Freeze the Ginger to Make It Easier to Grate.
I consume a lot of ginger, which means I buy a lot of ginger, which sometimes means that the ginger is not completely used up before it starts to dry out. I have strategies to mitigate the drying out of the ginger, but after a recent overly enthusiastic purchase of ginger, I tossed about six large roots in the freezer to keep them fresh for as long as possible.
It turned out to be a very good move and from now on I will be storing all my ginger in an ice box. It not only stays fresh indefinitely (although some report a loss of taste after six months), but it rubs it like absolute sleep.
The cold strengthens the flesh of the root, making it easy to grate, but the real magic happens when you hit it with the microplane, resulting in clouds of fluffy, quivering, tiny specks of ginger that just melt when hot. butter, sauces and cocktails . I doubt I’ll ever try grating ginger again.
One caveat: Once the ginger is out of the freezer, it will become quite soft and juicy. This is because the water expands when it freezes, tearing and softening the cell walls of the root, but you can simply put the whole thing back in the freezer to prevent it from spreading. You can also cut the root into small pieces about a centimeter in size before freezing, and then take what you need. (Some people peel it beforehand, but I don’t. Peeling ginger is for suckers .)