Your Letters: How To Squeeze Juice From Ginger
Host Liane Hansen answers letters about last week's ginger recipe contest — and offers some instructions on getting juice from ginger root.
LIANE HANSEN, host:
On our show last weekend, we sure consumed more than our fair share of ginger, pickled beets, butternut squash, ginger soup, a ginger martini, and a pear and ginger upside-down cake. These were the finalists in our latest Calling All Chefs contest, where we asked you for your ginger recipes.
Some of you wrote to say I was a bit harsh when it came time to pick my favorite. I'm sorry if I came across as rude. It wasn't my intention. Maybe I should cut down on my "Top Chef" viewing. But the fact is I do love ginger. And my main motive was to try to taste the ingredient. And in the ginger martini, it was front and center.
Karen Kohfeld visited our Web site to get that recipe, and she wrote: How does one squeeze a ginger root anyway? Good question. A lot of people wondered the same thing, so I'm trying it by hand with a grater.
(Soundbite of grating)
HANSEN: It's a lot to do for a little juice, but it works. A food processor would be easier. And, of course, you can buy it bottled.
We also wanted to correct one of the recipes posted on our Web site. The pear ginger cake mistakenly called for too much butter and too little flour. Listener David Richter wrote in to say the pears ended up swimming in butter. The correct version is up on the Web site now, and by popular demand, so is a fifth recipe. Many of you wanted to know how to make the ginger cookies we briefly mentioned.
John Coe of Manhattan wrote on our Web site: Please, could we snap to it and get the recipe? Your wish is our command, John. All of the recipes can be found on our blog, npr.org/soapbox.
And, by the way, in the time I've been talking to you, I've got about a handful of grated ginger. But when I squeeze it, there's only about a teaspoon of ginger juice. But it's a labor of love. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright National Public Radio.
