Japanese Figging, Leaf Ginger?
Here’s a Japanese blog entry on figging (anybody feel like translating it?) that looks interesting because (a) it has explicit photos and (b) it describes a sort of ginger that’s shaped more like a leek or a green onion:
More pictures:
Google Translate (in Beta, not very good) calls the long one “leaf ginger”, but I’ve never seen anything like it in the US.
I think the leaf ginger is a piece of the ginger root that was dug up with the leaves still attached. If you plant a piece of the ginger root you buy at the store, it will grow a plant. It needs a warmer climate than I have in Indiana but it can be grown in the house.
As I think on this further, I bet a closer translation might be sprouted gingerroot. I think the root has been dug up and peeled and shaped to fit an ass. The big question is how hot is it. If sprouting makes it stronger that could be interesting. Anyone can probably sprout a piece of ginger in a pot in the house.