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To Preserve Ginger

A method of preserving ginger by boiling and repeatedly coating it with a sugar syrup.

From an old cookbook · modernised transcription
By Eliza Leslie · From a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg) · 4 ingredients
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Why it works: Ginger and sugar are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 17% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 14,054 recipes. Both carry 1-penten-3-one, which smells fish, pungent. The science ↓

To Preserve Ginger

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the ginger

  1. Pare the ginger root with a sharp knife, discarding the peel, and place it in a pan of cold water as you pare.

  2. Boil the ginger until tender throughout, changing the water three times, each time adding cold water to cool it.

  3. When the ginger is perfectly tender, transfer it to a pan of cold water and let it lie for an hour or more to become crisp.

Make the syrup

  1. Prepare the syrup: for every six pounds of ginger root, clarify seven pounds of double-refined loaf sugar.

  2. Break up the sugar, put it into a preserving kettle, and melt it in spring or pump water, gradually stirring in the beaten whites of two eggs, allowing a pint of water per pound of sugar.

  3. Boil the syrup and skim it well.

  4. Let the syrup stand until it is cold.

Steep and preserve

  1. Drain the ginger and pour the cold syrup over it, cover, and do not disturb for two days.

  2. After two days, pour the syrup from the ginger, boil the syrup again.

  3. When the syrup is cold, pour it again over the ginger and let it stand at least three days.

  4. Afterwards, boil the syrup again and pour it hot over the ginger.

  5. Repeat this process until the syrup has thoroughly penetrated the ginger and becomes very thick and rich.

  6. Add lemon juice at the close of the last boiling to improve the result.

  7. Put the preserved ginger and syrup into jars and cover them closely.

  8. (Optional) If you put the syrup hot to the ginger at first, it will shrink and shrivel; after the first time, only boil and reboil the syrup.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

129Calories
6 gProtein
5 gFat
14 gCarbs

Counts 3 of 4 ingredients. The other 1 aren't in our nutrition table and add nothing above, so the real totals are higher.

What these numbers assume: 3 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Sugar1 tbsp (12.5g) granulated49
Ginger1 tsp grated fresh (2g)2
Waternot in our table0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

By Eliza Leslie. Recipe from a historical cookbook (Project Gutenberg).

Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Ginger + sugartop 17% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together14,054 recipes

    Shared aroma: 1-penten-3-one (fish, pungent).

  2. Sugar + eggtop 21% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together122,807 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-nonenal (fatty, green).

  3. Ginger + eggtop 33% of all pairs
    Smell alikelow
    Cooked together7,337 recipes

    Shared aroma: (e)-2-octenal (fatty, green).

Ginger and sugar barely smell alike, yet cooks put them together in 14,054 recipes: they work on texture and structure more than aroma.

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Ginger root
Its fibres soften during boiling and absorb the syrup, becoming tender and translucent.
Loaf sugar
Forms a thick, concentrated syrup that preserves the ginger and gives it sweetness.
Eggs
Whites are beaten into the syrup so that, when heated, they coagulate and carry impurities to the skimmed surface.
Lemon juice (in the method)
Adds acidity that brightens the flavour and helps balance the sweetness of the syrup.

The step that matters

Pouring hot syrup over the ginger at first. Hot syrup drawn into cold, tender ginger makes its tissues shrink and shrivel. Only the first pour should be hot; later boils just reheat the syrup, so the ginger stays plump as the sugar slowly replaces its water.

Swap the ginger

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (sugar, egg):

  1. Cinnamonfits better
  2. Nutmegfits better
  3. Gingerthe original
  4. Capersfits less well

Fit is the average pairing score against sugar, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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