Substitute for Fresh Ginger

Fresh ginger gives three things at once: a clean, peppery heat, a lemony aroma that fades quickly with cooking, and juicy fibers that dissolve into sauces when grated finely. Ground ginger keeps the heat but loses the aroma and juice, while frozen and jarred ginger keep most of all three. The right swap depends on how much of that freshness the dish depends on.

Cooking

In stir-fries, dumpling fillings, noodle sauces and quick curries, the aroma is the reason ginger is there, so use frozen or jarred ginger. Add it with the garlic in the first 30 seconds of a stir-fry, and add another half teaspoon near the end to restore the top note that the cooking takes away.

For soups, braises, dals and slow curries, ground ginger works because long simmering flattens fresh ginger’s brightness anyway. Stir it into the oil with the other ground spices for a few seconds before adding liquid; blooming in fat removes its dusty raw taste. A squeeze of lime at the end puts back some of the citrus quality.

Baking

In gingerbread, molasses cookies and spice cakes, most recipes already call for ground ginger, so swapping in the other direction is easy. Fresh ginger in a cake adds moisture too; with ground ginger instead, the crumb is slightly drier, though the change from a tablespoon or two is small. Crystallized ginger suits scones and crumbles, where bits of chewy, spicy-sweet ginger are welcome.

When not to substitute

Ginger tea, ginger shots, pickled sushi ginger, Chinese steamed fish with ginger and scallion, and fresh ginger-scallion sauce all depend on raw or barely cooked root. Ground ginger makes them muddy and gritty, and paste carries the taste of its preservatives. Buy fresh or use frozen.

Turmeric and galangal are related rhizomes, but neither tastes like ginger. They are separate ingredients, not swaps.

Common mistakes

• Using ground ginger at the fresh-ginger volume. A tablespoon of ground ginger is many times too much and makes a dish bitter and hot.
• Adding ground ginger to a cold dressing. It stays gritty and raw-tasting; whisk it with a little warm water first, or choose frozen ginger.
• Chopping instead of grating. Ginger chunks stay fibrous in a fast stir-fry; grate or mince very finely.
• Forgetting the sugar in crystallized ginger. Unrinsed, it adds noticeable sweetness to savory dishes.