Tsukemono Story: Ginger Goodness, a ginger flavor from the mountains and forests

General News Jan 1, 1970By Emily Carter 0 views

Editor's note: Taiwan has a rich pickling culture in every region. "Pickle Story" brings together 14 interviewees to share vegetables, fruits and pickles from different seasons. Every pickling story carries a deep philosophy of life, food and farming, paired with simple step-by-step instructions so readers can replicate it at home and make their own delicious pickles. Below we share a ginger pickle flavor from autumn.

From the Mountain Forest Comes Good Ginger

Text / Shen Dai-hua

"Come to my home and I'll cook for you. Come find me and I'll take you out to play." My friend Chen Ni-chi told me the reason she wanted to start "Unusual Food Journeys" is very simple. Using the word "unusual" probably also has to do with her personality. An Aries's bold generosity and unrestrained nature: this morning she was eating breakfast and soaking up the sun in Hengchun at the southernmost tip, and tomorrow she might already be getting ready to fly to New York. Sometimes she travels alone, sometimes she sets off for a foreign place with a bunch of new friends she is meeting for the first time, always full of energy - as her friend, I am always amazed.

Young tender ginger, cut into thin slices, rub the ginger slices with a little salt, then season with soy sauce, fermented black beans and sesame oil. The key is to season in batches and small amounts, constantly massaging the tender ginger slices with both hands to help them absorb the flavor.

The soy sauce and fermented black beans use Yudingxing hand-made firewood-brewed black bean soy sauce, now passed down for three generations. This is what Ni-chi carefully sought out. The soy sauce must be well chosen - it is the finishing touch that lifts the flavor.

"The ingredients I use are all very simple. Braised dried tofu has only soy sauce, No. 2 sugar and star anise; for braised eggs I replace the No. 2 sugar with rock sugar. Braising one egg takes three hours. Friends look at the appearance of the braised egg and think that because it has no color, it has no flavor. That idea is wrong! Because everyone is used to the colored style, I want to change that thinking - the point is the food itself!" For sesame-oil-pickled tender ginger, the savory version uses fermented black beans; there is also a sweet version, in which Ni-chi replaces the fermented black beans with "Hui Jia Li" fruit vinegar.

The relationship between time and food requires patient waiting before food has a chance to present itself perfectly. Ni-chi's view of food is just like how she treats small children - full of love and patience.

**Author / Chen Ni-chi**

Because friends like to eat, she began a life of braised foods. She also likes to take everyone out to play, which became her work, called Unusual Food Journeys.

**Old / Tender Ginger**
From late summer to Mid-Autumn, tender ginger comes out first, with production areas mainly in Nantou and Yunlin-Chiayi and other places; after deep autumn enters winter, old ginger comes out. Tender ginger is best eaten fresh; old ginger, still bearing soil and dried, can be kept in a cool place without refrigeration.

**Sesame-Oil-Pickled Tender Ginger**
1. Ingredients: tender ginger, salt, soy sauce, fermented black beans, sesame oil.
2. Ratio: determined by personal preference.
3. Key point: when adjusting the flavor, season in batches to avoid overdoing it all at once.
4. Time: soaking for 1-2 days gives a better flavor.
5. Serving: add fermented black beans, and the tender ginger is pickled salty and fragrant, suitable as an appetizer.

**Old Ginger Oil-Pickled Kelp Root**
1. Ingredients: kelp root, apple cider vinegar, old ginger, sesame oil.
2. Ratio: determined by personal preference.
3. Key point: shred the old ginger, stir-fry it first to release the aroma, then oil-soak the kelp root.
4. Time: soaking for 1-2 days gives a better flavor.
5. Serving: full of aroma, suitable as a dish to go with drinks.

**Kelp Root**
Grown in temperate seas with slightly lower water temperatures, Taiwan's local production is close to zero, and most is imported from elsewhere. Because the algae body is rich in flavor amino acids, after processing such as steaming or fermentation, it is a source of seasoning material.

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Tsukemono Story: Ginger Goodness, a ginger flavor from the mountains and forests

From the Mountain Forest Comes Good Ginger

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