I'm wondering where i can buy, at a reasonable price, a couple pounds of small chunks (for baking, not snacking) of Chinese crystallized ginger.
I know exactly where to get Australian ginger - I highly recommend the "Ginger People" brand for all your ozzie ginger needs. Their ginger ale is unlike any beverage you have imbibed.
But the Chinese ginger is hotter. Has some bite to it.
I bake with crystallized ginger. But there are few prep jobs as miserable as chopping large chunks of it into smaller chunks of it. It sticks to the knife, but since it's still coated with sugar, it freely skitters around and off of the cutting board. It's slow going, and miserable work.
I need something pre-chopped if i'm going to buy a few pounds of it. Unless somebody has a mechanical solution to this problem. I imagine it might work to toss the chunked ginger into the food processor with a cup of sugar to keep things moving - otherwise it would just stick to the blades. I haven't tried this.
For the record, here's one of the things i occasionally make with it.
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 cup butter 1/2 cup shortening 1 cup peanut butter 1 cup packed brown sugar 3/4 cup white sugar 2 eggs 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 2 teaspoons baking soda 1 teaspoon salt 1 teaspoon ground ginger 1 cup rolled oats 1 cup chopped crystallized gingerDIRECTIONS: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). In a medium bowl, cream together the shortening, butter, brown sugar and white sugar. Beat in the eggs, peanut butter and vanilla. Combine the flour, baking soda, salt and ground ginger, stir into the creamed mixture. Finally, stir in the rolled oats and candied ginger. Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls onto an unprepared cookie sheet. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven, until golden brown. Remove from the baking sheet to cool on wire racks. Store in an airtight container when cool.
Side note: Peanut butter should be as cheap as humanly possible. Peanut oil does not belong in cookies - makes them hard & greasy. You want the store brand stabilized stuff that's chock fulla shortening and emulsifiers. The stuff you would never, ever put on your own sandwiches. If you use the good stuff, you've wasted your expensive peanut butter and made sub-par cookies.
I have considered adding a pinch of white pepper to this recipe. Just to keep people on their toes.
"1 cup" of finely chopped crystallized ginger turns out to be in the neighborhood of 7.5 ounces.