Candied Ginger & Ginger Simple Syrup

You ever have nubs of ginger lying around? I do sometimes. So turn it into candy! Making candied ginger means you also get a delicious ginger syrup as a bonus. It’s easy peasy too, though you’ll need to use a candy thermometer. Let’s do this.

• 1 cup fresh ginger, peeled and finely sliced
• 1 pinch sea salt
• 2 cups granulated sugar, plus 1/4 cup more for coating

1. Cover ginger with water in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes.
2. Strain ginger, reserving 1/2 cup of that gingery water. Return the ginger and reserved gingery water back into the saucepan, then add the sugar.
3. Boil to 225 F, keeping track with a candy thermometer. Rock the saucepan by the handle gentle, but don’t stir.
4. Once it reaches 225, remove saucepan from heat and carefully drain ginger syrup into a glass container.
5. Spread out ginger pieces onto a colander in a single layer, cooling for at least 2 hours. (I let it dry out overnight.)
6. Add half of the coating sugar into a Ziploc bag, then add the ginger pieces. Add the rest of the sugar, zip the lock and toss the ginger pieces until all are coated.