Pickled Myoga Ginger Flowers & Sushi Ginger

Myoga ginger is a Japanese woodland ginger that is used mostly for the edible flowers that appear in early autumn. These flowers are rather peculiar as they grow at ground level which is most surprising indeed.

Pick the flower buds and remove any tough outer layers.

Give them a little wash and pat dry.

Slice 8-10 buds finely which ever way takes your fancy.

Bring to the boil in a little pot:
1/2 C of apple cider vinegar & 1/ 2 C of rice wine vinegar (or just one or the other- your preference).
Add 1/4 C raw sugar & 1/2 tsp good salt.

Stir to dissolve.

Pour this mixture over the sliced ginger & add some red shiso leaves (also known as beefsteak) if you have them.
Leave to cool and infuse for several hours, or overnight.
Store in the fridge.

If you want to make more to keep just make the pickle into a sterilised jar with a plastic lid and seal. Keeps well for ages.

The red things in the colander are hyacinth beans and the green ones are Peans.

I added the few hyacinth beans & some shiso leaves to this pickle.

Very quickly the ginger is pickled & turns a wonderful pink colour and tastes amazing- perfect unami flavours.

 Lovely with radicchio..

 and fresh figs, feta, gynura bi-colour (red vegetable- tastes like gingery spinach) and avocado.

Any left over pickle juice can be used to make vinaigrette dressings. 

Just as easily made, is Sushi pickled ginger.

if I had realised sooner, just how easy it is to make Gari or Amazu Shoga, I would have made it years ago.

Peel & finely slice around 250 grams of good, tender looking fresh ginger root.

Put in to a bowl & sprinkle with 1 1/2 tsps sea salt. Stand for 30 minutes & then transfer in to a clean jar of a suitable size.

Bring 1 cup of good rice wine vinegar & 1/3 c sugar to the boil- stirring as you go to dissolve the sugar. I used a fine raw organic sugar.

Pour the hot vinegar over the ginger in the jar. Cool. Put on the lid & store in the fridge for a day or so until well pickled. The rice vinegar will turn the ginger pink quite quickly, but for a deeper shade you can also add a few Red shiso leaves.

Red shiso is a really tasty & interesting summer annual herb that we find delicious.

Red Shiso

Katie X