Monday, September 5, 2011

Ginger-Garlic Paste

Yum
I love to cook Asian foods and most of the time these foods require a combination of ginger and garlic.  Fresh ginger and garlic always gives the best taste, but sometimes when you're rushing to get dinner on the table it's one extra step that I dread. I seem to always forget to have these two items prepped when I'm getting my ingredients out to cook.  So having a pre-made ginger garlic paste in the fridge ready to go is so incredibly handy and time saving.  I just open a jar and spoon out as much paste as I need in a dish.  You can buy prepared ginger-garlic paste at some stores, but I find them lacking in flavor.  Plus I feel like I'm paying a premium for the convenience.  Buying my own garlic and garlic and whizzing it in the food processor with a little bit of canola oil and I have a much more fresh, flavorful paste for a fraction of the cost.

Ingredients:
Equal parts ginger and garlic. Some canola oil.

*Note:  I don't want to give actual amounts here because it all depends on how much you cook with ginger and garlic.  I use it so many Sri Lankan, Indian, Thai and Chinese dishes that I used 2 1/2 blubs of garlic and about a pound of cleaned ginger and 1/4 cup of canola oil.  This should last me about a week.  I usually use about 1-2Tbs of this mixture depending on the dish.

Directions:   Put all items into a food processor and blend until smooth.

Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for about a week.  Hope this helps make your cooking a littler easier.

Here is a bonus cooking tip to using ginger.  If you buy a lot of ginger and want to save it for a rainy day don't put it in the fridge.  All you have to do is clean the ginger, cut it into 2-3 inch pieces, put in a plastic food storage bag and freeze it.  I freeze pounds of ginger at a time and just take it out and use a microplane grater to grate the ginger into any dish I need it for.   Your ginger will last for months in the freezer without any problem.  But it is best to use fresh (never been frozen) ginger to make the ginger/garlic paste above.

16 comments:

  1. I make the same way yes it does save time when making food

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  2. That is an incredible idea! Love both flavors and of course give that special kick for any dish..got to make this! Thanks for the recipe!

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  3. I've bought the pre-made pastes before for ease, but when I look at the ingredients, there are usually some other mystery things on the label. This is a much better alternative. Thanks for sharing!

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  4. Great idea for having a quick way to flavor your meals already prepared! And so much better than the jarred stuff!

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  5. What a great idea! I cook with both of them often, love the idea of having it ready on hand!

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  6. Brilliant! Love garlic and ginger in everything.

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  7. Ramona this is GREAT! I love the garlic / ginger combo and use them all the time in marinades! Thanks for the tip about freezing the ginger, too...

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  8. What a great timesaver!!! And so pretty in that glass crock :)

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  9. Oh wow I love this post. The combo is fabulous.

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  10. you have one beautiful space here...love this ginger-garlic paste, a must have in all indian kitchen

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  11. I love how easy this is! We definitely use ginger and garlic a lot in our house, so this would get used up in no time =)

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  12. Although I cook a lot of Asian food, I don’t seem to use ginger a lot. Garlic on the other hand is added to most of the dishes so that goes very fast. It’s a great idea of prepping them first and keep them in the fridge till you need it. And yes, ginger is always in the freezer just in case I need some.

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  13. So that is how you make garlic and ginger paste and how you get ginger not to go bad! Thank you: now I can start using fresh ginger instead of powder....

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  14. can i use normal vegetable oil instead of canola oil

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  15. yes... vegetable oil should be fine. :)

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