Ginger Candy (Senegalese Candy)
Ingredients
- The Base:
- 250 g of fresh ginger (peeled and washed).
- The Syrup:
- 250 g of sugar.
- 1/2 glass of water.
- Aromatics:
- 1 sachet of vanilla sugar (or a drop of vanilla essence).
- Optional: A squeeze of lime juice.
Instructions
1. Prepare the ginger Peel the fresh ginger and cut it into small cubes or thin slices. If you want a milder taste, you can boil the ginger pieces in water for 5 minutes and drain them first; if you like it very spicy, skip this step.
2. Make the syrup In a saucepan, mix the sugar, water and vanilla sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat until the sugar is completely dissolved and begins to form a light syrup.
3. Cook the ginger Add the ginger pieces to the syrup. Stir well to coat them. Let simmer over medium-low heat. The ginger will release its juice and then begin to absorb the sugar.
4. Crystallization (Sandblasting) This is the most important step. Continue stirring constantly as the water evaporates. When the syrup becomes very thick and starts to look like white sand or powder stuck to the ginger, continue stirring vigorously until the sugar completely dries around each piece.
5. Cooling Remove from the heat and spread the candies on a tray to cool. Once cooled, they will be hard, tangy and crunchy.