Japanese pickled ginger (gari)

A few weeks ago I was invited to attend a sushi making class with the delightful Yuki from Yuki's Kitchen.  Yuki is a trained chef and offers Japanese home cooking lessons in west London.

The class was great fun - very well organized and informative with the extremely supportive Yuki on hand to help with any queries or concerns.  At the end of the evening, our results looked good and tasted fantastic.   All in all, a great evening and highly recommended if you are interested in improving your understanding of Japanese food.

In light of my love of condiments, Yuki was kind enough to share her recipe for Japanese picked ginger.  I hope all you sushi lovers out there enjoy it.



Makes: 250ml jar

Ingredients

• 250 grams fresh root ginger 
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 80 grams granulated sugar 
• 70 millilitres rice vinegar 

Method

1. Peel and slice the ginger very thinly.  Yuki recommends using a ceramic mandolin if you have one.
2. Place the ginger in a bowl and pour hot water over it.  Allow it to stand for 30 seconds and then drain away the water.
3. Rinse the ginger with cold water to stop the cooking process.
4. Sprinkle the salt on the ginger, mix well and leave for an hour.
5. Now wash the ginger lightly and squeeze hard to remove the juices. 
6. Place the ginger in a jar with the sugar and rice vinegar.  Stir well.
7. Leave the ginger for 3 days in fridge before serving with sushi.  NB this can be stored for up to 1 month in the fridge.