Sooth With Ginger

One thing that I've really grown to enjoy in the past 5 years is ginger. Something I wasn't a fan of as a kid. And lately, I've been getting a good dose of it. For Christmas, one of my cousins gave my parents a big container of candied ginger. I ended up consuming the entire box myself in the last week. Yesterday, after opening a box of Daniel's chocolates, I dove straight for the chocolate covered ginger pieces.

There is something about the stinging heat of the ginger in my mouth that cuts the sweetness of the sugar and chocolate quite nicely. The spicy flavour explodes in my mouth.  It sets a soothing feeling inside me.

About a week ago, I visited a friend on Christmas Day, and we somehow got talking about ginger and loving ginger-flavoured things. She ran to the freezer and whipped out two large bags with chinese writing all over it. Inside was what seemed like gigantic rock sugar blocks. She bought these treasure blocks back from her Taiwan trip two weeks previous. She translated the chinese writings and said it becomes a great ginger tea once dissolved in hot water. The amount of ginger they put in it makes your throat fire-y and your mouth sting. Perfect for a sore throat or a cold.

Tonight, after a night shift at work and sitting in the freezing car in minus degrees weather waiting for my car to defrost before I can drive home, all the while, my fingers went numb with the bite in the air... I decided to take out a ginger block she gave me. I dissolved it in a large cup of boiling water and took a sip... instantly, it was bliss and warmed me to my core. What a nice way to end a day...

(I'd show you the enormous piece of ginger hidden in the sugar block but  I've forgotten to take a picture. So, till the next time I decide to dissolve another block....!)