Add these recipes with ginger to your repertoire to stimulate digestion, settle your stomach and improve gut health. Fresh ginger contains loads of vitamins, minerals and plant compounds such as gingerol, which gives ginger its zingy flavours. Ginger is also an antioxidant, has antimicrobial properties, and has anti-inflammatory properties that reduce inflammation and pain.
If you’ve travelled through Southeast Asia and returned to your hotel with an upset stomach or travel sickness or woke up feeling a bit off-colour, you probably would have been offered ginger tea – fresh ginger steeped in hot water – or plain rice porridge with ginger.
Ginger has been integral to Ayurvedic medicine for thousands of years and has long been used in Southeast Asia as a traditional home remedy for nausea and stomach ailments, as well as to treat cold and flu symptoms, and general aches and pains.
Ginger is also a key ingredient of many Southeast Asian cuisines, pounded into herb and spice pastes, and used in curries, soups, stews, and desserts. Before I tell you about these recipes with ginger, I have a favour to ask.
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Recipes with Ginger to Settle Your Stomach, Stimulate Digestion and Improve Gut Health
Long used in traditional medicines in Asia to treat everything from sea sickness to morning sickness, ginger is most commonly used in Southeast Asia to settle the stomach, stimulate digestion, ease bloating, and improve gut health.
Fresh ginger contains a range of vitamins and minerals including vitamin B and C, thiamine, riboflavin and niacin, and minerals such as iron, phosphorus and calcium. Ginger also contains plant compounds called phenols, of which gingerol is the most active and gives ginger its zingy flavours.
Ginger is an antioxidant and has anti-inflammatory properties and when consumed regularly has been proven to reduce free radical activity and decrease cell damage, reduce inflammation and pain – for instance, people with rheumatoid arthritis experienced reduced pain and improved mobility – and is thought to reduce the risk of chronic diseases such as heart disease by lowering blood pressure and reducing cholesterol levels.
High in gut-healthy fibre, ginger has antimicrobial properties, which can help in reducing bad gut microbes and inhibit the growth of bacteria such as E.coli and Staphylococci and Salmonella, which explains why ginger has long been used traditionally for stomach ailments and to promote healthy gut flora.
While nutritionists and other health professionals will often recommend supplements, you really can’t go wrong by adding these recipes with ginger to your cooking repertoire.
Recipes with Ginger to Settle Your Stomach, Stimulate Digestion and Improve Gut Health
Comforting Cambodian Rice Soup Recipe with Ginger and Pork Meatballs
This comforting Cambodian rice soup with ginger and pork meatballs is perhaps one of my most favourite recipes with ginger as the ginger forms the basis of the soup ‘stock’ and is so pronounced. In Cambodia, rice soup and rice porridge or congee – ‘borbor’ in Cambodia’s Khmer language – offer nourishment for the young and old.
They serve as home medicine for the sick, as they’re so easy to eat. There are several ways of making Cambodian congee but this particular rice soup is made with leftover rice. Called ‘borbor sor’ or ‘white rice porridge’ in Khmer, ‘white’ is used here to distinguish it from rice porridges and rice soups made from the herb and spice paste kroueng or stock and uncooked rice which are off-white or yellow from the kroeung.
I use a good-sized knob of ginger in the meatballs and another knob of ginger which I boil with lemongrass to make the ‘stock’ and recook the rice. I pound the ginger in a mortar and pestle as it releases the flavours and aromas so wonderfully and serve it with plenty of fresh herbs and condiments, including fish sauce (we like Megachef), chilli oil and homemade Sriracha.
Comforting Cambodian Rice Soup Recipe with Pork Meatballs for Borbor Sor Using Leftover Rice
Ginger Scallion Sauce Recipe for Ginger Scallion Noodles
This ginger scallion sauce recipe makes the much-copied Momofuku homage to the classic Southern Chinese sauce that chef David Chang and food writer Francis Lam popularised over a decade ago. Terence has been making these addictive ginger scallion noodles with this sauce ever since, well before their recent comeback, as it’s one of our favourite recipes with ginger.
Before we knew it as the Momofuku ginger scallion sauce from chef David Chang’s Momofuku: A Cookbook published back in October 2009, Chang said it was the ‘secret sauce’ served up in Cantonese joints all over New York City. You know the restaurants, as they’re endearingly the same in every Chinatown in the world.
Terence typically douses the sauce over noodles and combines it with plump sweet prawns. Years ago when he used to make it in Australia, he placed a fillet of grilled salmon on top, but it’s also terrific just with noodles.
I like to add a little fish sauce, chilli flakes, and crispy fried garlic and fried shallots for additional kick and texture whereas Terence likes to add a good squirt of hoisin sauce.
Ginger Scallion Sauce Recipe for Ginger Scallion Noodles – The Momofuku Homage to a Chinese Classic
Thai Miang Kham Recipe for The Bite Sized Wraps That Are Thailand in a Mouthful
This Thai miang kham recipe is another of my favourite recipes with ginger as you can really taste the zingy ginger. One tablespoon of ginger is used in the sauce and two tablespoons of diced ginger are used in the ‘salad’ of ingredients wrapped in a wild piper or wild betel leaf.
These Thai miang kham are bite-sized wraps that are Thailand in a mouthful, an explosion of quintessential Southeast Asian flavours including zingy ginger, sour lime, crunchy peanuts, crispy shallots, smoky roasted coconut, savoury dried prawns, a kick of chilli, and a sweet yet funky caramelised sauce.
This easy Thai miang kham recipe makes the kind of miang kham that you can buy from a vendor at a local market – miang kham is a street food snack after all – pre-packaged from a gourmet supermarket or as an appetiser at a casual Thai restaurant or upmarket café in Bangkok.
A Northern Thai street food treat that originated in the ancient Mon kingdoms of Myanmar, historically miang kham was part of a welcome ritual, offered as bites to visitors – along with betel leaves and tobacco for chewing. A gesture of hospitality, which explains the size and form of miang kham, it was essentially finger food.
Thai Miang Kham Recipe for The Bite Sized Wraps That Are Thailand in a Mouthful
Southeast Asian Sweet Corn Soup Recipe with Ginger, Turmeric and Chilli Oil
We also included Terence’s Southeast Asian sweet corn soup recipe in our compilation of recipes with turmeric, as turmeric and ginger are key ingredients in this wonderful broth that was partly inspired by Chinese egg drop soup and partly by the local ingredients that we love so much, including ginger, turmeric, garlic, and galangal.
If you’re not familiar with Chinese egg drop soup, it’s a simple corn and chicken soup made with spring onions and egg, and occasionally fresh ginger, especially if it’s cooked at home for someone who is ill. While that soup was one of Terence’s inspirations for this sweet corn soup, he ended up leaving out the egg as the soup is packed with plenty of texture and flavour, particularly ginger, making it another one of our best recipes with ginger.
The soup was originally created to use the summer corn, it’s also a warming winter soup recipe. If you’re staying at home and quarantine cooking, this is definitely a dish to add to your list if you have access to fresh ginger and corn. This soup uses 10 grams of ginger, sliced into matchsticks, so this is definitely a dish for ginger lovers and is one of my favourite recipes with ginger.
Gently Spiced Sweet Corn Soup Recipe With Ginger, Turmeric and Chilli Oil
Eggplant Dip Recipe Inspired by the Classic Sichuan Braised Eggplant Dish
Another one of our best recipes with ginger, we use a tablespoon of finely chopped ginger in this deliciously rich eggplant dip recipe, which takes a classic Sichuanese braised eggplant dish and transforms it into a fantastic dip to serve as a starter before settling down to a Sichuanese feast or to snack on with our spicy Sichuan flavoured sourdough starter discard crackers, which were literally made for this dish.
Terence’s eggplant dip recipe is based on a variation of the Sichuanese braised eggplant dish called ‘fish-fragrant eggplant’, only this eggplant dip recipe requires smaller pieces of eggplant or aubergine that are further broken down in a mortar and pestle or food processor to create a dip-like texture.
If you don’t know the dish, it’s called ‘fish-fragrant’ not because it smells of fish but because the flavour profile is similar to a traditional seasoning for fish dishes – a mix of chilli bean sauce, ginger, garlic, and spring onions or scallions.
A tip: we strongly recommend you use a deep fry thermometer (see our picks of the best thermometers in this post) when deep-frying the eggplant batons.
Delicious Eggplant Dip Recipe Inspired by the Classic Sichuan Braised Eggplant Dish
Braised Pork Belly Recipe with Ginger, Black Pepper, Palm Sugar and Peanuts
This Cambodian braised pork belly recipe with ginger, black pepper, palm sugar, and peanuts makes a slow-cooked pork belly dish that Cambodians simply call a pork stew or khor sach chrouk, also spelt kaw sach chrouk.
Whatever you want to call this braised pork dish, it makes an incredibly delicious dish and it’s not only one of our favourite pork recipes, it’s one of our favourite recipes with ginger. The wonderful creamy Cambodian palm sugar caramelises the pork belly and combined with ginger and pepper gives the pork stew a sweet floral fragrance, while the peanuts add crunch.
A Dutch Oven is great for cooking this dish due its wide bottom and even heat distribution, which means the pork gets cooked evenly. We use 50 grams of ginger in the pork belly dish and another tablespoon of ginger matchsticks for garnish.
We recommend serving the braised pork belly with stir-fried Asian greens or morning glory and steamed rice.
Braised Pork Belly Recipe with Ginger, Black Pepper, Palm Sugar, Star Anise and Peanuts
Slow-Cooked Pork Stew Recipe with Ginger and Star Anise for Khor Cheung Chrouk
This slow-cooked pork stew with ginger and star anise makes Cambodia’s khor cheung chrouk or pork leg stew and it’s another of our favourite recipes with ginger. It’s a delicious, hearty and fragrant dish that you’ll have a greater chance of eating in a private home when you travel to Cambodia than you will in a restaurant or local eatery unfortunately – which is all the more reason to cook it at home.
It takes some patience to make but it will fill your kitchen with the amazing aromas of pork, ginger and star anise. We use a good-size piece of ginger, which is about 5cm in length for this pork stew. The juices taste so good that we like to take off a couple of ladles of stock, reduce that down, and pour it over the pork when serving.
You can serve this stew simply with steamed rice and stir-fried Asian greens (link above) or it could form the centrepiece of a Southeast Asian feast. If you enjoy this traditional stew, do browse our collection of stew recipes.
Slow-Cooked Pork Stew Recipe With Ginger and Star Anise for Khor Cheung Chrouk
