The combination of ginger, garlic and scallions make the “trinity of Chinese cooking”. You will almost always find one of these three ingredients in all Asian dishes.
Ginger can be quite spicy when eaten raw but when cooked, it imparts an amazing aroma to the dish.
Use the side of a metal spoon to peel the skin off the ginger. It can then be grated, minced, sliced, or julienned. How you cut your ginger will depend on how it will be used in the recipe. In stir-fries, ginger is typically minced or julienned to easily distribute the amazing flavor throughout the dish. In soups or in braised dishes, thicker slices are used to slowly impart the flavor then removed just before serving.
Young ginger is slightly pink with very thin skin. This is the type of ginger that is normally used for pickling in Japanese cuisine. It is very fragrant and very tender. The older the ginger gets, the more fibrous and spicy it becomes.