Description
Candied ginger is surprisingly easy to make at home and tastes phenomenal compared to the store-bought variety! We’ll walk you through everything you need to know to master making ginger candy at home!
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh ginger: sliced or chopped
- 1/2 cup sugar (more or less as needed)
- 1/2 cup water (more or less as needed)
- pinch of salt
Instructions
- Peel fresh ginger root by using a spoon to scrape the papery skin off. You can leave the skin on however it does negatively affect the final taste and texture.
- Cut the ginger into the shape and size you like: long lengthwise slices, round ginger coins, matchsticks, or little ginger nuggets- it’s up to you.
- Add cut and peeled ginger to a pot of water (enough to fully submerge the ginger) and bring it to a boil. Boil for 10 minutes then drain and return the ginger to the pot.
- Next, add water to the ginger pieces in the pot until the water is deep enough to just barely cover the ginger, taking care to measure how much water you add– you’ll add equal parts sugar!!! Very important!!! Add a small pinch of salt.
- Next, add the same amount of sugar to the pot and stir to combine. Heat over medium until it comes to a boil. Boil gently for 15 minutes. Ensure you have a low boil and do watch the mixture because as the sugar melts and a syrup forms, you’ll need to slightly reduce the heat to maintain a low boil.
- After 15 minutes, pour through a strainer to separate any syrup from the ginger pieces. This syrup is liquid gold, it’s a ginger simple syrup, so we always strain into a mixing bowl versus down the drain!
- Once you have your ginger separated, shimmy the strainer side to side to ensure you’ve separated as much syrup as possible. Add 1/4 cup sugar to the ginger pieces and stir to coat.
- Place the candied ginger in a single layer on a piece of parchment paper or on a baking sheet with a drying rack and leave at room temperature for 4-24 hours to dry. The amount of time it takes to dry depends on how thick you ginger pieces are, the thicker they are the longer they will take to dry.
- Once fully dry store in an air-tight container away from light and heat for up to 3 months!
Notes
** Up to 1/8″ slices work best for candied ginger. If you prefer your candied ginger on the chewier side don’t go paper-thin with your slices, a little thickness helps with a chewy texture.
** You can candy any amount of fresh ginger, we simply use these measurements as a guide. Just be certain to measure the amount of water needed to barely cover the ginger in the second boil and add equal parts sugar. A large batch will require a longer 2nd boil and is finished when the liquid is a syrupy consistency.
**A wide, deep pot works better than a small pot for candying ginger. A wide-bottomed pot allows better heat distribution and the ginger pieces are better spread out.
Keywords: Candied Ginger, Crystallized Ginger