So today I did a frequently done dish that calls for minced fresh ginger. I only had some small pieces in the freezer, and while thawing, the peeling process was a PITA.
So I just skipped it, and threw the ginger pieces and garlic cloves in the FP for the mince I was looking for. The end result…
…did not seem to suffer in any way. Am I alone in thinking this is an unnecessary step for a lot of uses for ginger?
I agree 100%. You can skip thawing, too. It is easy to grate frozen ginger with a microplane. Once grated it thaws almost instantaneously.
I have gone through phases. I used to not peel ginger, but now I do. Also it depends on the purposes. If it is to add flavor, like cook in water before blanch or fry in oil to add flavor, then I skip the peeling step. If it is more direct eating and garnish, then I usually remove the skin.
Hi SP,
I thinly slice, spread the slices, and mince like mad–for everything.
I don’t peel. Maybe I should sometime . . . .
Ray
I always peel ginger, always.
With young ginger it is fine to not peel but with “regular” leaving the skin on can give an unpleasant texture
I peel before freezing.
My husband never peeled his ginger (it was young ginger) and would slice it on top of sole with some butter and microwave.
I tend to peel my ginger out of habit. I don’t peel it when freezing it and find it easy to peel when frozen.
I usually don’t bother because I freeze it in chunks. Then it is either microplaned from frozen or thawed and used in a paste. The peel doesn’t interfere with either of these. If I am using the ginger for matchsticks in something, then I peel it, but more for aesthetics.
I’m lazy – I peel it because it feels easier than washing grit out of all the nooks and crannies. I lose some ginger along the way but absolutely hate grit in my food, so it’s worth it for me. For young ginger, though, I’ll keep the peel on and do a light rinse if it’s pretty smooth.
I normally do but now I’m not sure why, except if for nice diagonal slices for a garnish or side presentation as mentioned by some commenters above.
I mean, shoot, many times when using a lot of garlic [oops, braincramp; I had just grated garlic for a chicken brine] - ginger - I’m making a curry, and for a lot of curries I’m blending the gravy to bust up chunks of whole cinnamon sticks, cardamom pods, etc.
So how much could it matter if the ginger’s skin was in there as well?
Ginger is a root vegetable so I believe there could be pieces of dirt in the peel unless you wash it thoroughly.
I find it can be hard to rinse the ginger completely.
That’s why I simply peel it.
I peel if it’s purpose is to eat. Otherwise if it is meant just to flavor, nope. Same with galangal.
Good point about the dirt. How do you deal with mushrooms and their dirt? I can brush it all day with a pastry brush and there’s always still some dirt present. And I don’t normally like to get them wet before slicing to sauté or what not.
I’ve been known to throw pre-cut shrooms straight into the pan. We have a saying in Germany “Dreck reinigt den Magen.” A lil dirt won’t kill ya 
I always peel ginger. I’d never thought of not peeling ginger until I watched Alison Roman’s video of her making “the stew”. She said that she doesn’t peel ginger and you can’t make her. Maybe someday I’ll walk on the wild side and skip peeling my ginger.
I buy ginger paste now from Costco. Suits my needs.
I think the next time I freeze it, I will peel it all and run it all in the FP for a course mince, put it in a zipLoc, flatten it out, and freeze. This will make it simple to break off the exactly quantity I need.
Is there a reason freezing it this way would result in lower quality than freezing chunks?
You can easily and safety peel ginger by scraping it with a soupspoon, concave side facing you as you pull the spoon toward you.
Good question.
I rinse mushroom with a soft small brush and if its really dirty I rinse it under cold water.
I believe the difference between mushrooms and ginger is, that ginger really grows under the ground, while mushrooms grow just over the ground, so the dirt is easier for me to get rid of, while in ginger the dirt can almost grow into the peel.
Dirt on mushrooms is not really - I believe - dirt but part of the mushrooms skin. If it’s really ugly I simply cut it out with a small tournier knife.
Finally the mushrooms sold in danish shops grow in a sealed environment and the soil used for them to grow in is not really dirty like if you found your own mushrooms in the forest.
But in short I brush mushrooms clean with a soft brush and the really dirty ones I wash in cold water.
If there’s a special dirty one I either cut out the dirty part or throw the entire mushroom out.
