Nyob Zoo All!
This seasonal pepper dip is a fun one to make. This is a fresh ginger leaf pepper dip that goes great with any protein of your choice. It’s spicy, grassy, and has a subtle hint of ginger flavor. I’m growing ginger for the first time this year and they are growing!!! My grandma told me to use the ginger leaves to make a pepper dip out of it. So I made it and wanted to share the recipe with you all! I hope you can give it a try if you grew ginger yourself or have access to fresh ginger leaves! Happy cooking!
Ginger leaf
Ginger leaves are edible and have a grassy, mild ginger flavor. They can be consumed raw or cooked. They’re quite fibrous, so it’s best to finely chop them for easier consumption. Treat them similarly to how you would treat lemongrass stalks. If using the leaves whole, use them for steeping to flavor broth, tea, etc. Remove them after they’ve infused their aroma since the whole leaf is too fibrous to eat. When chopped finely, the fiber strands are cut into smaller pieces, making them easier to consume. Ginger leaves can also be dried and placed into tea bags to make tea. Their flavor is quite mild, so I personally like to enjoy them fresh, chopped up and pounded with peppers to make a pepper dip.
All you need are chili peppers, garlic, cilantro, green onions, and the ginger leaves.
The seasonings are pretty simple. Just fish sauce, salt, and mushroom seasoning for more umami.
Chop the ginger leaves smaller so they’re easier to eat.
Pound the peppers, garlic, salt, and mushroom seasonings
Add in the herbs and pound just to bruise it a little. Finish with fish sauce and that’s it!
Serve with your choice of protein
I’m enjoying this with the classic Hmong soup boiled pork with mustard greens soup
(Nqaj npuas hau nrug zaub ntsuab)
If you want the recipe for this soup, you can check it out here https://chawjcreations.com/boiled-pork-with-mustard-greens-soup/
Dip and enjoy! It’s spicy, earthy, and has just a nice subtle hint of ginger flavor.
Enjoy!
-Cindy Her (C.HerCreations)
Ginger Leaf Pepper Dip
Ingredients
- 45 grams ginger leaves (finely chopped) ~ 1 cup
- 15 grams green onion (chopped) ~ 1/3 cup
- 15 grams cilantro (chopped) ~ 1/3 cup
- 1 whole garlic clove (7g)
- 4-6 whole chili peppers (birds eye or peppers of your choice)
- 1/2 tsp salt (4g)
- 1/4 tsp mushroom seasoning (1g) [Po Lo Ku brand]
- 1 Tbsp fish sauce (17g) (add more after tasting if you like)
Instructions
- In a mortar & pestle, add in the chili peppers, garlic, salt, and mushroom seasoning. Pound until the peppers and garlic are smashed up. Then add the finely chopped ginger leaves, chopped green onions, and cilantro. Pound just to get the herbs and aromatics a little bruised. Then finish with the fish sauce and stir. Transfer to a bowl and serve with your choice of protein. Taste and adjust as needed. You can add more peppers and or fish sauce to make it fit your palette.
