Ginger Recipes

F&W’s Kay Chun creates a healthy alternative to pasta by tossing spiralized zucchini and roast chicken with an aromatic Asian dressing. You’ll need a superfine grater, such as a Microplane, to prep the fresh ginger and garlic.    

F&W’s Kay Chun uses panko to coat tofu steaks, then pan-fries them until they’re crispy outside and creamy within.

This isn't the kind of ice cream pie you'd make for a kiddie birthday party. Instead of a plain cookie crust, Grace Parisi creates a crispy, chewy one with crumbled gingersnaps, dried pineapple and candied ginger. And instead of the usual caramel or chocolate sauce on top, she prepares a delectable mix of dulce de leche and passion fruit nectar from the supermarket.

For winter squash that is crispy on the outside and moist within, Melissa Perello halves each one, roasts it until soft, then cuts it into wedges and roasts it some more.

Dean Fearing loves the holiday feel of butternut squash, especially when it's combined with ginger, as it is for his smooth, gently sweet soup. He tops it with whipped cream flecked with chopped pecans for a number of reasons: "Usually holiday soups have a dollop of cream—adding pecans gives it a dollop of flavor. And crunch. I think everything should have a little bit of crunch to it. Plus, this is Texas, and pecans are Texas."

This shrub (a sweet vinegar-based syrup) from F&W’s Kay Chun is sweet and zippy and as good for a party as it is for a hangover.

"I just think carrots, particularly their tops and roots, are an artistic wonder," Richard Blais says. "The color, the abstract shape—they're gorgeous." He cooks them in a tangy ginger sauce and then sprinkles them with the flavorful, seaweed-and-sesame-seed-based Japanese seasoning called furikake.

F&W's Grace Parisi makes this soda with iSi's new Twist 'n Sparkle soda maker, which carbonates beverages in less than 30 seconds. $50; williams-sonoma.com.

Stanley Cheng, owner of Hestan Vineyards and CEO of Meyer Corporation, loves to eat his favorite beef stir-fry with blackberry-rich Napa Valley Cabernet: The firm tannins in the wine pair well with the gingery hoisin and oyster sauces.

F&W's Grace Parisi opts for baking soda instead of baking powder to create delectable holiday sugar cookies that are especially crispy.

This simple base relies on julienned fresh ginger for its punchy flavor.

Marinated baby artichokes are not a staple of Turkish cuisine in the way that stuffed grape leaves are. But they are a favorite at Karaköy Lokantasi, owned by husband and wife Oral Kurt and Aylin Okutan. The dressing for the artichokes includes a little invigorating fresh-grated ginger, as well as more traditional Turkish flavors, like lemon juice and chopped dill.

The key to making this simple fruit salad with candied ginger: Use a sharp knife to cut the citrus. "The better your knife, the better this dish will look," says chef Jason Travi.

Dark chocolate with a high cacao content is lower in sugar and higher in antioxidants than milk chocolate. For this ingenious snack, Grace Parisi coats wafer-thin crispbreads in dark chocolate so that they seem like candy bars studded with flaky Maldon sea salt, chewy crystallized ginger and candied fennel seeds.

F&W's Grace Parisi shares a classic recipe for mussels in white wine, then creates amazing alternatives with clam broth, lager, and, in this recipe, sake.

The marinade for these shrimp—a piquant mix of lemon juice, garlic, ginger, basil and parsley—would be equally good with pork or chicken. The dipping sauce is almost chutney-like with chunks of whole tomatoes; lemongrass and lime juice add tang.

As a dairy-free alternative to creamy dips, the recipe here calls for pureeing sweet peas with scallions, ginger and jalapeño, then seasoning the mix with yellow miso. Serve the spread with different kinds of crackers and breads or sugar snap peas and celery for dipping.

Melissa Rubel Jacobson says the easiest way to peel fresh ginger for this punchy Asian-inspired vinaigrette is to scrape it with the edge of a spoon. She then grates it on a Microplane zester (other fine graters work well, too) before using it in the dressing.

City Winery chef Andres Barrera slow-roasts lamb until tender, then stuffs it into warm pitas along with pickled red onions, feta cheese and a bright-flavored tomato-ginger compote (also great on a burger or cheese plate).

Pam Anderson likes to serve sliced tenderloin—a very lean cut of pork—with a tangy raisin-and-ginger-flavored sauce that tastes much more decadent than it actually is, thanks to a secret ingredient: cornstarch, which gives the sauce body while avoiding added fat.

Malin Elmlid's friend John Benjamin Savary sweetens this clever coffee mocktail with ginger syrup and orange marmalade. Marmalade made with Seville oranges is best because it has a pleasing bitter edge.

This mousse is a terrific way to end Thanksgiving dinner because it's appropriately indulgent, but also light and tangy. It uses ginger in three forms—fresh, ground and candied—for layers of heat and flavor.

Pecan halves sautéed with butter, sugar, and ground ginger are positively addictive. Serve them with ice cream, a selection of cookies, or fruit desserts, or on their own after dessert as petit fours. They're quick to make and, presented in tins, are great holiday gifts. If you prepare the pecans more than two days ahead, add another half teaspoon of ginger, since the flavor dissipates over time.

To give this simple dish another layer of flavor without adding much fat, chef Jacques Torres glazes chicken and vegetables with a bit of honey and cooks them until they are deeply caramelized.

This gingery soup features meaty shiitake mushrooms, shredded beef chuck and chewy Japanese udon noodles.

Nick Malgieri adds a puckery note to his gingersnap cookies by sandwiching them with a fresh lemon cream.

Pair with an aromatic Riesling, such as one from Washington State.

Katie Rosenhouse, pastry chef at Olana in New York City, makes gingerbread year-round, not just at Christmastime. Her supermoist cake, flavored with molasses for a mellow sweetness, is excellent with wine-poached pears or a topping of whipped mascarpone and sugary, slightly bitter confited orange peel.

According to Ryan Fitzgerald, this drink—created by mixologists Kathy Flick and Marcovaldo Dionysos—is based on the Favorite Cocktail in Jacques Straub's 1914 book Drinks. The updated recipe amps up the Favorite's ginger flavor with an intense syrup infused with fresh ginger and black peppercorns.