I was once a Trader Joe’s fanatic. Much like BA contributor Alex Beggs, who reviews Trader Joe’s new products monthly, I devotedly sampled the just-released snacks and seasonal ravioli. But after a few too many disappointing impulse buys (see: truffle soy sauce), I’m no longer dazzled by the bells and whistles. These days, there’s one reason I brave the wraparound lines and weekend chaos, and it’s not the ravioli. It’s the frozen garlic and ginger cubes.
The concept is simple: Instead of peeling and mincing garlic or ginger each time you cook, simply pop a ginger or garlic cube into a hot pan and watch as the frozen aromatics sizzle and melt in approximately 60 seconds. (Alternatively, you could let them thaw to room temp in approximately 30 minutes—but who’s got time for that?)
I’m generally wary of popular shortcuts. Store-bought jars of minced garlic tend to taste metallic, and I rarely have the time or foresight to make a big batch of garlic-ginger paste. But since these cubes are flash-frozen, they retain all the potency and flavor of fresh garlic and ginger, and they’re much more convenient. Not only do they cut down my prep time, but they also soften to a paste-like consistency much finer than I’m able to achieve mincing by hand. Plus, they last for up to two years in the freezer.
Use frozen garlic cubes wherever you use minced garlic.
Photograph by Isa Zapata, Food Styling by Mieko Takahashi
The package looks like an ice tray, with a cube of puréed garlic or ginger sitting in each divot. One cube is equivalent to one clove of garlic or one teaspoon of minced ginger. Together, they form the aromatic base for curries, soups, and stir-frys, but I’ll use them individually too, adding a few garlic cubes to pasta sauce or melting a ginger cube in hot water to make ginger tea.
And I’m not the only BA staffer who loves these cubes. They save visuals editor Graylen Gatewood plenty of prep time, and protect her nail extensions. “Popping a few ginger cubes out of the freezer saves me the annoyance of peeling and grating a ginger root, and the risk of shaving off part of my nails with a Microplane,” she says. She’ll toss two ginger cubes in this black pepper tofu stir-fry, while senior social media manager Esra Erol leans on the garlic cubes to make this one-pan peperoncini chicken dinner even easier. “I let the cubes defrost while I cook the chicken thighs. When it’s time to toss them with the potatoes, they break down with the rest of the ingredients,” she says. The pre-portioned cubes are so convenient that, once Esra has run through a batch, she’ll refill the empty tray with freshly-grated garlic or ginger and pop it back in the freezer. (Try it with a batch of this garlic-ginger paste.)
