Sauteing Ginger

[scott123]

Anyone know what happens when you saute ginger too long? Not until it gets black but past tan. I could do it myself, but it would save me some time if someone else had tried it already.

[cape chef]

What do you mean Scott?

Do you mean taste texure?

[scott123]

What does it taste like?

Does it get mellower? Does it get bitter? Does it get sweeter?

[cape chef]

Scott,

I find that on high heat ginger will turn bitter (like garlic) if allowed to brown to far, on low heat however you will be able to exstract more of the gingers oils to infuse a dish.

I do not find ginger gets sweeter the longer it cooks because the flavor is in the oils and over cooking will turn it bitter.

I have never slow roasted ginger like garlic in an oven, maybe I should try that someday, but I believe theres just to much fiber to break down.

[Mezzaluna]

I wonder what the sugar content of ginger is? If it's high, I would think it would caramelize and therefore sweeten. Since it just burns and gets bitter, maybe the sugar content is low. I'll cruise around and see what I can find out.

*******
I discovered that 1 tablespoon has 3 effective carbs, so it's rather high in carbs. I wonder if it would caramelize at any temperature, given enough time. Another theoretical puzzle I'll leave to others to pursue.

[barista]

Ginger is best sauteed at high heat to extract it's flavour. But you need not over-brown it.

It is used this way to give stir-fried vegetables like choy sum, and kailan the kick. Used in quantities of a few good sized knobs, flattened by the blade of a chopper, and sauteed with sesame seed oil, it makes an excellent dish sitr-fried with chicken in balck sauce.

[chefboy2160]

Thanks barista for the tips. So typical in asian cuisine , high heat and fast infusion . A quick question for all ? Have you used crystalized ginger and if so in what applications ?
Thanks , Doug............

[barista]

Yes, fast is the word for Chinese stir-fried cooking, though there is the other extreme of slow, long double-boiling. The test for good stir-fry is that the ingredients, esp if it's veggies still have the snap when you bite into them.

Crystallised ginger as is referred to in Western cooking is not used in Asian cooking in general. The Chinese and Japanese use pickled ginger instead. This is used mainly as condiment to century eggs (see thread on congee) and in sushi/sashimi.