Let‘s make Pickled Sushi Ginger (or Gari ガリ) at home! Refreshing and slightly sweet, it‘s perfect for cleansing your palate as you enjoy delicious sushi.

If you enjoy my sushi recipes like Hand Roll Sushi, California Roll, Dragon Roll, and Spicy Tuna Roll, there’s one crucial complementary item you need to enjoy with the amazing sushi. And that’s Pickled Sushi Ginger.
What is Pickled Sushi Ginger
In Japan, we call the pickled ginger Gari (ガリ) or Shin-shoga no Amazu-zuke (新生姜の甘酢漬け).
It’s young pickled ginger that is soaked in sweet vinegar brine. It can have a blush pink color when made from young ginger or artificially colored, or beige if made with regular ginger.
We often serve and eat pickled sushi ginger while eating sushi and it’s an essential part of a sushi meal. The spiciness and sweet vinegar flavor of the ginger helps cleanse the palate between eating, allowing you to enjoy different pieces of fish and rolls. The name Gari is from the onomatopoeia of the crunching noise or the sound of a knife thinly slice the ginger. At a sushi restaurant, you can ask more gari if you want extra.

Sweet Pickle – Amazuzuke
There are many types of pickles or what we call Tsukemono (漬け物) in Japan. We call the sweet and vinegar type Amazu-zuke (甘酢漬け).
All you need is just 3 ingredients for the pickling solution: rice vinegar, sugar, and salt. Put all the ingredients in a saucepan to meld and let cool completely. You can keep the finished Amazu for 2-3 months in the refrigerator, and use it in batches.
Do you need to use rice vinegar? Ideally, yes. The taste of rice vinegar is mellow, milder, and refreshing compared to the other types of vinegar, and because of that, you can use less sugar. If you use another type of vinegar, please adjust the amount of sugar. For authentic Japanese flavor, go with rice vinegar!

How to Make “Gari” – Pickled Sushi Ginger
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Young ginger (We’ll talk more about this later)
- Salt (Roughly 3-5% of the ginger weight. It helps remove moisture from the ginger and better absorb the pickling solution)
- Sweet pickle solution – rice vinegar, sugar, and salt
*Note: If you use white granulated sugar (in my recipe, I used organic cane sugar), the pickle solution will be lighter in color and showcase the pink more visibly (see below).
Overview: Cooking Process
- Thinly slice ginger and dehydrate with salt.
- Blanch the sliced ginger to remove spiciness.
- Let cool and squeeze the liquid out.
- Combine ingredients in a pot to make sweet pickle solution.
- Pour the hot solution to ginger and pickle for a few days.
It’s simple and easy to make, and lasts for a long time! If you can get young ginger, make a lot and preserve!

Why Do We Use Young Ginger?
Young ginger has a mild zesty flavor and a fine fleshy texture that is tender. Unlike matured ginger that’s usually used for cooking, the young ginger’s skin is very thin and easy to peel with fingers or a spoon.
To make sushi ginger, use only young ginger. Thinly slice and pickle it in a sugar and rice vinegar mixture. The sliced ginger will naturally become light pink from the tips of the young ginger (see the photo).
Many commercial producers artificially dye the pickled ginger pink. If you’re purchasing pickled sushi ginger, you can find some brands that avoid artificial coloring.
Young ginger is harvested and sold in early summer around May/June!
You can find young ginger in Asian grocery stores but they sometimes do not have the pink tip (already cut off). You can still make pickled ginger with these, but they won’t be naturally pink.

Where to Find Young Ginger
- Japanese/Asian grocery stores
- Farmers markets
- Etsy (I’ve purchased young ginger from Hawaii before)
- Good Eggs

What to Serve with Pickled Sushi Ginger
When you find young ginger in the grocery store, you know what to do now! I hope you enjoy this homemade pickled ginger recipe.

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Pickled Sushi Ginger (Gari)
Video
Ingredients
- 8 oz young ginger (you can increase by up to 50% for this recipe; if you use regular ginger, it will be VERY spicy and you must boil it longer to reduce the spiciness)
- 2 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt (3–5% of the ginger‘s weight)
For the Sweet Vinegar (Amazu)
- 1 cup rice vinegar (unseasoned) (rice vinegar is mild compared to other vinegars; if you use another type, add more sugar to taste)
- ½–¾ cup sugar (I use organic cane sugar; use white granulated sugar for a clear pickling solution that showcases the ginger‘s pink color; DO NOT USE LESS SUGAR than specified because the ginger will not preserve well)
- 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
To Prepare the Ginger
- Using a knife (you can also use the back of the knife or a spoon), scrape off the brown spots and thin skin of 8 oz young ginger.
- Using a peeler, thinly slice the ginger. You can also use a mandoline. I prefer to use a peeler as it slices very thinly.
- When you can‘t slice the ginger anymore with the peeler/mandoline, use the knife to slice the rest thinly.
- Sprinkle 2 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt on the ginger slices and set aside for 5 minutes. The salt helps remove the moisture from the ginger so it can better absorb the pickling solution.
- Meanwhile, bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Once boiling, blanch the thinly sliced ginger for 1–2 minutes. If you want to keep it spicy, take it out after 1½ minutes. Tip: If you are using regular ginger (not young ginger), blanch it for 2–3 minutes to remove the extra spiciness.
- Drain the ginger slices in a sieve. Let them cool slightly so you can handle them with your hands.
- With your clean hands, spread out the slices in a single layer over a large Japanese bamboo sieve (called bonzaru 盆ざる) or paper towel/wire rack. Set aside until it‘s completely cooled and dried out a bit more.
- Once cooled, squeeze the liquid from the ginger slices and put them in a sterilized airtight jar.
To Make the Sweet Vinegar (Amazu)
- In a small saucepan, add 1 cup rice vinegar (unseasoned), ½–¾ cup sugar, and 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt. Tip: DO NOT USE LESS SUGAR than specified because the ginger will not preserve well. The least you can use is ½ cup of sugar, and it is still quite tangy. If you prefer the taste of store-bought sushi ginger, use the higher measurement of sugar indicated.
- Mix and bring it to a boil on medium heat. Cook the vinegar mixture until the strong vinegar smell has evaporated and the sugar has completely dissolved.
- Remove from the heat and let it cool slightly because the just-boiled liquid could break the glass jar. Pour the hot vinegar mixture into the jar with the ginger slices. Using clean chopsticks (or any utensil), mix it well together. Close the lid, let it cool completely, and refrigerate.
- After 4 hours or so, the ginger will turn slightly pink (see the photo below). I recommend waiting until the following day or a few more days to enjoy.
To Store
- Keep the pickled ginger in an airtight container and store in the refrigerator for up to one year. Always use clean utensils to remove the pickled ginger from the jar to avoid contamination and to help them keep for a long time.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: This post was originally published on August 11, 2015. The images and content have been updated and a new video is added in June 2021.
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Hi Nami, I did made Gari… yay… and I finished the jar within a week 🙂 I’m going to make more for I have lots of young ginger from my garden. my question, can I re-use the liquid from jar for next batch, or Do I have to make fresh one? Seem it’s a waste to just throw it away… thanks.
Hello Stan! Thank you for reading Nami’s post and trying out Nami’s recipe.
If you’re planning on making another batch and using it soon, you can reuse the leftover liquid. However, for safety reasons, it’s recommended that you use it for making dressings, as Amazu for sushi, or for cooking other dishes, and use it up sooner.
We hope this helps!
hi nami! thanks so much for this recipe, will definitely be making. i love gari, could eat by the bucketful, but noticed that jars at local stores always use Aspartame as the sweetener; i hate the taste, and it can’t be good for you. is this a common substitute, or just in the US?
Hello Ksenya, Thank you for taking the time to read Nami’s post and trying out her homemade Gari recipe.
In Japan, some manufacturers use the sweetener, but there are also other sweetener products available.
We believe the homemade flavor is the best as well.🙂
Happy Cooking!
Another successful recipe from Nami! It’s my first time to buy young ginger and pickle it. I used apple cider vinegar as I didn’t have rice vinegar. Used the maximum amount of sugar indicated to counter the stronger vinegar.
Husband and I loved it.
Hi Sunflowii, Thank you so much for trying Nami’s recipe and for sharing your Gari photos! It looks so delicious!
We are glad to hear you and your husband loved it. Happy Cooking!
Nami, thank you for the delicious ginger recipes. My Asian store has new ginger but they couldn’t understand why I wanted so much of it. I made both of your pickled gingers, twice. The sweet one is my favorite. The one with Umeboshi plum vinegar was way to salty for me so I bought umeboshi plum concentrate from Eden Foods and used both the salty vinegar and the concentrate. It’s delicious. Will being less salty change it’s shelf life if I keep it in my refrigerator?
Hi Debbie! Thank you so much for trying Nami’s recipes!
Nami and all of us at JOC are so happy to hear you enjoyed pickled Ginger and were able to find fresh young Ginger to prepare it.
Yes. If the salt level decreases significantly, the pickle’s shelf life will be shortened. So we recommend enjoying it sooner.
If you notice white stuff or milky liquid, it’s an indication that your pickles are going bad. 😉
We hope this helps!
Hi, l am happy to find a well rated ginger recipe. Can you please tell me if I can substitute the sugar with honey or maple syrup, if so, what would be good proportions? It may not be authentic, but I cannot eat sugar. 😔 Thank you!
Hi A.S. Thank you for taking the time to read Nami’s post and try her recipe!
We’ve never replaced sugar with honey or maple syrup before, so we’re not sure what to expect.
However, approximately half of the sugar amount is comparable to honey sweetness. So, how about using half the amount of sugar for honey?
If you give this a try, please let us know how it goes.
Thank you very much!