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+--- Thread: Edible Ginger? (/showthread.php?tid=3808)
Edible Ginger? - mella l - 05-05-2007
Does anyone grow edible ginger? I would love to be able to grow some when we relocate. A coffee cafe in Kona gave us a recipe for ginger tea and it is so tasty.
Is the invasive white ginger that is taking over edible?
Oh an also I too thank Rob and Nancy for starting this Garden file! All the green information is fantastic!
mella l
RE: Edible Ginger? - Carey - 05-05-2007
Mella, we have some, Got it from a fellow student last fall. To grow, just get a clump of fresh (young, creamy colored w/ a rosy blush)(farmers market has it most of the time) & use some, plant the rest (don't refrigerate). Edible gingers are only a few species of the ginger family. This site has some interesting info:
http://msucares.com/lawn/garden/msgardens/05/050808.html
For more official Hawaii reading:
http://www.epa.gov/ozone/mbr/airc/2000/57sato.pdf
Still haven't harvested ours (it is just a baby clump now....) so can't tell you about whether the taste was as yummy as the original (the students parents live in Hilo & "have a ton ginger all over the place".)
Edited by - Carey on 10/17/2007 07:45:58
RE: Edible Ginger? - Les C - 05-05-2007
Unfortunately, the invasive gingers (kahili, white and yellow) aren't the edible ones. The white ginger is very fragrant and seems a tiny bit less aggressive than the kahili, at least up here at higher elevations.
The young edible ginger that Carey describes is what my aunt used to make pickled ginger, like the garnish served with sushi. It's not fibrous like what's usually sold in markets, so it's more pleasant to eat.
For tea, you can just pour hot water over a crushed piece of corm, or you can add a crushed piece to green tea. You crush it with the broad side of a kitchen knife, like you would a clove of garlic. It's probably not worth using the tender baby ginger for this. To me, that's like cooking a Mau'i onion.
So Carey, you can start an edibile ginger from the corm of a young ginger? That sounds too easy!
Edited by - Les C on 05/05/2007 09:28:49
RE: Edible Ginger? - Carey - 05-06-2007
Les, Coming from the clay soils of Chicago area, all gardening here has sounded too easy (can't even count the # of times I have asked someone how to plant something & they say just cut a twig of this & plant the twig in the ground". By golly, I have planted so many things here that way (even unintentionally, had some cassava clippings I left in the garden during spring break, now the stick pile is a whole big thick clump of cassava....)
I used the clump of ginger my fellow student gave for pickling, for green papaya salald, for mahi/bilimbi curry soup, chicken sataty & 1 tuber (hand, knob, corm???- had a little green stem at the top & all of the bottom thingy) for planting.
Dug a hole 2 x the size of the ginger, planted it up to the green top. (OK the hardest part may be the digging of the hole...)
Carey
RE: Edible Ginger? - jerry - 05-07-2007
I know of types of edible ginger that people grow here: Thai and the regular stuff. We have both and started with ginger roots we got at the Maku'u market. As long as it is fresh it will grow. Or stop by and get some from us. We have plenty.
I still have not mastered cleaning it after digging it up. There have to be some tricks to keep it from being so time consuming.
After a while your problem will be dealing with that much ginger.
Jerry
Art and Orchids B&B
http://www.artandorchids.com
RE: Edible Ginger? - emorata - 05-09-2007
hi jerry,
its usually easier to have the larger roots to work with so its easier to peel, i usually use a sharp paring knife.
hey can i drop by for some when i'm in town again, haven't seen your b&b yet...
noel
RE: Edible Ginger? - Kapohocat - 05-10-2007
quote:
...The white ginger is very fragrant and seems a tiny bit less aggressive than the kahili, at least up here at higher elevations...
I love the scent of the kahili ginger but it just will barely grow here in Kapoho so it isnt close to invasive way down here. But not to put at risk our native plants, I just cut blooms whenever I am in Volcano and put them in a vase and enjoy them that way.
When we lived in Honomu, the previous occupants had been ginger farmers and and cleaned the edible type ginger out on the back lawn. Every time we mowed the lawn we "trimmed the ginger".... the scent was so nice.