved I added the ginger and brought it back to a boil, then turned it down to med-hi for 40 minutes until the syrup was thickened. Then I drained it through a strainer into a bowl to save the syrup. Then I spread wax paper on my countertop & put my cookie cooler racks on top of the wax paper & laid all of the ginger on the rack. I let it dry for 4 hours then put it in a bowl of sugar and folded it into the sugar until well coated. Then I laid it back out onto the wax paper covered it with paper toweling and let it sit overnight, or several hours. When I woke up the next morning, it was perfectly dried & I put it all in a jar. It’s exactly like the kind you find in the store!!! I wish I could post a picture of it so you could see it. For my first attempt at it, I was very pleased & proud of how it turned out. Albeit it’s time consuming, but definitely well worth it. I will definitely make it again!
PS: I used a teaspoonful of the leftover syrup in a cup of hot tea…Delicious!!!
A little pinch of granulated citric acid mixed in with the dusting sugar should help discourage the fuzzies developing. With San Diego’s dry clime, I have never seen my ginger “turn,” especially if you don’t leech all the ginerol, zingerone, and zingberene out of it by cooking it to death in excess water.
just wondering if a sugar substitute could be used in place of some or all of the sugar?
The 5 hour dry time is insufficient as another poster pointed out, I couldn’t wait any more, so to salvage this batch I mixed 1/4 cup sugar with 1/4 cup water dissolved it, and brought it to the boil with the ginger then reduced to medium heat continually stirring until all the water evaporated. When the final bit of moisture evaporates you will be left with awesome crystalized ginger and you don’t need to sprinkle any on. You need to stir constantly and then put it on a wire rack to cool. Hope this works out better, and no fuzzies on these ones!
No drying time . . . .
As Shirley Temple once said, ” Oh, my Goodness!” . I just finished my first batch and it’s better than what I get at the store! I followed Sophie’s method and simmered the ginger slices until the syrup totally reduced and crystallized. There was no need to stand over the pot until near the end when the last of the water was evaporating and the sugar was getting ready to crystallize. The second it hit the crystallization stage, I dumped the whole contents of the pot onto one of those aluminum pans with round holes in it – the kind you would use on your outdoor grill. The instant the sugar started to cool it looked like it was going to clump into one big pile. Quickly spreading to separate the slices resulted a rapidly cooled candy with a nice crunchy sugar coating and a chewey center. which needed no drying time. The excess sugar coating fell through the holes of the pan and was cooled and sealed in an airtight jar for topping cookies. Making the candy this way was quick and fun, but left me with no ginger syrup left over for tea.
Being a lover of all things Chai Flavored, I boiled up the Leftover peelings ( I use a potato peeler on my ginger) and little nubby pieces in simple syrup for about 20 min. Into the strained warm syrup I added: 1/2 tsp Vietnamese Cinnamon, 1/4 tsp each of cardamom, nutmeg, coriander, and 1/4 tsp natural vanilla. The end product is a wonderful chai syrup with that little hot ginger kick. I imagine it will step up an iced tea just nicely as it’s wonderful in the cup of hot tea I’m having right now!