Drinking The World

I like using ginger syrup in cocktails and sauces when cooking. Here's how I make mine.

Buy ten pounds of the freshest, youngest, firmest ginger that you can find in an Asian produce shop. In NYC's Flushing Chinatown I can get the best ginger for $0.99 a pound.

Cut the ginger into 1" chunks and run through a juicing machine. I use the Breville "Juice Fountain." You will end up with apx. a gallon/4 liters of fresh ginger juice.

Make a simple syrup with the juice by adding equal parts of sugar. In this case a gallon is 16 cups, so in a large pot mix the juice and 16 cups of cane sugar. This is apx. 7.25 lbs. or 3.3 kilos.

Stir gently and bring to a boil and immediately turn off heat. Carefully ladle hot syrup into sterilized canning jars to a half inch from the top. Put on the lids finger tight. Process in a boiling water bath for ten minutes. The syrup will keep for at least a year or two in the sealed jars. Once open store in the fridge where it will keep for several months. This will make around 5.5 quarts of ginger syrup.