Chinese Ginger Green Onion Sauce

1. Trim the roots off the green onion.
2. Finely slice the green onions, including white and green parts. Set aside.
3. Grate the ginger. I often don’t even bother to peel it. Add grated ginger to the green onion.
4. In a large frying pan, heat the oil over medium heat.
5. Once the oil is shimmering but not smoking, add the green onion and ginger.
6. Cook the green onion and ginger for one minute. If desired, you can add some salt to taste.
7. Remove the pan from the heat and let cool.
8. Store in the fridge for up to 1 week.

For the longest time, I thought this was a Japanese condiment. My Gichan (grandfather) would prepare it, my mom would make it, and now Tomiko and I make it. My cousins on the Japanese side of our family also make it, so I thought it was only natural that it was Japanese. Recently I learned that this is really a Chinese condiment that the Japanese side of my family wholeheartedly embraced. My favourite way of eating it is to add 2-3 teaspoons to cold silken tofu, drizzle some sesame oil and shoyu (soy sauce) over it, and eat it as a cold, refreshing starter in the summer.

This is a very flexible recipe, so feel free to adjust the ingredient amounts depending on your taste. One of my cousins likes for it to be mostly ginger with only a bit of green onion. Some like it with half and half, and another cousin likes to add a lot more oil.

Since chopping the green onions can be a bit of a chore, I usually make a triple batch and freeze the extra in an ice cube tray. After the cubes are frozen, I store them in a freezer bag and then pop out the cubes as needed, refreshing them with a little drizzle of oil.