Pickled White Ginger (Gari)

Sushi ginger: young ginger shaved into thin sheets and pickled in amazu — rice vinegar, sugar and a little salt. The colour is a natural pale cream to soft pink, because young ginger shoots blush in vinegar all by themselves. Anything bright pink has been dyed.

It is crisp, sweet-sour and only gently hot, far milder than red ginger. The job is to reset your palate: a few slices after a rich piece of fish and the next one tastes like the first one did.

Why Choose It?

• Naturally coloured: pale cream to soft pink, not dyed.
• Sweet vinegar cure: rice vinegar, sugar and salt — the traditional amazu.
• Crisp and mild: gentle heat, so it cleans the palate instead of overwhelming it.
• Thin shaved: sheets rather than chunks, the way it should be cut.
• Ready to serve: straight onto the plate.

How To Use It:

• With sushi and sashimi: between pieces, never on top of them.
• On a seafood platter: a small pile beside the oysters and the prawns.
• Chopped through rice: for a quick chirashi or a rice bowl.
• In a salad: shredded through cucumber or cabbage with a little of its liquid.

Not To Be Confused With:
White ginger is the mild sweet pickle for eating between pieces of fish. Red ginger (beni shoga) is salty and sharp, and belongs on okonomiyaki and yakisoba instead.

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

The palate cleanser that makes the second piece taste like the first. Order now.