If you enjoy my sushi recipes like Hand Roll sushi, California Roll, Dragon Roll, and Spicy Tuna Roll, there’s one crucial complementary item you need to enjoy with the amazing sushi. And that’s Pickled Sushi Ginger.
What is Pickled Sushi Ginger
In Japan, we call the pickled ginger Gari (ガリ) or Shin-shoga no Amazu-zuke (新生姜の甘酢漬け). It’s young pickled ginger that is soaked in sweet vinegar brine. It can have a blush pink color when made from young ginger or artificially colored, or beige if made by regular ginger. Pickled sushi ginger is often served and eaten while you eat sushi and it’s an essential part of a sushi meal. The spiciness and sweet vinegar flavor of the ginger help cleanse the palate between eating, allowing you to enjoy different pieces of fish and rolls. The name Gari is said to be from the onomatopoeia of the crunching noise or the sound of a knife thinly slice the ginger. At a sushi restaurant, you can ask more gari if you want extra.
Sweet Pickle – Amazuzuke
There are many types of pickles or what we call Tsukemono (漬け物) in Japan. The sweet and vinegar type is called Amazu-zuke (甘酢漬け). All you need is just 3 ingredients for the pickling solution: rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. Put all the ingredients in a saucepan to meld and let cool completely. You can keep the finished Amazu for 2-3 months in the refrigerator, and use it in batches. Do you need to use rice vinegar? Ideally, yes. The taste of rice vinegar is mellow, milder and refreshing compared to the other types of vinegar, and because of that, you can use less sugar. If you use another type of vinegar, please adjust the amount of sugar. For authentic Japanese flavor, rice vinegar is preferred!
How to Make “Gari” – Pickled Sushi Ginger
Ingredients You’ll Need
Young ginger (We’ll talk more about this later)Salt (Roughly 3-5% of the ginger weight. It helps remove moisture from the ginger and better absorb the pickling solution)Sweet pickle solution – rice vinegar, sugar, and salt
*Note: If you use white granulated sugar (in my recipe, I used organic cane sugar), the pickle solution will be lighter in color and showcase the pink more visibly (see below).
Overview: Cooking Process
Thinly slice ginger and dehydrate with salt.Blanch the sliced ginger to remove spiciness.Let cool and squeeze the liquid out.Combine ingredients in a pot to make sweet pickle solution.Pour the hot solution to ginger and pickle for a few days.
It’s simple and easy to make, and lasts for a long time! If you can get young ginger, make a lot and preserve!
Why Do We Use Young Ginger?
Young ginger has a mild zesty flavor and a fine fleshy texture that is tender. Unlike matured ginger that’s usually used for cooking, the young ginger’s skin is very thin and easy to peel with fingers or a spoon. To make sushi ginger, only young ginger is used. It’s thinly sliced and then pickled in a sugar and rice vinegar mixture. The sliced ginger will naturally become light pink from the tips of the young ginger (see the photo). Many commercially produced and sold pickled ginger are artificially dyed pink. If you’re purchasing pickled sushi ginger, you can find some brands that avoid artificial coloring. Young ginger is harvested and sold in early summer around May/June! Young gingers found in Asian grocery stores sometimes do not have the pink tip (already cut off). You can still make pickled ginger with these, but they won’t be naturally pink.
Where to Find Young Ginger
Japanese/Asian grocery storesFarmers marketsEtsy (I’ve purchased young ginger from Hawaii before)Good Eggs
What to Serve with Pickled Sushi Ginger
Temaki Sushi (Hand Roll Sushi)California RollSpicy Tuna RollDragon RollInari Sushi
When you find young ginger in the grocery store, you know what to do now! I hope you enjoy this homemade pickled ginger recipe. Sign up for the free Just One Cookbook newsletter delivered to your inbox! And stay in touch with me on Facebook, Pinterest, YouTube, and Instagram for all the latest updates. Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on August 11, 2015. The images and content have been updated and a new video is added in June 2021. They’ve been in business for over forty years and all the sashimi products we’ve tried from them are outstanding. Use J1COOK20 for 10% discount. Disclosure: We earn a small percentage commission from your purchase of products linked to Catalina Offshore.
