Gari (ginger)
Encyclopedia
Tsukemono
are Japanese pickles. They are served with rice as okazu with drinks as an otsumami , as an accompaniment to or garnish for meals, and as a course in the kaiseki portion of a Japanese tea ceremony....
(pickled vegetables). It is sweet, thinly sliced young ginger
Ginger
Ginger is the rhizome of the plant Zingiber officinale, consumed as a delicacy, medicine, or spice. It lends its name to its genus and family . Other notable members of this plant family are turmeric, cardamom, and galangal....
that has been marinated in a solution of sugar and vinegar. Gari is often served and eaten after sushi
Sushi
is a Japanese food consisting of cooked vinegared rice combined with other ingredients . Neta and forms of sushi presentation vary, but the ingredient which all sushi have in common is shari...
, and is sometimes called sushi ginger. Although many brands of commercially produced gari are artificially colored pink (in some cases by either E124 and/or beet
Beet
The beet is a plant in the Chenopodiaceae family which is now included in Amaranthaceae family. It is best known in its numerous cultivated varieties, the most well known of which is the purple root vegetable known as the beetroot or garden beet...
juice) to promote sales, the natural product typically has a pale yellow to slightly pink hue from the pickling
Pickling
Pickling, also known as brining or corning is the process of preserving food by anaerobic fermentation in brine to produce lactic acid, or marinating and storing it in an acid solution, usually vinegar . The resulting food is called a pickle. This procedure gives the food a salty or sour taste...
process.
Gari is usually eaten between dishes of sushi
Sushi
is a Japanese food consisting of cooked vinegared rice combined with other ingredients . Neta and forms of sushi presentation vary, but the ingredient which all sushi have in common is shari...
, as it is said to help cleanse the palate. Ginger has antiseptic properties, and was originally eaten with sushi to counter the ill effects of bad fish. Gari is not meant to be consumed in any type of sushi or hand roll.
Gari should not be confused with beni shoga
Beni shoga
is a type of tsukemono . It is made from ginger cut into thin strips, colored red, and pickled in umezu , the pickling solution used to make umeboshi; the red color is derived from red perilla. It is served with many Japanese dishes, including gyūdon, okonomiyaki, and yakisoba.Beni shōga is not the...
, a red pickled ginger.