Red Pickled Ginger (Beni Shoga)

Step 1

Gather all the ingredients. Sterilize a jar or pour hot water and wipe the jar with high % alcohol (shochu or vodka).

Step 2

Peel the ginger with a sharp knife (or the back of the knife) or a spoon. The skin is very thin, so you can easily remove the brown spots.

Step 3

Using the knife, thinly slice the ginger lengthwise into thin slabs. Stack several slabs and cut into julienned strips.

Step 4

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the ginger strips and blanch for 2 to 3 minutes.

Step 5

Drain the ginger well in a fine mesh sieve and let cool over a large flat surface (I used a bonzaru, Japanese bamboo sieve). Alternatively, wrap in a clean kitchen towel, and gently squeeze to remove excess liquid. The ginger cooking liquid can be enjoyed as ginger tea or shoga-yu (生姜湯).

Step 6

Once cool completely, add the ginger into small jars or one big jar/container.

Step 7

Add ume plum vinegar. Here I show two variations: two dark red and two light red in color. To make lighter red, you only add a small amount of ume plum vinegar, almost no excess liquid in the jar.

Step 8

Mix well and close the lid. Store the jar in the refrigerator overnight and up to several days.

Step 9

You can keep the red pickled ginger in the refrigerator for up to a year. Always use a clean utensil to pick the ginger from the jar before serving.