Main Ingredients:
Ginger: 1500g; Brown Sugar: 1500g; Red Dates: Appropriate amount.
Auxiliary Ingredients:
Red Dates: Appropriate amount.
Taste: Sweet; Cooking Method: Boiling; Time: Several hours; Difficulty: Simple.
Detailed Steps for Making Homemade Ginger Sugar Paste
Choose plump ginger, wash it clean to avoid any dirt, and don’t worry about breaking it apart for washing! (Let me explain the difference between fresh ginger and dried ginger: Dried ginger is a specialty of Henan Province and was declared an intangible cultural heritage in 2009. It is highly valued for its medicinal properties. Fresh ginger, on the other hand, is just a common cooking ingredient with little medicinal value. It has a high water content, thin skin, and tends to become mushy when cooked. Moreover, some fresh ginger may be toxic. So be careful when choosing ginger.)
Cut the ginger into slices and then crush it with a blender. No water is needed. A food processor can also be used. If you don’t have a blender, it will be a bit troublesome, but luckily I saw one on sale at the mall before and bought it. I never thought I would use it this time.
Filter out the residue with a disposable gauze and take out the ginger juice. Gauze can be found in supermarkets. This is related to hygiene, so buy it from a trusted supermarket.
Wash the red dates and cut them into small pieces. It’s best to choose large red dates that look delicious. I secretly ate a few red dates while making this.
Pour the ginger juice into a clay pot, add the reserved brown sugar, bring to a boil, and simmer over low heat. Be patient. A clay pot is something that everyone should have at home, especially for making soups.
Simmer over low heat (note: stir constantly to prevent sticking to the pot). I watch TV and stir it every once in a while.
Simmer for about 2 hours until it becomes a paste. It takes a bit of time. I simmered it for more than 2 hours and finally got the paste.
Sprinkle in the red date pieces just before taking it off the heat. The amount of red date pieces added depends on personal preference.
After simmering for another 30 minutes or so, let it cool and pour it out of the clay pot. Basically, it’s done! The above steps are for reference only.
