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.
It have Successfully made this for many years. But here where I am living Now fresh young ginger is never available. Can you tell me what I should do different using older ginger. Of course I will look for more wet ones, than stringy dry ones.
Hi Krishnabai,
Thank you very much for trying this recipe!
If you are using older ginger for this recipe, we recommend slice it as thin as possible and then julienne cut.
We hope this helps.😊
I’ve been adding a sliced radish to the ginger when pickling. It gives the ginger a nice pink color without having the pink root tip.
Hi Carole!
Radish! Wow! What a great idea!
We are impressed by everyone’s creativity! Thank you for sharing your tip!
Very easy, and great flavor. But I had no way to get young ginger, and used regular mature ginger. It was too woody to slice with a mandoline, and I couldn’t get it thin by hand, so thick slices. After a couple of weeks, I drained it and put it in the blender! I added just enough of the brine to get a smooth paste. Very hot, like wasabi, but tastes great. I am a ginger fanatic, and have been known to eat gari for dessert…
Hi Phat Khat!
Thank you very much for trying this recipe!
We are so glad to hear it turned out great after blending. You are so creative!
Thank you for your kind feedback.☺️
I’m just making this for the second time. It’s a great recipe. I haven’t found pink ginger but just use what I find in the supermarket. I also admit I’m adding a little red cabbage to give it is pink colour. Not authentic I know but it does look good when it’s pink!
Hi Fay!
Thank you very much for sharing your cooking tip and for your kind feedback! ☺️
Red cabbage to add the pink color! What a great idea!
Great recipe, thank you also for answering my question as to why some ginger with sushi comes in pink colour. I just made this because I found that pickled ginger helps me with my nausea from chemo treatment. Many thanks. S.
Hi Susanne!
Thank you very much for trying this recipe and for your kind feedback!
We are glad to hear you enjoy this Gari-pickled, and it helps you feel better! Please take care.😊
Hi,
Thanks for sharing this recipe. I want to try this as I always love the pickle ginger. Do you know how long it’d last in the fridge after it’s pickled?
Hi Shirley,
Thank you for trying this recipe!
The pickled ginger can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 1 year! ☺️
Hi Nami,
I grow ginger and collect the young roots to make pickled ginger. I have been using my own vinegar + sugar water. Now i can make the gari the correct way.
Thank you for sharing the recipe.
Hi Chris! You make young ginger! I’m so jealous! I’ve been waiting for young ginger for some recipes, maybe I need to start making my own. 😀 Thank you for your kind feedback!
Okay, I just finished using your recipe. This is the first time I have ever tried making pickled ginger. I made a lot of mistakes. First, I picked the wrong recipe. I found one that had more reviews and more stars, and I thought “oh, that should be good,” and I started working on it. So I am using ginger that is not as young as it should be (other recipes never explained “young”). I also started with too much ginger and too much salt. Then I read what to do with the vinegar and sugar, and I knew I had made a mistake. I thought I had better find a more authentic recipe. I found yours, and I am very grateful to you for posting it. My pickled ginger won’t be as good this time as it will be next summer, but I know what recipe to use, and I already taste tested a scrap before I even put it in the refrigerator. This is going to be good! In spite of the bad start, it has had. I found your recipe just in time! Thank you, again!
Hi Theda! This means so much to me. Thank you for your kind feedback. It’s important to use young ginger for sushi ginger because the regular ginger is too spicy/too gingery to be sushi ginger. There is no sharp taste when you use young ginger. I guess if you really love ginger, maybe it doesn’t bother much. But it’s quite hard to get rid of that sharp and strong taste of ginger. So next time when you spot young ginger, don’t miss the chance to make this one! 🙂 Otherwise, boiling regular ginger for a longer time helps to remove the sharp gingery taste. 🙂 Thank you again!!
Thank you. Very helpful information in this recipe. More authentic than others.
Hi Theda! Thank you so much. 🙂
Very easy delicious recipes. Thank you!!!!!
Thanks Gali! I’m glad to hear that! Thank you for your kind feedback!
Hi there – I live in Australia, and have been making pickled ginger from your recipe for a long time. We love it, and it’s fantastic to always have some ready. I have tried experiments using apple cider vinegar, and also Italian vinegars. For anyone thinking it is a good substitute, you might be disappointed as it is far too strong. Japanese rice vinegar is more subtle and not as pungent as other vinegars. We often have difficulty getting young ginger where I live, so I sometimes use older ginger to pickle and use only in cooking. Hopefully we will be able to go back to Japan soon – we were there last year for our fourth visit! Thinking of our lovely Japanese friends in this awful time.
Hi Carol! Thank you so much for your kind feedback. I’m so happy to hear you enjoy this recipe so much. I agree with you. I always make sure people don’t take it lightly when I say rice vinegar… When I tried other types of vinegar (I only grew up with rice vinegar), I was shocked at how strong the vinegar tastes! Thank you for testing this with apple cider vinegar (I wasn’t fully sure) and Italian vinegars (never tried it). Your kind tips are truly appreciated!
Wonderful! Thank you for including all the important details, of season when young ginger comes out, Etc. very successful. Thank you. Arrigato gozimas.
Hi Laurie! You’re very welcome! Thank you for your kind feedback. 🙂
Can I substitute seasoned rice vinegar to rice vinegar?
Hi Mai! Yes, you can, but seasoned rice vinegar has salt and sugar in it, so adjust the taste accordingly. 🙂
love the ginger, i am eating it non stop instead of buying everyday. thank you.
Hi Judy! Thank you for trying my recipe! I’m so happy to hear you like it! 🙂
[…] may be a little bit pinkish. As young ginger is juicier and has a mild taste, it is often used in pickled ginger/sushi ginger (Gari ガリ in Japanese) or in this delicious Ginger […]