Crystallized ginger sounds difficult and time consuming to make, at least that’s what I thought until I actually did a little research on how to make it. It’s easy, and if you are fearful of candy making because of the fussy steps involved with washing down the sides of the pan to avoid sugar crystal formation, this is the project for you; it’s all about creating sugar crystals!

photo by David Peterman

It seems like Asian markets always have the most gorgeous, fresh, young, ginger for sale, so that’s where I shop when I am making this. The most potentially tedious part of the process is peeling the ginger, but I have a great tip for you if you haven’t already discovered the spoon technique. I learned this years ago in an evening cooking class. To me, this tip alone was worth the entire cost of the class and it wasn’t even the point of the class, just a passing comment. Simply scrape the skin of the ginger off with the side of a spoon. A spoon takes off the thin skin easily and without removing a bunch of ginger with it. It also leaves the ginger root nice and smooth. When I use a peeler or a knife, I seem to leave all kinds of angles and cut marks behind. The spoon is fast and really easy to maneuver around the bumps and contours of the root.

photo by David Peterman

I experimented a bit with this batch to see what would happen if I added a vanilla bean, cardamom and cinnamon. Something good happened. The vanilla, cardamom, and cinnamon are subtle but noticeable right up front in the sugar coating, then the bite and heat of the ginger hit followed by a lovely soft lingering vanilla flavor. Home-made crystallized ginger is darker in color than commercial product and the added spices add even a little darker color, but I like the look of the speckles.

photo by David Peterman

In addition to a wonderful stash of crystallized ginger this recipe generates a sugar by-product that is fantastic to baking with. The excess sugar is infused with the ginger and spice flavors and would be wonderful in your next batch of brownies, pancakes, or cookies. It is very clumpy, but a quick spin in a food processor breaks it down to a nice fine texture.

Spiced Crystallized Ginger

1 lb. fresh young ginger root
water
1 vanilla bean
20 whole cardamom pods, cracked open
2″ piece of True Cinnamon stick or Cassia Cinnamon stick
1 lb. granulated sugar, plus 1/2 cup
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground cardamom

Peel the ginger and slice into 1/4-1/8 inch thick slices. Place the ginger slices in a 3 qt. sauce pan and add enough water to cover. Cut the vanilla bean lengthwise and scrape the seeds from the pod, then add the seeds and pod to the ginger. Add the cardamom pods and cinnamon stick. Bring the ingredients to a boil and cook at a simmer for about 40 minutes until the ginger is tender.

Drain the ginger and remove the pieces of spice. Don’t worry about the little cardamom seeds, but be sure to remove the tough pods. In the empty sauce pan, mix 1/3 cup water with 1 lb. of sugar and bring to a boil. Add the ginger and cook at a boil, stirring frequently, for 20 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and continue to cook and stir until the syrup begins to thicken, another 10-15 minutes.

Meanwhile, mix 1/2 cup sugar, ground cinnamon and cardamom together in a medium bowl and set aside. As the ginger mixture begins to thicken the syrup will look like foamy bubbles when stirred rather than bubbles in liquid. At this point, using tongs or a  fork, lift the ginger pieces out of the pan into the sugar mixture and toss to coat. Once the ginger is well coated spread it out on a sheet pan to cool. Let it sit for a few hours to dry and then transfer to an airtight container. It will keep at room temperature for 6 months.

Collect all the extra sugar and process in a food processor until it is a nice fine consistency. Store in an airtight container to use in your next baking project. This sugar would be great in brownies, pancakes, or cookies.