How one humble root travelled across oceans, shaped centuries of cooking, and became two very different ingredients.
Walk through any supermarket and you'll probably find a single label that simply says ginger.
It's easy to assume there's only one kind.
Yet for generations across East and Southeast Asia, cooks have understood something many of us have forgotten. Ginger changes as it grows, and with time comes a completely different flavour, texture and purpose. Young ginger and old ginger may come from the same plant, but they are treated almost as two different ingredients, each with its own place in the kitchen.
Perhaps that's why ginger has remained one of Asia's most treasured ingredients for thousands of years. It isn't simply a spice. It is an ingredient that has travelled across oceans, crossed cultures and quietly found a place at countless family tables.
A Root That Travelled the World
Although many people associate ginger with China, its story begins much further south.
Botanical research suggests that culinary ginger originated in Maritime Southeast Asia, where it was cultivated by Austronesian peoples thousands of years ago. From there, it spread throughout Asia as communities migrated, traded and explored new lands.
One of the most remarkable parts of its story is that ginger travelled by sea long before modern trade routes existed.
Early Austronesian seafarers carried ginger as one of their essential "canoe plants"—a collection of crops transported from island to island because they were considered indispensable for food, everyday life and ceremony. Alongside coconuts, bananas, taro, yams and turmeric, ginger crossed oceans with the people who depended on it.
Imagine preparing for a voyage into the unknown and deciding there was one root you simply couldn't leave behind.
Ginger was one of them.
A Place at the Everyday Table
By the time ginger became established in China, it was no longer an unfamiliar ingredient.
One of the earliest written references appears in The Analects, where Confucius was said to eat ginger with every meal. Whether it was appreciated for its flavour, tradition or simply personal preference isn't entirely clear. What it does tell us is that more than 2,000 years ago, ginger had already become part of everyday life.
It wasn't reserved for special occasions.
It belonged at the table.
That quiet relationship with ginger continues today, although different cultures have developed their own ways of appreciating the same root.
Young Ginger
Harvested early in the growing season, young ginger is tender, juicy and almost delicate.
Its skin is thin enough that it often doesn't need peeling, while its flavour is fresh, bright and noticeably milder than mature ginger. Rather than dominating a dish, young ginger brings fragrance and freshness, making it ideal for recipes where the ingredient itself is meant to be noticed.
In Japan, shin shōga (new ginger) is celebrated as a seasonal ingredient each summer. It is pickled, folded through rice, added to salads or served alongside grilled fish. One of its best-known forms is gari, the pale pickled ginger traditionally served with sushi. Contrary to popular belief, it isn't there as a garnish. Its original purpose is to refresh the palate between different pieces of sushi, allowing each flavour to be appreciated on its own.
Across other parts of Asia, young ginger is also enjoyed as a fresh accompaniment to meals, finely sliced and served with simple dishes where its crisp texture and gentle warmth can shine.
Old Ginger
Leave that same root in the ground for a little longer and everything changes.
The skin thickens. The flesh becomes firmer. The fibres grow stronger, and the flavour develops into the rich, warming ginger that many of us know today.
This is the ginger that patiently builds flavour over time.
Across China, Malaysia and much of Southeast Asia, mature ginger is commonly added to soups, broths, curries, braised dishes and congee, where its deeper character has time to infuse the entire meal. Rather than standing out on its own, it quietly supports the other ingredients, adding warmth and depth to every spoonful.
More Than Fresh and Old
Traditional Chinese Medicine has recognised this transformation for centuries.
Fresh ginger, known as Shēng Jiāng (生姜), and dried ginger, known as Gān Jiāng (干姜), are regarded as two distinct ingredients because they are traditionally understood to offer different qualities.
Fresh ginger is traditionally described as gently warming and dispersing, while dried ginger is considered to have a deeper warming nature. These descriptions come from the philosophy of Traditional Chinese Medicine, where foods are understood according to their traditional energetic qualities rather than modern nutritional science.
Whether viewed through the lens of cooking or traditional food wisdom, the message remains remarkably similar.
The same root can offer something entirely different depending on when it is harvested and how it is prepared.
Choosing the Right Ginger
Neither is better.
Each simply tells a different part of the same story.
A Root Worth Knowing
Perhaps that's why ginger has remained one of Asia's most treasured ingredients for thousands of years.
It reminds us that maturity isn't about becoming better. It's about becoming different.
Young ginger has its own season. Old ginger has its own purpose. The same root simply offers something different with time, and generations of cooks have learnt to appreciate each stage for what it brings rather than wishing it were something else.
Maybe that's the quiet wisdom ginger has carried across cultures, generations and kitchens all along.
That's why ONGI exists: to celebrate the quiet moments that help us move through life with a little more presence, one day at a time.
Further Reading & References
• Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Plants of the World Online – Zingiber officinale.
• Ravindran, P. N. & Babu, K. N. (Eds.). Ginger: The Genus Zingiber. CRC Press.
• The Analects (Confucius).
• Shennong Ben Cao Jing (Divine Farmer's Classic of Materia Medica).
• Huangdi Neijing (The Yellow Emperor's Inner Canon).
• Research on Austronesian canoe plants and the spread of cultivated ginger through Maritime Southeast Asia.