Recipe of the Week

Recipe: Homemade Ginger Ale and Its Candy
Source: Ming Tsai

Ingredients: *****
If you count the two types of water as separate ingredients you still only need four items to make these recipes. Of course, you could up the count with various garnishes but I kept it simple.

Preparation: *****
I think the ginger my grocery store had out was on the older side. This made it impossible to just “spoon” off the peel so I had to get out a paring knife and actually peel it. Lumpy, bumpy ginger is not the easiest to peel but I got through it. The rest of the time spent on this was unattended, a fact I like a lot about this recipe.

Taste: ***(**)
The ginger ale gets three stars. It was very refreshing but not quite as ginger-y as I like my ginger ale. Living on the East Coast I can’t get my favorite ginger ale from Vernor’s locally; it’s only available in the Midwest. I was hoping this would be a suitable substitution but it’s not quite there yet. I’d increase the amount of ginger next time and see if that gets me any closer. I’m guessing I’m going to need to know what else comprises Vernor’s nineteen ingredients before I actually get any closer though.

Now the ginger candy was a complete surprise and earns five stars. I’d almost decided to skip this altogether but I’m so glad I didn’t. A sugary outside melts to reveal a spicy, chewy interior. It’s the perfect post-dinner sweet tooth fix. Not that I need one, of course. I just like to have options readily available should the need arise.