Ginger tea?

Hello there,

Would anybody like to share a good recipe for ginger tea? How do you like to enjoy it -- by itself, or with a snack? Thanks in advance!

Here is my response to last winter's cold cure query:

"Grate a large fresh ginger root, set in a medium saucepan or a teakettle, cover generously with water, and boil slowly for 7-10 minutes. Cool with ginger in the pan. Strain off the liquid: depending on the ratio of ginger to water, you will have a concentrated base for a ginger tea with quite a kick. Refrigerate the concentrate and you are in business. Mix in cold water to taste & reheat. (My daughter likes honey and lemon in hers.)"

I should have written "simmer" instead of "boil slowly," but you get the drift. Hope this does the trick.

I also like to scrape off as much of the peel as possible with the back of a knife. I find it makes it less bitter. Not a big difference but I can tell.

Octarine wrote:I also like to scrape off as much of the peel as possible with the back of a knife.

Try the edge of a teaspoon, easier in the crevices.

Josephine, I often make 'tea' with ginger: half milk, half water, bring to a boil with ginger slices add tea bags (cheapo lipton and 1.5 per person), simmer (simpler if you tear the tags off and throw the bags in the saucepan) for a few minutes). Hearty. Goes well with the Anna ginger thins.
Alternately try this with two or three cardamom pods (crush slightly so that the seeds inside meet liquid) instead of the ginger.

As to the question of how we enjoy it, I rather prefer ginger tea on its own, perhaps with a good book. It seems comforting and likely to engender thoughtfulness. I started drinking ginger tea decades ago, when even the Indian Tea House where I consumed it relied on ginger powder, as fresh ginger roots were not regularly available. They added lots of ginger powder (enough so that it would make your mouth tingle) to darjeeling tea, then add steamed milk and honey. We would take our books and study for hours, ordering pot after pot of the exotic tea. Perhaps that's why I still associate ginger tea with reading.

When feeling run-down, I make a hot tea of grated ginger, grated garlic, and cayenne pepper. I then discoved it makes a very good ice tea as well. It really does seem to help with colds and general blahs.

Thanks for your comments on technique. On my first attempt, I went for an infusion, and found it lacking in gingery goodness. Simmering the grated root is definitely the way to go. I'm lucky to have a consistent, cheap supply of the stuff at my local grocery (Egg Store), so I figured I might as well learn to enjoy it.

There is a Ginger Spread at Trader Joe's -- just ginger & sugar imported from China -- seems to be ginger simmered in syrup and then pureed to a jam consistency -- recommended on the jar w/cheese.

I have been adding this to my chai concoction -- but it'll work by itself & milk & honey & tea & whatever as Ginger Tea

sazerac wrote: Hearty. Goes well with the Anna ginger thins.

I love the Anna ginger thins and the orange thins. One of the things that makes them so good is that they are, in fact, very thin.

sazerac wrote: Alternately try this with two or three cardamom pods (crush slightly so that the seeds inside meet liquid) instead of the ginger.

Mmmm. I will try this. Cardamom improves coffee as well.
Thanks, sazerac.

Cardamom also mellows out the effects of caffeine. I'm not sure if it
completely renders the caffeine ineffective, but its supposed to really
neutralize its effect on the body.

we like to boil the ginger with brown sugar for over 30 minutes. taken in extremely hot. it helped me survive the second nite of the flu last month...

Noticed this and, pure happen stance, have an alternative process that may be more flavorful.

Quick background - I participate in a rather extravagant group dinner a couple of times a year, and love it, but also find it to be a bit over the top at times, as each cook spends lots of time and money on their course. I got soup this year, so I went looking for something more refined and light. After some searching, I settled on a Miso Ginger Consomme from Epicurious.com.

Turned out wonderfully, and I recommend it highly with 2 comments - make the miso very, very light, and double the ginger.

Anyway, the recipe calls for ginger juice - grate or slice very finely the ginger, and then press the juice out of it. The recipe says to press it in a paper towel, but I chose to use a very fine strainer and press it in that. You get a bit more residue my way, but do not lose any of the juice to absorption.

Once you have the juice, just add it to hot water, stir and serve. Do not boil. My guess is that this will give you fresher, more intense ginger flavor. And by the third time you do it, the process is actually pretty easy and quick. I imagine one could take an entire ginger root and juice it and then save the juice for later. Not sure what the ratio would be, but a teaspoon shouild be enough for at least 2 cups of tea - I used about a TBSP (extracted from about 3 inches of root) for 10 cups of miso.

dicksond wrote: Anyway, the recipe calls for ginger juice - grate or slice very finely the ginger, and then press the juice out of it. The recipe says to press it in a paper towel, but I chose to use a very fine strainer and press it in that. You get a bit more residue my way, but do not lose any of the juice to absorption.

Another way to extract the ginger juice (suggested in an old issue of Saveur) is to use a cloth towel-- the kind made for drying glassware that is essentially a hemmed piece of muslin.-- not a terry-cloth one which would be too absorbent. (My grandmother used to call them tea towels--were they used for steeping tea leaves?) The paper towel method would not seem to stand up very well, and the strainer may not give you enough pressure to extract most of the juice.

Josephine wrote:

dicksond wrote: Anyway, the recipe calls for ginger juice - grate or slice very finely the ginger, and then press the juice out of it. The recipe says to press it in a paper towel, but I chose to use a very fine strainer and press it in that. You get a bit more residue my way, but do not lose any of the juice to absorption.

Another way to extract the ginger juice (suggested in an old issue of Saveur) is to use a cloth towel-- the kind made for drying glassware that is essentially a hemmed piece of muslin.-- not a terry-cloth one which would be too absorbent. (My grandmother used to call them tea towels--were they used for steeping tea leaves?) The paper towel method would not seem to stand up very well, and the strainer may not give you enough pressure to extract most of the juice.

Hmm, if I need ginger juice I just grate some, place it in the fingers of my left hand when the meet the palm, press hard with my right thumb while curling my fingers (left hand) around my thumb. Juice trickles down between fingers - one does get some particulates, but I suppose a fine strainer/cheesecloth/muslin could take care of that.