Natural form

A whole fresh ginger root showing its knobby, branching rhizome structure and beige-tan skin.

Shows the reader exactly what to look for when buying ginger at a market — its distinctive irregular, jointed shape and papery skin.

Produce

Ginger

Pungent, zesty root for stir-fries, curries, and teas

Spicy and warming, fresh ginger grates into stir-fries and curries, steeps into tea, and brightens a marinade. Peel only what you need. Keep the root cold and dry.

Ginger is a knobby underground rhizome with a fiery, citrusy warmth and a pungent perfume that cuts through fat and brightens everything from stir-fries to baked goods. Fresh, it's juicy and sharp with floral heat; dried and ground, it turns warm and spicy-sweet for baking. A cornerstone of Asian, Indian, and Caribbean cooking, it's equally at home in a curry, a marinade, a cup of tea, or a gingerbread.

Measured in: g
Storage: Refrigerate
Shelf life: 21 days

Find it in

Produce

Types & varieties

Mature ginger

Tough beige skin, intense heat; the common supermarket root

Young (spring) ginger

Pale, thin pink-tipped skin, mild and juicy; no peeling needed

Galangal

Related rhizome, sharper and more piney; key in Thai cooking — not interchangeable

How to choose

Choose plump rhizomes with smooth, tight, shiny skin that snaps cleanly. Wrinkled, dry, or moldy skin and a soft body mean old, fibrous ginger. Heavier pieces are juicier.

How to store

Keep fresh ginger loosely wrapped in the crisper for a few weeks, or peel and freeze it — frozen ginger grates easily straight from the freezer and lasts months. Submerged in dry sherry or vodka in the fridge, it keeps for ages and you get ginger-infused liquor as a bonus.

How to prep

Peel only what you need; the thin skin scrapes off cleanly with the edge of a spoon, wasting less flesh than a peeler. Grate on a microplane for a fine pulp that dissolves into sauces, mince for texture, or smash and slice into coins to infuse and remove. Cut across the grain to avoid stringiness.

Scrape skin with a spoon
Microplane for sauces, coins for infusing
Cut across the fibers

Common uses

Stir-fries and curriesGinger teaGingerbread and ginger cookiesMarinades and dressingsPickled ginger (gari) for sushiCongee and soupsGinger beerAsian dumpling fillings

Tips & pitfalls

Grate frozen ginger — it's easier and the cells release more juice
Bloom grated ginger in hot oil with garlic to mellow its raw bite
Squeeze grated ginger to extract pure juice for dressings and drinks
A little goes a long way — start small and add
Crystallized ginger adds chewy sweet-spicy bursts to baked goods

Nutrition

80kcal

Energy

335 kJ · per 100 g

Where the calories come from

Protein 9%Carbs 84%Fat 8%

Protein

1.8g

4% DV

Carbs

17.8g

6% DV

Fat

0.8g

1% DV

Fiber

7% DV

Sugars

1.7g

of which

Sodium

13mg

1% DV

Notable micronutrients

Magnesium10% DV

Vitamin B69% DV

Potassium9% DV

Vitamin C6% DV

Niacin (B3)5% DV

Riboflavin (B2)3% DV

Source · USDA FoodData Central · Ginger root, raw

View on FDC →

In the shops

Matched grocery products

Ginger
200 g · Mercadona
€1.61
Fresh Ginger 1 unit
ud · Bonpreu
€0.60
Organic Ginger La Collita in 150g Tray
LA COLLITA · kg · Bonpreu
€1.99

Good to know

Peak season: Available year-round; young ginger appears late summer
Flavor: Pungent, warm, citrusy, peppery; aromatic
Origin: Maritime Southeast Asia; cultivated for thousands of years
Nutrition: ~80 kcal/100g; valued for gingerol and aroma, not as a vitamin C source (~5 mg/100g, used in small amounts)
How to buy: Firm, smooth, taut skin; heavy; fragrant cut; no wrinkles or mold

Substitutes