Pickled Red Ginger (Beni Shoga)

Young ginger cut into fine strips and pickled in umezu, the plum vinegar left over from making umeboshi. The plum vinegar is where the colour comes from — that vivid red is the pickle, not a dye.

The flavour is sharp, salty and faintly sour with the ginger heat still intact underneath. It is not a sweet pickle like sushi ginger; it is the assertive one, made to stand up to heavy, savoury food rather than to clear the palate quietly.

Why Choose It?

• Plum vinegar pickled: the traditional cure, and the source of the colour.
• Sharp and salty: strong enough to cut through fried and sauced dishes.
• Crisp: fine strips that keep their bite.
• Ready to use: straight from the pack onto the plate.
• Colour on the plate: a red that lifts a brown dish.

How To Use It:

• Okonomiyaki: scattered over the top — the classic pairing.
• Yakisoba: a pile on the side of every plate in Japan.
• Gyudon and donburi: on top of beef bowls, where it does the most work.
• Takoyaki: mixed into the batter or served alongside.
• Grilled fish: as a sharp counterpoint to oily fish.

Not To Be Confused With:
Red ginger is not sushi ginger. Sushi ginger (gari) is sweet, pale and mild. This is salty, red and assertive, and they are not interchangeable.

Storage:
Keep refrigerated after opening, with the ginger submerged in its own liquid.

The red on top of the okonomiyaki. Order now.