This is the way I keep mine. Sherry wine, not sherry vinegar.
Keeps for a year easily if needed. Pull it out, cut off what you need, then back into the jar. No problem.
Seconding Opal’s question: how does the freezing and grating thing work? Do you peel it before freezing it? Do you do like **Teacake **mentions and hack off what you need when it’s thawed enough, and then peel that?
I’m lousy at keeping ginger, but I’d use it more often if I knew how to store it properly!
I freeze mine, usually in a plastic bag from the produce dept or wrapped in some foil.
Generally, I peel (with a veggie peeler) a little more than I think I’ll need and grate it straight off the whatever-ya-call-a-big-chunk-o-ginger-root. Then you stick the rest back in the freezer. Easy-peasy.
If I need a lot or don’t want it grated, then I might cut off a chunk first to work with. In that case, I’d probably use a knife to slice off the skin because it would be easier than peeling a little 2" piece of root.
rhizome
I freeze it with the peel on. I leave it out for a few minutes before I need it then peel it; it comes right off. The only downside to freezing is the texture. If you’re grating or chopping it there’s no problem but if you need to julienne it for any reason (mmm, fried ginger matchsticks) you need it fresh because it won’t hold the shape.
I don’t peel it before grating. The peel just seems to sort of disappear - a lot of it stays on the pointy side of the grater while the good bit goes through (don’t ask me how it knows which bit is good!). And I don’t find a problem with it not holding its shape - when I said hack off a chunk, I meant for little ginger sticks in a stir fry or whatever. Maybe I keep my freezer colder, so it freezes faster to begin with? Anyway, if that’s what I’m doing, I scrape the peel off with the back of the knife. If you hit the right moment as it thaws, only the absolute outsidest papery part comes off without losing any of the juice or goodies.
Sorry to be late. It’s the ginger infused syrup surrounding the slices of ginger that I use to sweeten tea, and give it a very strong ginger flavor. The slices go into Asian cooking that calls for slices of ginger and sugar in the ingredients. Which is a lot of them, if not most of them – hot, sour, salty, and sweet is sort of a running theme. So a buncha slices of ginger, a random amount of sugar, a little corn syrup or honey to prevent crystallization, maybe a spoon of water, and low heat for a couplea hours, until the slices are cooked through. Maybe there’s a better recipe online.
I think my sushi ginger is too strong because my slices are too thick. Still, I cleanses the palate after sushi. Cleanses the sinuses as well, as a bonus.
Also a little late to this discussion.
When I lived in India, the new ginger harvest was celebrated (along with every other harvest and feast day/religious holiday known to man!).
We scrubbed the new roots, rather like scrubbing new potatoes, and crushed/pulverized the roots which were then either preserved in brine (for use rather soon) or in oil for longer term preservation. But preservation was always relatively short term as fresh (read good) ginger was not often in short supply.
My house was modern so the roots were smushed in a food processor and then put in jars with a neutral-tasting oil. A few choice roots (damned if I knew how to tell) were sort of grated with a stone mortar and pestle and then pickled/brined. I do not know how - but if you are a purist, maybe I can see if I can check. The new ginger (brined) was for ceremonies such as marriages, baby namings, new house stuff etc. The oiled stuff was just for when the fresh ginger in the market looked dessicated and old.
To go back to the original question. Seems that grated/pulverized ginger does well in oil for an extended period of time. As long as the oil is not rancid - should be good.
Missed the edit window. This may be a local/family thing. I have no way to compare as I only saw the ginger harvest in one place. Guess I sometimes just have to add my 2 cents worth. That is all it is worth for sure.
That said, the smushed ginger in oil did seem to work where it was used in the early stages of the dishes - when frying oil, garlic, ginger and spices. I still keep a small jar of smushed ginger, and indeed one of garlic, in similar oil in my fridge - I like them.
Doesn’t storing it in sherry affect the flavour?
Here’s the best way I’ve found. Put it in a tupperware container, fill it with tap water, then put it in the fridge. Change the water every week or so. I’ve kept ginger for months this way, and it’s always been crisp and fresh as the day it was purchased.