I’ve Got a Fever, and the Only Prescription is More Ginger

Ginger is worth the thousands of years-long hype it has gotten. Here’s how to incorporate more of it into your diet.

Making some ginger tea in the morning

Growing up, my favorite treat to sneak from the cupboards was the crystallized ginger. It felt like a grown-up luxury candy to me, since it was made from something we’d find in the produce drawer and only pulled out for Christmas cookies. Little did I know that this craving would last me a lifetime, and for good reason (ginger ale when you’re sick anyone?). The research backs up the same thing we already knew from having treated out upset stomachs. Ginger acts as nature’s cure-all, with promising research suggesting that ginger is helpful in fighting everything from cancer to Alzenheimer’s disease.

How, though, do you incorporate more ginger into your diet? These 5 crafty ginger uses will have you buying giant bags at your grocery store.

Steep Some Ginger Tea

This application is simple but incredibly satisfying. Slice 1-2 inches of ginger thinly, then pour hot tea water over the pieces and steep for five to eight minutes. If you’d like to put a little more effort in, add slices of lemon, a little honey, some mint, or some cayenne. You can use the same batch of ingredients and re-steep it with more water at least once. What a great way to feel soothed!

Make a Ginger Bug

A ginger bug is a fermentation similar to a sourdough starter. The natural yeast on the outside of ginger feed on sugar to make a bubbly liquid that kickstarts carbonation. It’s a reasonably easy way to make your own ginger beer or ale at home, but it will take about a week to get you started!

To make your own ginger bug, you will need the following:

• A medium sized glass jar

• A coffee filter and a rubber band or a hair tie

• 1 cup water

• a large knob of ginger

• 5 tablespoons sugar or honey

On day one, mix one tablespoon of grated ginger, one tablespoon of sugar or honey, and your water together in your glass jar. Cover with your coffee filter and secure it with a rubber band. For the following four days, add one more tablespoon ginger and one more tablespoon of your sweetener, then stir and cover your bug. By the fifth day, you should have a yeasty and gingery smelling liquid that you can cover with a proper lid.

How do you use the ginger bug? To make roughly 5 pints of ginger beer, simmer 1/2 gallon of water with 1/2 cup sugar and 1/3-1/2 cup of fresh grated ginger for 15-20 minutes. If you would like, you may also add spices such as cardamom or a vanilla bean at this step for added flavor. Let the mixture cool to room temperature, then strain and add all of your ginger bug from the previous step. Bottle in swing top bottles or reuse old kombucha bottles from the store. Leave at room temperature for about 4-5 days to allow carbonation to occur. The longer you wait, the less sweet your mixture will be and the more bubbly the final product.

Add Ginger to a Smoothie

A knob of ginger in a green smoothie will add more zip and zing. It also gives the illusion of sweetness without adding any extra sugar in whatever you are making. Simply throw a 1 to 2-inch knob of ginger in your smoothie while blending and marvel at its instant pick-me-up abilities.

Use Ginger-Garlic Paste

Ginger-Garlic Paste is the base of many curries, as well as a number of Southeast Asian cuisines. I chop up the ginger, then blend it with equal parts of raw garlic cloves and a little vegetable oil to get it spinning. At this point, the paste is ready to be used in a salad dressing or a marinade. If you would like to take it a step further, you can cook it out with more oil, then add coconut milk for a curry base or ground meat to make lettuce cups. Don’t forget to balance out the flavors with salt, fish sauce, or citrus.

Marinate Some Meat

Mix the following ingredients to make a marinade:

• 4 parts soy sauce,

• 2 parts rice vinegar or lemon

• 1 part sesame oil

• 1 part honey or brown sugar

• Fresh ginger and garlic grated to taste

Marinate your steak or pork for a minimum of two hours or overnight, then sear it or grill it. You won’t be disappointed with the flavors!