shogayaki

There is always a good side and bad side to things.

The bad part of Spring...the awful dust cloud generated from China. It is called kosa and means yellow sand. It kind of looks like fog, but really kind of looks like a really bad case of pollution. Can you believe we are breathing this stuff now? Blah! Don't hang your laundry outside!!

The good part of Spring...all of the Spring crops are being brought into the markets. You can tell which products they are because the word shin (new) in front of everything.

Veggies like yellow or white onions are quite tender and sweet--great for roasting. Ginger is so tender, you could probably eat it raw and not twinge from the spicy bite. The outside of the ginger is white and needs no peeling at all.

So, what better way to use fresh ginger than for shogayaki (pork ginger). I have made this tons of times during the year, with one instance documented here. It is very easy, just marinate the pork overnight and cook the next day.

Most ginger that you find in the markets overseas have a brownish skin that can sometimes be a bit tough. But, DON'T take a knife to it! Use a spoon, yes, you read right, use a spoon. A spoon will "gingerly" scrape the skin off and there will be no waste of your precious ginger. I can't tell you how many times I have rolled my eyes at how wasteful some chefs on the Food Network were using their knives, hacking away at the ginger, ending up with little nubs...sigh!

So, now you've cooked your dishes and you have leftover ginger, what to do? Just cut it into little chunks and freeze it with the skins on. Then, just take it out before cooking and use your spoon to scrape off the skin...ginger all year round!