I make ginger tea by boiling peeled, cut-up fresh ginger in water for
15 minutes or so. I've wondered if it's really necessary to peel the
ginger, since I don't actually eat it, I just strain it when pouring
the cup of tea. Does anyone know if there's any reason why one should
not make tea from unpeeled fresh ginger?

Thanks,

J

> wrote in message
...
> I make ginger tea by boiling peeled, cut-up fresh ginger in water for
> 15 minutes or so. I've wondered if it's really necessary to peel the
> ginger, since I don't actually eat it, I just strain it when pouring
> the cup of tea. Does anyone know if there's any reason why one should
> not make tea from unpeeled fresh ginger?
>
> Thanks,
>
> J

Providing it is clean no problem (I've juiced whole fresh ginger root and
used the juice in drinks plenty of time with no ill effects... unless you
count not getting tired until the late-early hours of the morning as an
ill-effect, that is, but that happens to me with lots of fresh ginger
regardless of skin or no skin), and it may/quite likely be even more
nutritious, since a lot of root veg. are purported to have a decent amount
of certain of their nutrients in and just under the skin - could be true of
ginger also.




Shaun aRe

In article >,
wrote:

> I make ginger tea by boiling peeled, cut-up fresh ginger in water for
> 15 minutes or so. I've wondered if it's really necessary to peel the
> ginger, since I don't actually eat it, I just strain it when pouring
> the cup of tea. Does anyone know if there's any reason why one should
> not make tea from unpeeled fresh ginger?
>
> Thanks,
>
> J

I never peel fresh ginger. Not even for grating into recipes. ;-)
I just cut off any dry/ugly parts prior to slicing or grating it.

HTH?
--
Om.

"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch." -Jack Nicholson

Shaun aRe > wrote:

> Providing it is clean no problem (I've juiced whole fresh ginger root and
> used the juice in drinks plenty of time with no ill effects...

Thanks! That answers my question.

> unless you
> count not getting tired until the late-early hours of the morning as an
> ill-effect, that is, but that happens to me with lots of fresh ginger
> regardless of skin or no skin),

Because you eat fresh ginger, you can stay up late, is that what you're
saying? I had no idea it had such powers.


Thanks.

J

OmManiPadmeOmelet > wrote:

> I never peel fresh ginger. Not even for grating into recipes. ;-)
> I just cut off any dry/ugly parts prior to slicing or grating it.
> HTH?

It does, thanks.

OmManiPadmeOmelet wrote:
> In article >,
> wrote:
>
>
>>I make ginger tea by boiling peeled, cut-up fresh ginger in water for
>>15 minutes or so. I've wondered if it's really necessary to peel the
>>ginger, since I don't actually eat it, I just strain it when pouring
>>the cup of tea. Does anyone know if there's any reason why one should
>>not make tea from unpeeled fresh ginger?
>>
>>Thanks,
>>
>>J
>
>
> I never peel fresh ginger. Not even for grating into recipes. ;-)
> I just cut off any dry/ugly parts prior to slicing or grating it.

If you cut the ugly parts off a ginger you wouldn't have anything left :-)

wrote:
> I make ginger tea by boiling peeled, cut-up fresh ginger in water for
> 15 minutes or so. I've wondered if it's really necessary to peel the
> ginger, since I don't actually eat it, I just strain it when pouring
> the cup of tea. Does anyone know if there's any reason why one should
> not make tea from unpeeled fresh ginger?
>
As others have said, it's not *necessary* to peel ginger if it's clean,
in that it won't hurt you. But you're making tea, so you're trying to
extract maximum juice/flavor into the liquid. The peel doesn't have
any juice and is a barrier. So if you peel it you'll get better
results. Just slice it off with a sharp knife. Takes seconds to do,
no problem. -aem

Shaun replied to jwermont:

>> I make ginger tea by boiling peeled, cut-up fresh ginger in water for
>> 15 minutes or so. I've wondered if it's really necessary to peel the
>> ginger, since I don't actually eat it, I just strain it when pouring
>> the cup of tea. Does anyone know if there's any reason why one should
>> not make tea from unpeeled fresh ginger?
>
> Providing it is clean no problem (I've juiced whole fresh ginger root and
> used the juice in drinks plenty of time with no ill effects... unless you
> count not getting tired until the late-early hours of the morning as an
> ill-effect, that is, but that happens to me with lots of fresh ginger
> regardless of skin or no skin), and it may/quite likely be even more
> nutritious, since a lot of root veg. are purported to have a decent amount
> of certain of their nutrients in and just under the skin - could be true
> of ginger also.

In her excellent _China Moon_ cookbook, Barbara Tropp comes across as
*extremely* obsessive about quality and cleanliness, which made the
following passage funny:

| I confess to never peeling ginger in the days before China Moon. In the
| privacy of my own home kitchen, I shook my fist at Chinese tradition (and
| at my Jewish forbears who washed even the bottom of their pots three
| times) and said, "Why bother?" It wasn't dirty, the skin of properly
| rock-hard ginger is paper-thin and innocuous, and I hadn't died yet from
| eating it. I was a rebel, and proud of it.
|
| Life at China Moon humbled me. My Chinese-Vietnamese prep staff was
| adamant that the ginger be peeled. Amy, our Chinese-American pastry chef,
| was horrified that we'd use "dirty ginger." (She is my grandmother
| incarnate.) The sous-chef muttered in my ear that we could use the ginger
| peel for seasoning stock and the task of peeling it would keep the
| dishwashers busy. What was a girl to do, pitted against the force of
| tradition and the vision of unemployed dishwashers?
|
| So we accumulate buckets of the stuff every day, and it goes to enhance
| the stock and keeps everyone happy. If peeling ginger thrills you, use it
| in this way. Or, make a ginger tea -- cover the peel with boiling water,
| steep and strain the liquid, and add a drizzle of honey to taste.
|
| In the comfort of my own home, I still never peel ginger -- except for
| ginger threads, were the look of a uniformly golden julienne is important.
| For this, I use a very sharp Chinese cleaver with a very thin blade. My
| dishwashers, on the other hand, pare the ginger with a vegetable peeler.
|
| Choose your weapon and choose to peel or not to peel. When I am president,
| I'll have a town meeting on the subject.


....so even the *most* persnickety people have no problem with making tea
from ginger peels. Go ahead.

Bob

On 18 Nov 2005 08:01:09 GMT, wrote:

> I make ginger tea by boiling peeled, cut-up fresh ginger in water for
> 15 minutes or so. I've wondered if it's really necessary to peel the
> ginger, since I don't actually eat it, I just strain it when pouring
> the cup of tea. Does anyone know if there's any reason why one should
> not make tea from unpeeled fresh ginger?
>
Don't stress over such a trivial matter. You never need to peel
ginger. I don't even bother to peel it when I grate it.
--

Practice safe eating. Always use condiments.

On 18 Nov 2005 09:25:07 -0800, aem wrote:
> >
> As others have said, it's not *necessary* to peel ginger if it's clean,
> in that it won't hurt you. But you're making tea, so you're trying to
> extract maximum juice/flavor into the liquid. The peel doesn't have
> any juice and is a barrier. So if you peel it you'll get better
> results. Just slice it off with a sharp knife. Takes seconds to do,
> no problem. -aem

Slice ginger into pieces no thicker than a dime or nickel and it's a
moot point. Better yet, julienne it.
--

Practice safe eating. Always use condiments.

In article >,
wrote:

> I make ginger tea by boiling peeled, cut-up fresh ginger in water for
> 15 minutes or so. I've wondered if it's really necessary to peel the
> ginger, since I don't actually eat it, I just strain it when pouring
> the cup of tea. Does anyone know if there's any reason why one should
> not make tea from unpeeled fresh ginger?


No reason. I made some ginger tea a couple of years back. It was at a
church camp. We were cooking for about a hundred people. I had
volunteered to assist in the kitchen for an hour. I was told to find
the largest pot. I swear it must have been 15 gallons. I was given
this huge bag of huge hands of ginger. Must of been two or three
pounds. I sliced them up, unpeeled, and put them in the pot on the
stove. Of course, there was no way that stuff was ready in the hour I
was working.

--
Dan Abel

Petaluma, California, USA