Why recipes measure ginger by “thumbs” and centimetres instead of weight
Experts explain why many recipes prefer size cues over grams for fresh ginger.
When a recipe calls for fresh ginger in “thumbs” or centimetres, the guidance can seem imprecise. Our kitchen experts were asked to explain the practice.
Felicity Cloake admits, “That’s a very good question, and I don’t think there is a very good answer.” She speculates it may be “just convention, because sometimes it feels a bit fussy to give a precise weight for the likes of ginger, onions and other staples if you’re not, say, Heston Blumenthal.”
She adds that a precise weight might make cooks think the amount is “very important and worry if they’re a few grams out.” In other words, a slight deviation is unlikely to make or break a dish such as her dal.
Georgina Hayden concurs, saying, “Unlike measuring a ratio of risotto rice to stock, or making a cake, the typical recipes I use ginger in, such as curries, don’t have to be precise.” She argues that cooking “should be as instinctive as possible, rather than relying on digital scales.”
Cloake notes ginger’s “huge” shape variation and explains, “If it was a very thick piece, or it wasn’t thumb‑shaped, I’d cut it so the cumulative flesh of the ginger was roughly the same as the cumulative flesh of a thumb. You’re just trying to give a rough amount, without being too prescriptive.” She concludes, “But he’s right, we should probably move to grams.”
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