I love Good Eats. The show, combined with Alton Brown’s first book, I’m Just Here for the Food, were the reasons I gained a love and interest for cooking and baking. I highly recommend it for anyone at any level of cooking, because while it is incredibly educational and mouth-watering, it is playful, whimsical and sometimes magical which is what food, to me, should always be. This evening Alex and I watched Good Eats episode 12:12 (Rise of the Rhizomes) while digesting chocolate pudding I had made (inspired by episode 14:06 Yes We Have No Banana Pudding that I watched last night) and were so inspired by it that we immediately went to the grocery store and bought a pound of ginger and made candied ginger and ginger ale. I can’t speak for the ale, as it needs a couple of days to ferment, but this candied ginger is fantastic and I say this as a candied-ginger-hater. It is sliced quite thin (1/8”) and thus loses that gummy texture that I loathe in dried fruits and because it is a smaller piece, it isn’t as fiery which means you can eat more (sugar!)!! You don’t need any special equipment if you are making this, but I couldn’t see myself making it without a mandolin, as slicing ginger thin can be tedious and labour intensive. You should make it though - it is super easy and Alex & Sean liked it and they have very trustworthy palates! CANDIED GINGER Peel (using a spoon) and slice one pound of ginger (again, mandolin = fun) and put it in a sauce pan w/ 5 cups of water. Heat at medium-high for 35 minutes (or until tender). Drain ginger but reserve 1/4 cup of ginger water. Put ginger back in the sauce pan and add the reserved water and an equal amount of sugar in weight as there is ginger or if you don’t own a scale - if you actually used one pound of ginger just add about 2 cups of sugar. Bring to a boil and stir frequently until the water has evaporated and the sugar has crystallized, about 20 minutes (you will know when it does). Lay out on a cooling rack on top of parchment paper or a sheet pan. After cooling for 1 hour, put in airtight container (not a plastic bag) and enjoy! Save all of the sugar that falls off and put it in lemonade, tea or on top of cookies!

I love Good Eats. The show, combined with Alton Brown’s first book, I’m Just Here for the Food, were the reasons I gained a love and interest for cooking and baking. I highly recommend it for anyone at any level of cooking, because while it is incredibly educational and mouth-watering, it is playful, whimsical and sometimes magical which is what food, to me, should always be. This evening Alex and I watched Good Eats episode 12:12 (Rise of the Rhizomes) while digesting chocolate pudding I had made (inspired by episode 14:06 Yes We Have No Banana Pudding that I watched last night) and were so inspired by it that we immediately went to the grocery store and bought a pound of ginger and made candied ginger and ginger ale. I can’t speak for the ale, as it needs a couple of days to ferment, but this candied ginger is fantastic and I say this as a candied-ginger-hater. It is sliced quite thin (1/8”) and thus loses that gummy texture that I loathe in dried fruits and because it is a smaller piece, it isn’t as fiery which means you can eat more (sugar!)!!

You don’t need any special equipment if you are making this, but I couldn’t see myself making it without a mandolin, as slicing ginger thin can be tedious and labour intensive. You should make it though - it is super easy and Alex & Sean liked it and they have very trustworthy palates!

CANDIED GINGER

  • Peel (using a spoon) and slice one pound of ginger (again, mandolin = fun) and put it in a sauce pan w/ 5 cups of water. Heat at medium-high for 35 minutes (or until tender). Drain ginger but reserve 1/4 cup of ginger water.
  • Put ginger back in the sauce pan and add the reserved water and an equal amount of sugar in weight as there is ginger or if you don’t own a scale - if you actually used one pound of ginger just add about 2 cups of sugar.
  • Bring to a boil and stir frequently until the water has evaporated and the sugar has crystallized, about 20 minutes (you will know when it does). Lay out on a cooling rack on top of parchment paper or a sheet pan.
  • After cooling for 1 hour, put in airtight container (not a plastic bag) and enjoy! Save all of the sugar that falls off and put it in lemonade, tea or on top of cookies!