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Oct 16, 2024

Food & Wine Best Ginger Recipes

Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen "Ginger adds a foundational layer of piquancy, warmth, and peppery sweetness to whatever it touches," writes former

Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen

"Ginger adds a foundational layer of piquancy, warmth, and peppery sweetness to whatever it touches," writes former F&W food editor Kelsey Jane Youngman. Indeed, that gorgeous foundational layer of ginger has seemingly infinite applications. We love it in baked goods like gingerbread and with squashes throughout the fall and winter, especially during the holidays (it's second to only cinnamon in traditional pumpkin pie spice blends). While it flavors dishes all around the globe, ginger originated in Asia, so it's especially prevalent in cuisines from that continent — in curries, soups, sauces, noodle dishes, and more. Fresh, dried, or candied, intense and spicy or mild and aromatic, this group of ginger-forward recipes runs the gamut of the root's delicious culinary possibilities.

Make-ahead mushroom duxelles is a rich filling for these tender, satisfying dumplings. The broth, infused with toasted ginger and garlic, gets an extra layer of rich mushroom flavor from dried white flower shiitake mushrooms, which have a bolder flavor than regular dried shiitakes (though you can use either).

Linda Xiao / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christina Daley

Inspired by the popular, punchy, crispy ginger salads at Burma Superstar in San Francisco and Mister Mao in New Orleans, this version is defined by sweet, tangy pickled ginger — the kind you eat with sushi — and zippy fresh ginger matchsticks.

Linda Xiao / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christina Daley

Many Japanese restaurant salads are topped with a tangy, raw carrot-and-ginger salad dressing. To turn the dressing into a velvety, zippy sauce for this knockout soba salad, cook the carrot and onion with a bit of dashi, then blend everything together with miso, ginger, vinegar, and oil. Serve with crisp vegetables and toasted seaweed for a thrilling mélange of flavors and textures. Instant dashi granules add a layer of savory complexity to the dressing, but you can substitute kosher salt for them in a pinch.

This seasonal rendition of a classic is loaded with summer market finds like tomatoes, zucchini, and bell peppers. Quick-cooking boneless chicken pieces are gently simmered in a ginger and cilantro-infused broth with a dash of soy sauce. The eye-catching garnish tray doubles as a colorful centerpiece, allowing guests to pile their bowls with aromatic fresh herbs, spicy chiles, and juicy citrus.

Victor Protasio / Food Styling by Chelsea Zimmer / Prop Styling by Claire Spollen

The soy-ginger marinade for the salmon doubles as a sauce for the pasta in these hearty bowls topped with avocado, cucumber, chiles, and cilantro.

Linda Xiao / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christina Daley

Making good chicken wings doesn’t require deep-frying or fanciful cooking. These Chinese-style wings are simmered, but the process — inspired by Bruce Cost’s recipe in Ginger East to West — is all about layering flavors: first a tumble in rice wine, then a vigorous simmer with lots of ginger and citrus peel, and finally a bubbly bath in sweetened soy sauce. Nibble on the cooked ginger pieces with the wings to cut the richness.

"Tempering is one of the most valuable tenets of Sri Lankan cooking I learned from my mother," writes chef Sam Fore. "Whole spices, like cumin and mustard seeds, get a quick swirl in hot oil, toasting them just enough to impart big flavor in minimal time. These tempered sweet potatoes illustrate how transformative the technique is."

F&W Cooks contributor Hetty McKinnon says this soup is “like a hug” in winter. Garlic oil and ginger-turmeric curry paste add flavor — the paste can keep in the refrigerator for up to seven days and can be frozen, too, so it’s easy to prepare in advance.

Chef Hosea Rosenberg created this quickly seared tuna recipe in 2001, when he was head chef at Boulder's Dandelion restaurant. It immediately became his dad's favorite dish. He spikes the ginger cream with sriracha, the spicy red Thai chile sauce.

For these ginger and chile-spiked caramels, plant-based fat from coconut replaces the typical butter, resulting in creamy, chewy treats anyone can enjoy. Thai chile brings complex, fruity heat to these fragrant caramels; substitute a pinch of crushed red pepper, if desired.

Matt Taylor-Gross / Food Styling by Lucy Simon

What's more refreshing than a chilled citrus and ginger cocktail? The Shaky Pete’s Ginger Brew is a semi-frozen, sweet, sour, and slightly spicy ginger drink that's topped with beer and served in an ice-cold mug.

Cookbook author Susan Spungen's apple crisp gets a zingy, bright flavor from candied ginger in the topping, and it's pretty easy to riff on. Swap in different apples if you don't have Granny Smith, try it with pears, or go for peaches or nectarines in the summer — you can throw some berries in, too.

Hearty rye flour paired with three types of ginger — powdered, candied, and fresh — lends an earthy, lightly spicy flavor to these delicious cookies.

The tangy heat of this sauce cuts richness and enlivens whatever it touches. Try it with grilled, poached, or fried chicken or seafood. Employ it to amp up a slaw.

This simple, soothing wintertime cocktail is a favorite for good reason. To make it, fresh ginger root is peeled and sliced before being simmered in water, blooming the flavors to create a slightly spicy bite that gets balanced with the addition of sweet honey and citrusy Angostura bitters. The inherent sweetness in bourbon adds a subtle backbone of warmth and comfort.

Chef Dean Fearing loves the holiday feel of butternut squash, especially when it's combined with ginger, as it is for his smooth, gently sweet soup. He tops it with lightly spiced whipped cream flecked with chopped pecans for contrast, flavor, and some all-important crunch. "I think everything should have a little bit of crunch to it," he says.

For this recipe, slabs of tofu are coated in panko, then pan-fried until they're crispy outside and creamy within. A simple vinaigrette with ginger and scallions provides a big pop of flavor.

Former F&W editor Kay Chun creates a fresh alternative to pasta by tossing spiralized zucchini and roast chicken with an aromatic Asian-inspired dressing. You'll need a superfine grater, such as a Microplane, to prep the fresh ginger and garlic.

Stanley Cheng, owner of Hestan Vineyards and CEO of Meyer Corporation, loves to eat his favorite beef stir-fry with blackberry-rich Napa Valley Cabernet: The firm tannins in the wine pair well with the gingery hoisin and oyster sauces.

For winter squash that's crispy on the outside and moist within, chef Melissa Perello halves each one, roasts it until soft, then cuts it into wedges and roasts it some more.

The marinade for these shrimp — a piquant mix of lemon juice, garlic, ginger, basil, and parsley — would be equally good with pork or chicken. The dipping sauce is almost chutney-like with chunks of whole tomatoes; lemongrass and lime juice add tang.

Restaurateur Aimee Olexy’s lemony cream-based scones are light, moist, and laced with pieces of chewy candied ginger.

As a dairy-free alternative to creamy dips, the recipe here calls for pureeing sweet peas with scallions, ginger, and jalapeño, then seasoning the mix with yellow miso. Serve the spread with different kinds of crackers and breads, or sugar snap peas and celery for dipping.

Chef Andres Barrera slow-roasts lamb until tender, then stuffs it into warm pitas along with pickled red onions, feta cheese, and a bright-flavored tomato-ginger compote (also great on a burger or cheese plate).

Cookbook author Pam Anderson likes to serve sliced tenderloin — a very lean cut of pork — with a tangy raisin and ginger-flavored sauce that tastes much more decadent than it actually is, thanks to a secret ingredient: cornstarch, which gives the sauce body while avoiding added fat.

Pastry chef Katie Rosenhouse makes gingerbread year-round, not just at Christmastime. Her super-moist cake, flavored with molasses for a mellow sweetness, is excellent with wine-poached pears or a topping of whipped mascarpone and sugary, slightly bitter confited orange peel.

This mousse is a terrific way to end Thanksgiving dinner because it's appropriately indulgent, but also light and tangy. It uses ginger in three forms — fresh, ground, and candied — for layers of heat and flavor.

To give this simple dish another layer of flavor without adding much fat, chef Jacques Torres glazes chicken and vegetables with a bit of honey and cooks them until they're deeply caramelized.

This refreshing soda leans on a syrup made with herbaceous lemongrass and ever-so-slightly spicy ginger to balance out tart lemon. To make the syrup, steep crushed lemongrass and sliced ginger in a simple syrup. Be sure to cool the syrup to room before adding the freshly squeezed lemon juice, and top with club soda when you’re ready to serve.

Recipe developer Melissa Rubel Jacobson says the easiest way to peel fresh ginger for this punchy Asian-inspired vinaigrette is to scrape it with the edge of a spoon. She then grates it on a Microplane zester (other fine graters work well, too) before using it in the dressing.

This simple base relies on julienned fresh ginger for its punchy flavor.

Linda Xiao / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christina Daley

Gingerbread-spiced and shaped like adorable pigs, marranitos (also known as puerquitos and cochinitos) are a Mexican bakery favorite. The mildly sweet pan dulce is akin to a cakelike cookie. Brushing the cookies with egg wash halfway through the bake time minimizes the wrinkles that form on the surface for a glossy, smooth sheen

Linda Xiao / Food Styling by Margaret Monroe Dickey / Prop Styling by Christina Daley

This refreshing dessert comes together without an ice cream maker. Freezing canned fruit directly in the cans cuts down on dirty dishes. Follow with a short soak in hot water, and the cans are ready to open and blend into a creamy sorbet.