How to peel, grate and chop ginger

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Learn how to peel, grate and chop fresh ginger to make the most of this versatile ingredient, ideal for use in sweet and savoury dishes.

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Ginger is a root that has a peppery flavour with a sweet hint of lemon. The aroma is pungent and sharp and it has an unmistakable shape: bulbous joints from which grow small, knobbly bumps. Its skin is light brown, with a slight silvery quality and the flesh can range from ivory to a pale green-yellow.

Find out about the health benefits of ginger with our guide and get more inspiration from our collection of ginger recipes.

How to prepare ginger

Fresh ginger can be prepared in a variety of methods. Follow our tips for getting the best results.

Although you can remove the skin using a peeler, we prefer using the scraping method using a teaspoon.
Fresh ginger doesn’t always have to be peeled. If the ginger is young and the skin is very fine or if it is going to be finely chopped or grated, you can skip the peeling step. If the skin is thicker or you’re chopping the ginger more coarsely and don't want the skin to be included, then it's best to peel the ginger beforehand.
To get a gingery flavour without the fibrous pieces, either cut the ginger into larger pieces that you then remove before serving or grate the ginger for a more intense flavour.
Scraping the ginger is the best way to avoid wastage while blocking allows you to cut neater shapes like julienne.

How to peel ginger

Gently scrape off the skin using the top of a teaspoon.
Use a small, sharp knife to remove any pieces of skin that won’t come away.
Alternatively, shave off the sides and ends of the piece of ginger to create a neat block.

How to grate ginger

Grate the peeled ginger to get a flavoursome paste without the fibrous pieces.

Hold the root and grate on the finer side of a box grater.
To create a finer shred, use a handheld grater.

How to chop ginger

Slice the ginger finely to use it in stir-fries and tea.
To julienne ginger, stack four or five slices together at a time and carefully cut into matchstick-sized pieces.
Stack matchstick-sized pieces on top of each other and chop into fine pieces.