Fresh ginger

Thanks for visiting! It's been some time since I've updated the site, so I've changed the design as I delve into some fresh topics.

Today I'm going to experiment a bit with ginger. Ginger is the rhizome of the plant, Zingiber Officinale. The plant's name may derive from the Sanskrit word "singabera" which means "horn shaped," and with just a little imagination describes ginger's shape. Indeed, ginger is used widely in South Asian and East Asian cuisine.

In the basic chai recipe, I suggested adding dried ginger powder to the masala. Ginger powder gives a nice taste, but one that pales in comparison to fresh ginger. Fresh ginger also imparts aroma, warmth, and health benefits - including GI relief and anti-inflammatory properties - that ginger powder cannot.

How might we optimize addition of fresh ginger to chai? Since ginger's properties stem largely from compounds in its flesh, I reasoned that increasing the surface area of the flesh will enhance the chai. [for fellow geeks out there, I'm actually striving for a high surface area/volume ratios...]

To test this, I made three batches of chai, all using roughly the same starting mass of fresh ginger. Each batch, though, used ginger that was grated/chopped in ways that led to different surface areas of the flesh. I subjected my wife to gave my wife the pleasure of trying each batch without telling her the type of ginger I used; she served as a blind taster here.

Conditions

1. Coarsely diced ginger (low surface area)

2. Finely chopped ginger (medium surface area)

3. Grated ginger (with a microplane zester; high surface area)

Details

1. Heat 1 cup water

2. While water is heating, prepare and add the ginger *note I did not add masala to any condition

3. When water is boiling, reduce heat to simmer and add 1.5 tsp loose tea

4. Steep tea for 3 minutes

5. Add 1 cup milk and return to a boil

6. Remove from heat, strain

7. Add 2 tsp sugar, stir and enjoy!

Results

The coarsely chopped ginger was the negative control: it had no aroma, and no taste to speak of. The finely chopped ginger resulted in chai that was well-balanced: the aroma and taste were certainly present, but not overpowering. The grated ginger had very strong aroma and taste, and elicited the feeling of warmth that one expects from ginger, but that the finely chopped ginger did not provide. The grated ginger was similar to Adrak Chai (literally, ginger tea).

Conclusion

Since we were having this tea for breakfast, we wanted something that was relatively simple to make, yet had the 'kick' that ginger can provide. In this sense, the finely chopped ginger is the winner. For afternoon tea and/or as a digestive, though, Adrak Chai hits the spot. For this, then, I would use grated ginger.

Short story

• For subtle ginger flavor, finely chopped ginger works best
• For hit-you-in-the-face ginger flavor, grated ginger is great

Outlook

• Presumably the time one adds the ginger matters. Add it too soon, and the gingerols and other compounds may break down in the hot water. Add it too late, and not enough of ginger's compounds may leach out. Relative to the chopping/grating technique, how much does the timing matter?
• Similarly, the amount of time in between chopping/grating and using the ginger makes a difference. Use it too soon, and the flavorful compounds may not reach the surface. Use it too late, and the flavors may have leaked out onto your cutting board. What is the right timing here?
• What is the best way to store ginger? I typically wrap freshly cut ends in aluminium foil for up to a week or so. But I've heard other methods (e.g., freezing) work well also. What's your method?

I'm sure you have opinions about the use of ginger and the questions I posed. I'd love to hear them!

Office chai

Shruti began her new job this past week! This once again highlights the problem of how to make good chai in the office. Previously, I suggested a technique for making chai in a way that doesn't require a mug strainer. However, most people's work places have neither a mug strainer nor a stove top. Fortunately, microwaves can partially obviate the need for a stove top. Hence, use of a microwave together with a DIY tea bag enables one to enjoy chai at the office. Without further delay, here is the basic technique (a slight variation of a previous post):

Office Chai (one 8 oz serving)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup water
• ~ 1/2 tsp Chai masala (equal parts of: coarsely ground black pepper, green cardamom seeds, cinnamon, and ginger powder)
• ~ 1 tsp Lipton Yellow Label loose tea
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 do-it-yourself tea bag
  

Technique

1. Combine the water and milk in a mug
2. Heat the water/milk mixture in a microwave (about 2 minutes on a standard microwave) careful not to let it boil over!
   
3. Meanwhile, add loose tea and masala to a tea bag
4. Add tea bag to the mug containing the hot water/milk mixture
   
5. Steep for 3 minutes
6. Remove and discard tea bag
7. Add sugar
8. Enjoy!

Similar to strainer-less chai, this method yields chai that is good albeit a little weak. I might suggest adding just a touch more tea and masala, and/or microwaving the water/milk mixture with the tea bag. I'll explore this in a future post.

Overall, this method produces results that are on par or even superior to a "chai tea latte" from Starbuck's or some other such shop - and costs $3+ less to boot! Enjoy!

Bulk masala chai

One cool thing about chai is that it's easy to scale up: I make 2 servings every morning (for Shruti and I), and the wonderful staff at the Crowne Plaza Hotel made 300+ servings for our wedding. The method is virtually the same regardless of the number of servings.

Hence, when our lab had our annual retreat last week, it was pretty simple to make 20 servings of chai to caffeinate the lab and spur some creative scientific discussions. Note that the ingredient list here scales up directly from the basic masala chai recipe.

Basic Masala Chai (twenty 12 oz servings)

Ingredients

• 1 gallon water
• ~ 10 tsp Chai masala (~3 tbs)
• 20 tsp loose black tea (~7 tbs)
• ~ 3" fresh ginger, finely chopped
• 1 gallon milk
• ~40 tsp sugar (~4/5 cup)

Technique

1. In a large pot, bring the water to a boil Note that this will take a long time for so much water!
2. Add masala, tea, and ginger to boiling water, reduce heat to a simmer, and steep 5-6 minutes



3. Add milk, raise heat, and return to a boil, stirring occasionally Note that this mixture will take about 10 minutes to boil on high heat



4. Add ~2tsp sugar to each 12 oz mugs
5. Strain tea into mug (discard used tea and masala), and stir to dissolve sugar
6. Let the chai cool for ~5 min and enjoy!

Note that here I use freshly chopped ginger, which adds spicy warmth and aroma to the chai. Freshly chopped ginger is not essential (especially when using ginger powder in the masala), but I highly recommend it, no matter how many servings you are making (add ~1/4" fresh ginger per 12 oz serving).

Although straining 2 gallons can be cumbersome, to say the least, it is doable with a simple mug strainer. There must be more elegant solutions out there; I'd love to hear them! I thought this recipe turned out pretty well, but I'll let the guinea pigs in the lab chime in.

Strainer-less chai

It's been a little while since my last post. And by a "little while" I mean 12+ months.

Thank you thank you thank you for sticking with me (or reading this blog for the first time!).

Rest assured that my absence is NOT due to a lack of interest in chai - I've experimented with and made chai the vast majority of days over the past year. A few very welcome events partially explain my absence. Yet, I have no good excuse. I can only hope it's enough that I am grateful you're still reading!

As I'm sure many of you can empathize with, drowsiness often haunts me during mid-to-late afternoon work/class/meetings. What also haunts me when I'm away from home is the lack of equipment needed to make chai. Nearly every time I feel drowsiness encroaching at work, I am painfully reminded of my lack of access to my favorite caffeine delivery system. I suspect I am not alone in this trap.

Alas! Shruti recently found a nice solution: do-it-yourself tea bags. There are a variety out there, but I've been happy with bags from Finum. So without further rambling, the technique:

Strainer-less Chai (one 8 oz serving)

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup water
• ~ 1/2 tsp Chai masala (equal parts of: coarsely ground black pepper, green cardamom seeds, cinnamon, and ginger powder)
• ~ 1 tsp Lipton Yellow Label loose tea
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 1/2 tsp sugar

Technique

1. Combine the water and milk in a saucepan
2. Heat the water/milk mixture over medium-high heat



3. Meanwhile, add loose tea and masala to a tea bag



4. When water/milk is boiling, add to a mug containing the tea bag
5. Steep for 3 minutes



6. Remove and discard tea bag
7. Add sugar
8. Enjoy!

This method yields pretty good results, though the chai is a little weak in tea flavor, a little light in masala flavor, and a little strong on the sugar (although, the latter is perhaps not a bad thing).

I suspect that flavors of the tea and masala are not as strong because tea bag imposes a barrier between the flavor "source" (tea+masala in the bag) and "sink" (water/milk). Weak tea and masala flavor may contribute to the strong sweet taste. Just a hunch. If you have ideas, I'd love to hear them.

The bottom line is that this technique is an acceptable alternative to basic masala chai when a strainer isn't available. I'd suggest using more tea and masala, and less sugar per serving to improve the flavor of this variation.

Campfire chai

For those of you who, like me, are perhaps too easily excited by 1) cooking things over a real fire, and 2) brewing and drinking chai, making chai over a campfire should be nearly irresistible.

As you know, building a campfire in the morning is a calming yet consuming ritual in itself; add to it making chai and the resulting post-camp morning experience is difficult to top.

The only departures I took from the basic chai recipe were to

• use a cheap, cast aluminum pot for the brewing vessel (obtained from Chinatown in Philly for <5$)>
• not worry about the chai spilling over when bringing the milk and water to a boil, since, hey, you’re outdoors
  

Below are pictures Shruti took when she, Jen, Kyle, and I went camping in Bass River State Park a few weekends ago. [update: Jen and Kyle may or may not have suggested that I link to their webpages...]

The beginning: boiling water (note the shiny new aluminum pot has not yet been covered in soot... it soon will be)

Adding the goodness: tea and masala
The critical step: adding milk

The penultimate step: straining

Chai Ice Cream

One of the most frustrating things about making iced chai is that I usually make it at night. Which is fine, except it takes extreme self-restraint not to consume the hot, aromatic chai and instead put it in the depths of the fridge to chill overnight.

So the other night after I made a pot of hot chai I splashed a few teaspoons on a couple scoops of Breyer's Natural Vanilla that I was having at the time. Several welcome results: hot chai melted the ice cream just a little in a fantastic blend of temperature and texture; creaminess of the ice cream enhanced the richness of the chai; and vanilla in the ice cream complemented the chai flavor extraordinarily. In another word: awesome.

I think there are several routes to go from here:

• Try a variety of ice cream flavors (chocolate, coffee, mint, ... suggestions?) with chai splashed on top
• Use vanilla in chai masala
• Find a way to make chai more 'syrup-y' for an ice cream syrup/glaze
• Try variations of chai ice cream ("chai float" suggestions for a better name?, chai on top of ice cream, incorporate chai flavor into homemade ice cream etc.)

No recipe here since the technique is simply to add a few teaspoons of basic masala chai to vanilla ice cream. Enjoy the flavors!

Iced Chai 2

Last time, I gave a recipe for making iced chai that is very similar to the basic chai recipe. Two ideas emerged from this initial trial.

The first was to add more masala since spiceiness seemed to be masked by the cool temperature of the drink. I suspect spice-masking at chilled temperatures may occur for two reasons: 1) Any spice grounds that eek their way through the mug strainer settle during overnight chilling, as evidenced by the residue of spices leftover at the bottom of a finished mug of chai, and therefore aren't dissolved well in the chai, and 2) Flavorful oils from spices are not as soluble in water/milk at chilled temperatures as at hot temperatures, which similarly detracts from the masala flavor.

The second proposed modification was to chill the mug and add less ice to prevent dilution by water. As Aman B attested to, watered-down milk is less than ideal... chai also suffers from excess dilution by water.

I thus do a couple things differently in the recipe below. I add more masala, make ice cubes out of tea/masala/water, pre-chill the mug, use fewer ice cubes, and finally am careful to stir the chilled chai well before serving. Let's see how the below recipe turns out!

Iced Chai (one 12 oz serving)

Ingredients

• 3/4 cup water
• ~1 tsp chai masala
• ~1 tsp Lipton Yellow Label loose tea
  
• empty ice cube tray
• 3/4 cup milk
• 3 tsp sugar
  

Technique

The day before drinking

1. Bring water to a boil
2. Add masala and tea to boiling water, reduce heat to a simmer, and steep 2-3 minutes
   
3. Strain tea/masala/water into 3 cubes of an ice cube tray. Freeze tea/masala/water cubes overnight. There should be ~1/2 cup of tea/masala/water remaining in the pot.
   
4. Add milk to remaining tea/water/masala, raise heat, and return to a boil, stirring occasionally
   
5. Add sugar to a glass container
6. Strain tea into container, and stir to dissolve sugar
   
7. Chill chai in the fridge overnight
8. Chill (empty) mug in the freezer overnight

The day of drinking

1. Put tea ice cubes into chilled mug
2. Mix chilled chai well
3. Pour chilled chai over ice cubes and enjoy!

While I think adding more masala, embedding masala in the ice cubes, and stirring helped unmask spices, we are still encountering the dilution problem. Despite chilling the mug and using fewer ice cubes, the chai starts out too creamy and finishes too dilute. Shruti suggested a potential remedy may be to make the ice cubes out of chai itself. Assuming the water/milk ice cubes freeze, this may ameliorate the dilution problem. I'd love to hear your suggestions. Hopefully the next post will have a solution...