Cooking with a Ginger Grater

Freshly-grated ginger makes a delicious addition to many dishes, especially dishes with Asian or Indian influences. Not only does it add a zesty flavor to food, but ginger root is also thought to have many medicinal properties and health benefits, like nausea relief. Use a ginger grater from Williams Sonoma to enhance all your meals with fresh ginger root. These graters are easy to operate and create the perfect minced pieces of ginger for cooking and garnishing. As they can also be used for grating other ingredients, they're a wonderful tool to have in any kitchen.

Fine Graters and Zesters

Since fresh ginger has such a strong flavor, recipes often call for a fine mince rather than a rough chop. While you can finely mince your ginger using a sharp paring knife, simply grating the root is much quicker. Fine graters come in two main designs, both of which are handheld.

• Rasp graters are long, skinny tools that resemble the type of files used in the woodworking industry to smooth wood and in the beauty industry to shape fingernails. They are easy to maneuver and come with a soft grip handle for a comfortable hold.
• Flat graters are thin, wide tools with rubber or metal handles. The larger surface area lets you grate large pieces of ginger quickly and efficiently.

In addition to grating ginger root, both the rasp graters and the flat graters can also be useful in other ways. Keep a ginger grater in your utensil crock to enhance a variety of sweet and savory dishes.

• Fine graters are perfect for zesting citrus fruits like lemons, limes and oranges. Citrus zest is very versatile and livens up pasta dishes, soups, dressings and sauces, marinades and baked goods.
• Finely-grated chocolate also makes a delicious addition to baked goods, like cakes and pastries. Hot chocolate, coffee, popcorn, ice cream sundaes and many other snacks and drinks look and taste great with a garnish of grated chocolate.
• It's best to grate parmesan, romano and other hard cheeses with a fine grater rather than a traditional cheese grater. This gives the cheese the best texture for sprinkling on savory meals.

Multipurpose Tools

While a simple rasp or flat ginger grater can be used for many different ingredients, the end result will always be a fine mince. Multipurpose graters come with additional features that increase their versatility in the kitchen. Some include a coarse grater, perfect for grating cheeses like cheddar or swiss and vegetables like carrots or cabbage. Some also come with a mandoline slicer to create thin and even slices of tomatoes, radishes and other vegetables. Other handy features, like a built-in vegetable peeler, can also be quite useful when grating small ingredients with peels.

A classic ginger grater from Williams Sonoma is the key to adding the strong, zesty flavor of ginger root to your meals. Choose from simple tools like handheld rasp or flat graters or upgrade to multipurpose tools with extra features like coarse graters and vegetable peelers. With a ginger grating tool on your kitchen counter, you can always have freshly grated ginger, citrus zest, chocolate or cheese to enhance your meals.