Medicine or tasty snack? Homemade candied ginger does it all

Ah, ginger.  It’s a wonderfully cheap way to add delicious flavour to almost any dish.  Chopped and added to hot water, it makes a calming tea.  And it prevents nausea, even when traveling. 

I enjoy snacking on ginger candy - not just because it tastes great, but because it helps to aid digestion and soothes an upset tummy.  Unsurprisingly, when I discovered that good old Alton had a recipe to make homemade ginger candy, I had to try it.

After all, it makes good economic sense.  Ginger is unbelievably cheap; we bought a pound of it for about $2.00.  And sugar is also plentiful in our house.  And that’s it - those are the only required ingredients.

I love that the leftover ginger sugar can be reserved and added to coffee or on top of ginger snaps or other cookies.  Nothing goes to waste here!

Here is Alton’s recipe for Candied Ginger: 

Ingredients

Nonstick spray
1 pound fresh ginger root 
Tip: Buy ginger that is as young as possible.  How can you tell?  It will have a much lighter, yellow colour and will probably be smaller as well.  Ours was a bit older, (darker brown) and subsequently had a stronger taste.  The younger your ginger, the better (and more mild) the taste.
5 cups water
Approximately 1 pound granulated sugar

Directions

Spray a cooling rack with nonstick spray and set it in a half sheet pan lined with parchment.

Peel the ginger root and slice into 1/8-inch thick slices using a mandoline.

Tip: You do not need a mandoline.  Sure, it might be handy to have, but if you have to go out and buy a lot of equipment, it kind of defeats the purpose of making homemade candy, doesn’t it?  I prefer to use what we have, and so Josh and I simply took turns cutting the ginger with our best Japanese chef’s knife into thin slices.  It worked!

Place into a 4-quart saucepan with the water and set over medium-high heat. Cover and cook for 35 minutes or until the ginger is tender.

Transfer the ginger to a colander to drain, reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid.

Weigh the ginger and measure out an equal amount of sugar. Return the ginger and 1/4 cup water to the pan and add the sugar. Set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil, stirring frequently. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, until the sugar syrup looks dry, has almost evaporated and begins to recrystallize, approximately 20 minutes.

Transfer the ginger immediately to the cooling rack and spread to separate the individual pieces. Once completely cool, store in an airtight container for up to 2 weeks. Save the sugar that drops beneath the cooling rack and use to top ginger snaps, sprinkled over ice cream or to sweeten coffee.

I had to laugh when Gravol came out with their “Gravol Ginger natural source” pills.  Why would anyone pay for processed medicine when you can go straight to the source?  This is certainly the most enjoyable way (not to mention frugal) way to quell your nausea. In fact it’s incredibly pleasant to eat when you feel fine!