Hot stuff! How to use and grow warm flavours from you veggie garden

HEADY Hot stuff for cold days

BLURB With chilly weather here, it's time for hot flavours to warm up winter meals. Horseradish and ginger are easy to grow in home gardens

Ginger

Ginger grows just over a metre tall, with glossy green, strappy leaves. Though it's a tropical plant, it is easily grown in home gardens in other areas. It happily grows in pots and can be brought indoors during winter in areas with bad frosts. Ginger grows best in fertile, well-drained soil, with warm weather, filtered sun and plenty of moisture.

Growing

In spring, look for fresh rhizomes with well-developed growth buds (fat “horns” with pale-pink tips). Plant when daytime temperatures are over 20ºC. A few days before doing so, cut the rhizomes into pieces about 5cm to 8cm long, with each piece having at least two growth buds. Place each rhizome in a 5cm- to 10cm-deep hole, with the growth buds pointing upwards. The top should be just below the surface. Soak the ground and keep well watered and mulched throughout summer.

It spreads via underground rhizomes, with new growth above. In autumn, when the leaves die back, dig up some outer rhizomes, leaving enough to sprout in spring. Once established, you can regularly harvest fresh rhizomes by cutting new growth off cleanly with a spade. These have less fibre and aren't as pungent as autumn harvests.

Using

Store fresh, unpeeled ginger in the fridge for up to two months. For longer-term storage, ginger can be chopped and frozen. It also dries well: peel fresh ginger, cut it into small slices and place on a rack in the sun for a few days. Store in a bottle with a spice-grinder top.

To fight winter colds and flu, steep grated horseradish and ginger in hot water with lemon. (Supplied)

HORSERADISH

A perennial member of the mustard family, its roots and leaves are edible. The roots make pungent horseradish sauce and young leaves add a tangy bite to salads and stir-fries.

Growing

In spring, bury a piece of fresh root with one end 8cm deep and the other 3cm below the surface. Keep well watered until shoots appear. Leave for the first season to build up its root system. Once established, its roots spread underground and new shoots sprout. Horseradish will spread quite quickly unless you keep harvesting the side roots. In cold areas, the leaves die down during winter and new shoots grow in spring.

Using

The hot bite of fresh horseradish sauce is completely different from most commercial preparations. Scrub roots well and peel fatter ones. Blend in a food processor until it's pulped. If necessary, add a few teaspoons of water to help it along.

Be warned — cut horseradish is far stronger than any onion, so keep your face away from the bowl. When horseradish is damaged, enzymes in its cells release hot mustard oil (part of the plant’s defence mechanism against being eaten). When you add white vinegar (or lemon) to processed horseradish, it stops the enzymes from producing more heat. If you want a milder sauce, add the vinegar immediately. For a hotter version, wait about three minutes. Use two to three tablespoons of vinegar per cup of horseradish. The more finely processed, the stronger it will be. It will keep, sealed in jars, for up to six weeks, or in the freezer for up to three months.

It can also be peeled, sliced and added to vodka. This preserves it and creates vodka with a horseradish kick that is fantastic in a Bloody Mary. Store horseradish vodka in the freezer.