Ginger root (Recipe: pomegranate-orange-ginger shrimp)

I haven't planted ginger root in the herb garden this year.

I meant to do it, and forgot, until just this minute. 

Do you remember that my friend Julia of Grow. Cook. Eat. taught me last summer that you can plant a piece of ginger root, and it will send out new shoots and roots, and pretty soon you have your own little ginger farm?

I'm off to the market tomorrow for the freshest piece of ginger I can find. You, too?

What is ginger root?
The underground rhizome of the ginger plant, Zingiber officinale.

How/where to store:
Store unpeeled ginger in the refrigerator, wrapped in paper towels and plastic, or in a brown paper bag, for two or three weeks, or in the freezer for up to six months.

More facts about ginger, and ingredient photos, in The Perfect Pantry:
Ginger root (Recipe: spicy Thai chicken curry)

Pomegranate-orange-ginger shrimp {gluten-free}

Adapted from Food for My Family, as the recipe appeared in Blog Aid: Recipes for Haiti, a fundraiser for Haiti earthquake relief. I stuck with the basic flavor profile, but used the glaze as a marinade and made it sugar-free. Using very large (16-20 count) shrimp, I figured on three per person, which means this recipe would serve 10.

Ingredients

1 cup pomegranate juice
2/3 cup orange juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 tsp minced fresh ginger root
1 tsp coarse sea salt
1 tsp fresh black pepper
2 packets sugar substitute (or 1 Tbsp brown sugar)
2 lbs raw shrimp, peeled and deveined (16-20 count)
Pomegranate seeds, for garnish

Directions

Combine first seven ingredients in a blender, and process until well combined and smooth. Place shrimp into a ziploc bag or high-sided baking dish, and pour the juice mixture over the shrimp. Stir well to make sure all of the shrimp are coated, and marinate in the refrigerator for 45 minutes.

You can cook these on a grill (that's what I did), grill pan on the stove top, or under the broiler. Whichever method you choose, heat your cooking surface. If you're using a grill, spray a grill pan with nonstick cooking spray and heat the pan on the grill. When the grill is hot, drain off the marinade (and discard), and cook the shrimp for approximately 3 minutes, turning once, until they are pink and curled but not overcooked. Remove from heat and serve hot or warm, garnished with pomegranate seeds.

[Printer-friendly recipe.]

More recipes with ginger:
Ginger-maple-miso salad dressing, from The Perfect Pantry
Spicy green beans with ginger and garlic, from The Perfect
Lemon ginger muffins, from Simply Recipes
Candied ginger, from David Lebovitz

What is ginger root?
The underground rhizome of the ginger plant, Zingiber officinale.

How/where to store:
Store unpeeled ginger in the refrigerator, wrapped in paper towels and plastic, or in a brown paper bag, for two or three weeks, or in the freezer for up to six months.

More facts about ginger, and ingredient photos, in The Perfect Pantry:
Ginger root (Recipe: spicy Thai chicken curry)

Pomegranate-orange-ginger shrimp {gluten-free}

Adapted from Food for My Family, as the recipe appeared in Blog Aid: Recipes for Haiti, a fundraiser for Haiti earthquake relief. I stuck with the basic flavor profile, but used the glaze as a marinade and made it sugar-free. Using very large (16-20 count) shrimp, I figured on three per person, which means this recipe would serve 10.

Ingredients

1 cup pomegranate juice
2/3 cup orange juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
4 tsp minced fresh ginger root
1 tsp coarse sea salt
1 tsp fresh black pepper
2 packets sugar substitute (or 1 Tbsp brown sugar)
2 lbs raw shrimp, peeled and deveined (16-20 count)
Pomegranate seeds, for garnish

Directions

Combine first seven ingredients in a blender, and process until well combined and smooth. Place shrimp into a ziploc bag or high-sided baking dish, and pour the juice mixture over the shrimp. Stir well to make sure all of the shrimp are coated, and marinate in the refrigerator for 45 minutes.

You can cook these on a grill (that's what I did), grill pan on the stove top, or under the broiler. Whichever method you choose, heat your cooking surface. If you're using a grill, spray a grill pan with nonstick cooking spray and heat the pan on the grill. When the grill is hot, drain off the marinade (and discard), and cook the shrimp for approximately 3 minutes, turning once, until they are pink and curled but not overcooked. Remove from heat and serve hot or warm, garnished with pomegranate seeds.

[Printer-friendly recipe.]

More recipes with ginger:
Ginger-maple-miso salad dressing, from The Perfect Pantry
Spicy green beans with ginger and garlic, from The Perfect
Lemon ginger muffins, from Simply Recipes
Candied ginger, from David Lebovitz

Comments

Funny thing, ginger has been on my mind and suddenly your blog post appears on my screen. Can't wait to try this recipe. I wonder if I can get pomagranite juice at my local store in rural Costa Rica?

I did just that, planted a few pieces of ginger I bought at the fruit market. I've got it in several places as well as the ornamental ginger. What I didn't know is that culinary ginger doesn't flower. At least that's what neighbors tell me. What's your experience? AND uh, when do I harvest? Do I just dig up a hunk when I need it?

Looking forward to diving deeper into your blog and seeing what else I discover.

OOOHHH, those shrimp look good! I didnt know that about ginger, but now that I do I will hop tp it! does it need to come in for the winter? Is it even perenial?

I just started planting the root ends of my scallions when I finish with them and they always grow! I even got a ew cilantro and arugula plants that way. Oh, and a few weeks ago I tossed the insides of a spaghetti squash in the compost bin and this past weekend I found 12 little plants, already with 2 true leaves! I hope they bear fruit!

delicious! I love ginger... and this combination! :)

Neat -- I'm going to plant some right next to the horseradish. Is it perennial?

I found your blog last year after a search of ginger on google. I grew my ginger in a large pot over the winter.
I took my pot out to my little herb garden and set it on the groud among the other plants. I have yet to plant it into the garden soil. The green top shoots did not look good after a couple of days in the heat, but I trimmed it back and it should come back out. My green shoots reached about 4 to 5 ft. in height while in the house this winter. It was a fun plant.

WOW! THANKS for reminding me about this - I had read it last year and totally forgot. I am on my way to get some now for tomorrow night's dinner of "shrimp on the barbie"! (pizza tonight because it is raining!)

That photo makes me want to reach into the computer and grab a shrimp. Pefect combination of flavors.

Another ginger story: your post got me to plant the ginger last year, it grew to be beautiful, in a pot. Here in NH it died back in the cold weather, indoors, but now has gone from a nub to 6" tall, quickly. Even if it doesn't get harvested, it's fun to watch it grow. Volunteers: the compost pile is fertile! I once had a pumpkin vine grow over my shed and produce pumpkins. What fun!

man o man this looks divine!

We bought horseradish from store last year and planted some in garden - it is growing so well!!

see this link - http://www.flickr.com/photos/nika7k/4606745693/

I am going to go for ginger in the same spirit, thnx for the nudge.

Now if I could only grow some shrimp I will be set!

There will be ginger plants sprouting up all over the continent now Lydia:D

Wow, my BF is drooling. I think I'll make it with some sort of Quinoa Vegetable Salad. Thanks for the inspiration!

Looks absolutely divine. The sun just came out to celebrate this post...yippee!

Jen, according to Julia's instructions (and I saw her do this in her own garden), you just dig it up when you want to use some ginger, then stick it back in the ground.

Erin, I dug mine up last year and will plant another this year. I've asked Julia to check in and share her experience.

Ginny, it really was delicious.

Mary, I think it's perennial here, but I haven't tried to overwinter it.

Barb, 4-5 feet?! Wow! Mine never got that tall outside, but I kept digging up the ginger, breaking off a piece, and replanting, so maybe the plant never relaxed enough!

Carol, this was delicious on the grill but would be great under the broiler, too.

Kalyn, I'd never tried pomegranate with shrimp before, and this is definitely something worth adding to your repertoire.

Susan, my garden is filled with volunteer lupines! I've had a few volunteer carrots, too. No idea where they came from.

Nika, I'm so lucky to have a cutting of horseradish from my friends Mary and Matt. It's a gorgeous and hardy plant in the herb garden.

Valli, what a lovely thought!

Eclecticdeb, this would be great with a quinoa salad, especially one with some fruity bits in it.

Janet, yes indeed. Divine.

Those are some divine looking shrimps. Love everything in it!

Your shrimp looks amazing. Thanks for all the great info about ginger.

You can plant ginger root in the garden? I thought it required some sort of exotic gardening skills! It's worth a shot!

Great looking shrimp, you've got sweet, sour and savory...just needs a little heat and they are perfect!

I am assembling a bunch of recipes with tamarind, this will come in handy!

I've heard of planting ginger a couple of years ago, and STILL haven't done that. THanks for the reminder, I might go for it this weekend

Awesome Lydia! GAD the shrimp is GORGEOUS! as is that little green dish! Talk about a food prop! The whole thing is awesome.

My experiment planting onions was 100% failure, perhaps I should try gingerroot.

Interesting marinade you got here! I will definitely try this one. I love shrimps, especially grilled shrimps! I really think that you can appreciate the meat more when grilled. Anyway, I actually like shrimps whichever way it is cooked, lol, I guess grilled is just a preference. Thanks for sharing this, I can't wait to try it. lol!

I'm glad you enjoyed it! This has definitely been a favorite with my kids and the adult types as well.

Veron, Kristen, Peter: this is a great dish for shrimp lovers!

TW, Sally, MyKitchen: It couldn't be easier to plant ginger. Look for the freshest "hand" of ginger at your market, trim off any shriveled dry ends, and stick it in the ground (or in a pot). Keep it watered, and when thin green shoots come out the top, you know something is going on below ground, too.

Shaina, thank you for the inspiration!

My daughter loves shrimp, but I'm scared of cooking it.
I love to have ginger in the freezer because it grates so easily and finely.

It has never occurred to me to grow my own ginger. Now I know what I'm doing tomorrow! This is a really lovely shrimp recipe - nice mixture of sweet and savory.

I once tried growing ginger in a pot over the winter, but it was a disaster.

I'm not sure if ginger is a perennial or an annual, but here in New England it doesn't survive. I just replant it every year. And when I need a hunk, I did it up, break of a piece, and then rebury what's left.

Yumm.. this looks delicious. I made this pomegranate drink the other day that would be so good with this!

http://www.gopomegranates.com/pomegranate_spritzer_cocktail_recipe.html

Thanks for the tip on growing ginger too. I also had no idea this was possible - will definitely try it!

OhMyGosh do these ever look delish. Love the flavors!