Crystallized Ginger (and Ginger Syrup)

First, peel that ginger. (I find the quickest and least wasteful way to peel ginger is with the side of a teaspoon. Holding the teaspoon at a slight angle and with the back of the spoon facing you scrape down the ginger. The skin comes off so much easier.) Now chop it into small dice.

Cover your ginger with the 3 cups of water and simmer over medium heat, with the lid on, for 20 minutes in a LARGE saucepan*. It will still feel quite firm at this stage.

Strain into a jug, catch all of the ginger pieces in your strainer and reserve all the liquid.

Put 2 ½ cups of the reserved liquid and 2 ½ cups sugar in the saucepan and add back in the ginger pieces.

Bring this mix up to a rolling boil and keep it there until your sugar thermometer reaches 106C or 225F. (This stage is likely to take longer than you think. I find that it quickly nearly reaches the temperature but takes a good ten minutes to actually hit 225F/106C. Watch it though.

Once it reaches the correct temperature take it off the heat.

Strain the ginger straight away while it is still hot (reserving the syrupy liquid for your lattes and ice-cream) and toss the ginger pieces into more sugar until they are coated. Let cool then keep in the fridge.

(My crystallized ginger is pink because I had less sugar in the house than I thought and ended up using my experimental batch of rose scented sugar).

(I also want to add just two things. 1) Please be careful when working with any hot liquid but especially hot sugar and 2) * Use a much bigger pan than you think you will use. When the sugary water comes to a rolling boil it will at least triple in size. A bigger pan will educe the risk of spills and burns.)