Japanese Pickled Ginger

This is my third try at making pickled ginger that turned pinkish on its own. Those previous ones that I made turned pinkish with lemon juices added but this recent one that I made turned pinkish naturally without having to add lemon juice to it.  I found this recipe from Nami's Just One Cookbook and when I read through her Japanese pickled ginger recipe , I knew I had to make it.  She gave tips on how to make the young ginger turned natural pink - Just include the pink part of the young ginger ! The pink pigment  makes the pickled ginger turned natural pink ! So simple ! 

And true enough, the moment I poured the warm boiled rice vinegar syrup over the ginger slices, they turned pinkish.   I was happy to see such a lovely pink...worth all the hardwork. Thank you Nami for sharing the wonderful tip - knowing this important factor, I will not scrape off the pink skin anymore :)

Both WB and myself love pickled ginger, the homemade one of course :) We serve them with hard boiled eggs, our all time favorite appetizer and I do add them to my salad sometimes .  

I choose those with pink skin...the pink pigment makes the

pickled ginger naturally pink

I used a thin sharp paring knife to slice the young ginger as thin as I can 

the ginger slices turned pinkish

 instantly the moment the warm 

rice vinegar syrup was poured over it

once it cooled down, store them in jar

and keep in the fridge .

these pickled ginger can keep for a year in the fridge

as long as it is not contaminated

Japanese Pickled Ginger - adapted from Namiko JustOneCookbook

600 gm baby ginger -  wash , pat dry and sliced thinly
1/2 tbsp coarse salt

Sweet Vinegar ( Amazu )

2 cups rice vinegar
1.5 cups sugar

a tsp of salt

A sterilized jar with a lid

Method:

Using a spoon scrape off  brown spots from ginger, sprinkle salt and set aside for 5 minutes. Then add the ginger into a boiling water and cook for 1-3 mins. If you want to keep it spicy, take it out after 1 minute. Otherwise 2-3 minutes is good.

Pour the water into a sieve and let the ginger slices drain completely by spreading them out in a single layer. With your clean hands, squeeze the water out and put them in a sterilized jar or Mason jar or a sterilized bowl.

In a small pot, add rice vinegar, sugar and salt and bring it to a boil till strong vinegar smell has evaporated.  When it's slightly cool, pour the liquid into the jar with sliced ginger.  It will turned pink . The pickled ginger can be stored in air tight container in the refrigerator for up to a year.

Enjoy !