Tip: why you want to roast that ginger once

My friend neatly went through the containers and suddenly I saw his chopsticks dangerously heading towards the grated ginger. He poked, he brought it to his mouth, I mumbled something and the damage was done. Since then, he stays away from anything with ginger. But now I have a way to maybe get him to try ginger, thanks to our neighbors from online food magazine FavorFlav.com.

Fresh ginger
In the kitchen of the FavorFlav editorial team, there is always one on the counter. Such a knobby root of fresh ginger. With a razor-sharp knife next to it. To slice thin slices of the ginger root for tea or simply boiled water. Undoubtedly, there are convincing health reasons (think: antioxidants) behind this habit.

But what we are mainly concerned with is that pleasant tingle that a slice of fresh ginger brings on your tongue. Making you feel immediately energized to type the next piece. Better than coffee! (Almost, that is.)

But hey, did you know this? By roasting, the flavor becomes milder and sweeter, just like with cloves of garlic.

Roasting ginger, here's how you do it
Preheat the oven to 220 degrees and place the unpeeled ginger root in the oven for 45 minutes. Make sure you have a large specimen, because you don't want it to dry out. The skin may blacken in some places, but that's okay.

You can puree the ginger afterwards, without peeling it first. The result? A nice white paste that you can use in countless dishes. Think of chicken soup, a curry or your homemade dumplings.

Text: FavorFlav