Around the world in 36 ginger recipes (2024)

has been highly prized for both its medicinal and culinary properties for many thousands of years. Fresh, dried, ground, crystallised, pickled and preserved, it's a remarkably versatile spice.

The known history of ginger in cooking dates back over 5,000 years when records show both Indian and Chinese cultures using it as a healing tonic. But it was most likely used to flavour dishes and create herbal concoctions long before formal records began.

This pungent spice was an important trade article between India and the Roman Empire, where it was prized for its medicinal properties rather than any culinary uses. Just think, the recipe for pasta ragu could have been so much different had ginger taken off as a spice.

Ginger is practically as ubiquitous as soy sauce in Chinese cooking, so take your pick of gingery dishes to gourge on. Do put this ginger chicken on the list, though. It's a simple celebration of what the ginger spice offers.

Jamaicans use liberal helpings of ginger in many of their recipes, but we can't go past a spicy

to really show off how fiercely well ginger plays with other spices.

is a highly popular Korean barbecue dish that boasts all the bold flavours Korean food is all about—a chunk of ginger balancesgochujang,gochugaru, vinegar and soy.

Green curry paste always contains a healthy slug of ginger and its sister-spice galangal. This

recipe makes a nice change from the usual chicken curry.

More than 2000 years ago ginger was brought to the Middle East from India, so there is a rich tradition of gingery dishes throughout the region. Ground ginger is particularly popular in desserts like this

.

This

comes from Eliza Smith’s book,The Compleat Housewife, or, Accomplish’d Gentlewoman’s Companionfrom 1727. However, the first known recipe for gingerbread came fromGreecein 2400 BC.

While Americans go wild for

at Christmas time, they actually date back to Elizabeth I and England. The Queen's staff included a royal gingerbread maker who first created gingerbread men in the likeness of a visiting foreign dignitary party.

Lemongrass combines beautifully with ginger to create a tasty base for a delicate

. Proof that ginger can be subtle when it's called for.

If your only taste of Japanese

thus far has been out of a packet off the sushi train, we urge you to make this recipe.

Ginger is one of the backbones of Indian cuisine and a good

usually contains it. This version from Amritsar is even finished with slivers of julienned fresh ginger.

is liberally eaten during Tết, Vietnamese Lunar New Year. The sweet snack is enjoyed over a cup of green tea when guests stop by for a visit.

Punch up the flavour of rice by adding ginger, lemongrass and eschallots. Add a bit of this and a bit of that and you've got yourself a portable dish of

.