This Is the Easiest (and Safest) Way to Peel Ginger, According to My Dad

Ginger is the star of countless savory and sweet dishes alike and that classic peppery-warm flavor that ginger is renowned for actually comes from a flowering plant’s rhizome (fun fact: it’s a perennial), otherwise known as ginger root. And if you’ve cooked with it in your kitchen, you know that working with and peeling fresh ginger can pose quite a challenge due to its rigged, inconsistent bumps. 

As mentioned, the edible part from the ginger plant comes from the plant’s root, which grows in all sorts of shapes and sizes that have made it traditionally difficult to find a full-proof way to peel it safely with a potato peeler or knife. That’s why ginger so commonly comes in dried and already-peeled-and-grated frozen forms to make enjoying ginger cookies and aromatic proteins much easier. But peeling ginger is much easier (and safer) than you think because of one simple tool that my dad showed me: a spoon. 

The Best Way to Peel Ginger

The lightly tanned skin around ginger is delicate, so while you might think using a potato peeler, knife, or grater might be a seamless way to peel ginger, its mixture of uneven bumps and grooves make it unsafe and not worth the potential cut. That’s where a spoon comes in handy—and it couldn’t be easier to do. All you have to do is press the tip of the spoon onto the ginger, bowl-side down instead of up, and drag it through the exterior of the ginger. You’ll be amazed at just how smooth and seamless the entire process is. Beyond getting a shockingly easy smooth skin each time, it’s a much safer way to peel ginger to avoid accidentally slicing yourself. 

Why Peeling Ginger With a Spoon Is So Easy

The bulk of ginger’s flavor comes from its acid flesh that is within the root vegetable’s paper-thin skin. Because the skin is so smooth, it comes off relatively easy and doesn’t need much pressure—or sharpness—which is why the smooth edges of a spoon work so well. 

Our Favorite Ways to Enjoy Ginger 

Ginger can be eaten in a variety of sweet and savory dishes whether grated, whole, or dried. Between being used in crystallized form to make most flavorful Pumpkin Ginger Cupcakes and reduced to make a flavorful sauce to accompany salmon, the possibilities are near-endless for ginger.