The rhizome that just keeps giving

The rhizome that just keeps giving

Ginger is very versatile, but its unmistakable flavour makes it a key ingredient in many dishes

SOCIAL & LIFESTYLE

Ginger has many beneficial qualities. Research into its chemical properties has shown that its juice can help reduce migraine symptoms, remove cholesterol from the intestines and decrease the craving addicts feel for drugs.

FISH DISH: ‘Pla jien’ gets its distinctive character from ginger.

When ginger is eaten, either fresh or cooked, its distinctive taste stands out. One example _ more than 20 years ago there was a vendor who set up a stall selling tao huay (soft tofu in hot ginger broth with brown sugar, served with the cruller-like fried bread called pa thong ko) beside a small road in Chiang Rai during the cool season at a time when the weather was especially chilly. He was from China, and had been a soldier in Division 93 of the Chinese Kuomintang army and had been left behind in the north of Thailand.

The ginger broth for the tofu at his stand was the most intense I'd ever tasted. It drove the chill out of the body so completely that warm clothing became just something to weigh you down. There was a special technique involved in the way the vendor brewed it. He would take whole rhizomes of very mature ginger, let them dry a bit, and then pound them to a coarse consistency. Finally, the pounded ginger would be simmered in a big kettle. When he sold the dish he would add more ginger and some honey so that the broth became even more potent.

This quality of ginger _ the ability to counter the cold _ is just one of many. Thais value it because they believe that it aids digestion, reduces the effects of toxins in food and creates a balance between many flavours in foods that include it. Thais and Chinese share certain beliefs about ginger.

In China there is a traditional belief in yin and yang _ the interconnectedness of opposing forces, and their dependence on each other. If the body lacks warmth ginger should be eaten to re-establish balance, whereas if it is too warm (the condition known in Thai as rawn nai), a broth of jap liang _ a group of herbs thought to the ability to cool the body _ is called for.

Thais also believe that ginger has heating properties when cooked. Tom som pla dishes, for example, are sour-salty-sweet soups, with the sourness most prominent, made from sea fish such as pla krabawk (mullet) and pla tu (mackerel). The sourness comes from tamarind water, and while the kapi, pepper, shallots and coriander root that flavour it have heating qualities of their own, ginger is added, not just because it reduces the odour of the fish, but because it also increases the heat, making these dishes especially suitable for cool-season meals.

Another dish that is popular when the weather gets chilly is kaeng liang, a soup made with a variety of vegetables and the same flavouring ingredients used in the tom som recipes _ kapi, pepper, shallots and coriander root. This time the heat comes from lemon basil, called maeng lak in Thai, and it is different from that of the tom som dishes.

There are certain snacks and light dishes, including kap klaem, or beer snacks, that use ginger to create a balance of flavours.

One popular old-fashioned snack is mieng kham, in which ingredients that might include toasted shredded coconut, dried shrimp, peanuts, chillies, pieces of lime and ginger are wrapped in a cha phlu or thong lang leaf and then doused with a sauce of kapi simmered with palm sugar and nam pla.

A popular kap klaem dishes for drinking sessions consists of naem (a fermented pork sausage) or sai krawk Isan (small, usually spherical sausages strongly seasoned with garlic) served on a plate with peanuts, chillies, ginger and pieces of lime. It is believed that the ginger can reduce the toxins released by the fermenting processes used in making the sausages.

Many main dishes eaten with rice use ginger to enrich their flavour. Pla jien, for example, can be made with any kind of fish. Sea bass, carp or fish with flat bodies are best because they look more appetising set on a platter than round-bodied ones. First the fish is fried and then it is topped with a sauce made from garlic, tao jio (a salty sauce that includes whole, fermented soya beans), ginger, prik chi fa (finger chillies) and spring onions, seasoned with sugar and nam pla. It is the ginger that gives the sauce its character.

Kai pad khing (chicken stir-fried with ginger) is another favourite. Again it is ginger _ cut into fine slivers _ that dominates the dish. Then there are pla kra pong nueng tao jio (sea bass steamed with tao jio) and pla kra pong nueng see iew (sea bass steamed with soya sauce). The sauce poured over both of these dishes is made from nam man hoy (oyster sauce), sesame oil, soya sauce and sugar. Ginger is central among the ingredients that have to be scattered on top. If it is left out, the heart of the dish will be missing.

Kaeng hang lay is a curry that originated with the Thai Yai ethnic group. It consists of pork belly simmered with a number of spices. Once again, slivered ginger is an ingredient that must be there, as it cuts the heaviness of the fatty pork.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg where the role of ginger in Thai cuisine is concerned. Whether eaten raw in mieng dishes, cooked into fish dishes or regional curries or used as a component in pastes and sauces, its distinctive flavour is impossible to miss. When its health-giving properties are taken into account there is a whole list of reasons to enjoy a ginger-enhanced dish as soon as possible.

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