ottawa foodies

I'm hoping someone can help me find this product.

I am heading out on vacation later this month, and part of our travels will include sometime on the water. On occasion I suffer from motion sickness, I have recently been told that Ginger Candy can help with this. As I understand it Ginger Candy is not the same as Candied Ginger or Crystallized Ginger... I am not looking for Ginger that has been sugared, but rather a hard candy that has Ginger flavouring.

Does anyone know where I might find these in Ottawa, or has anyone ever used them in conjunction with motion sickness.

Thanks,

Food & Think

Asian markets usually have ginger candy.

^ check out Kowloon Market Kowloon Market

I have exactly that hard ginger candy from the 168 Market (New 168 Market ) at work. It's pretty good but I haven't used it to quell queasiness yet. I've used sugared/crystallized ginger for that in the past and it works great! There's also a crystalline ginger drink available at 168, Kowloon, and other Chinese grocery stores. It's just crystallized ginger and sugar in a pouch. Dissolve in hot (or even cold) water and you get a potent anti-nauseant beverage. One time when I was fighting a stomach bug that laid my wife and kids flat, I used little pinches of the ginger drink powder, dissolved on my tongue, to great effect.

Yes, I am mildly emetophobic. :-)

In regards to your first post, I believe you have been led to believe incorrectly. It is not the flavour in ginger that helps with an upset stomach, but the chemicals called gingerols and shogaols. When using ginger to treat upset stomach, these chemicals relax the intestinal tract, preventing motion sickness and relieving the nausea, vomiting, colicky stomach cramps, and diarrhea that often accompany stomach flu. So, I think you should be looking for ginger itself, not the flavour of it which is found in ginger candy. Candied ginger is quite effective in my previous experience. Hope this helps.

For one that does have ginger, Ting Ting Jahe Ginger Candy found at Market 168 (and Lim Bangkok and other grocery stores) on Somerset. Individually wrapped in a bag.
They're fantastic! And they've become my favourite candy. They also have peanut butter/ginger ones.
Another option, but a bit more expensive, is Reeds (YIG at Bank & Somerset has them in bags...or the Herb & Spice on Bank does too - in small packs displayed by the check out).
Both have the same ingredients: cane sugar, maltose, ginger, potato starch, vegetable oil.
And one Ginger Chew contains contains around 480mg or 1/2 gram ginger.

Warning: you may become addicted. They are super delicious and have a nice spicy-hot/energizing kick to them. I can cycle to Perth and back on 4 candies. :)

Thanks Everyone for your help

Further research does indeed show that any type of ginger will help ease the motion sickness... HOWEVER, the benefit of a hard Ginger Candy vs Candied Ginger for example is ease of use and longevity. As AMR's post points out you can pop one in your mouth and it will last and last and last... and so the benefits are ongoing. Important say if one is spending an extended period of time on the water as I will.

Fresh Foodie - I have a similar issue... If one "goes" I'm going too... It can be a real problem when you have kids (could never be a teacher). ;-)

there's an entry at (Candied Ginger) for this but i'm still confused by the original post - are candied ginger/ginger candy/crystallized ginger one in the same? i was always under the assumption 'ginger candy = candied ginger'. i've seen Reed's for sale and they call it "crystallized ginger candy" which confuses me even more :P

They are different. Candied ginger is fresh ginger that has been slowly cooked in sugar water to preserve it. It may also be called crystallized ginger (lots of sugar visible on the exterior) or glace ginger (the exterior is smoother & shinier and the ginger is less dry).
Candied/crystallized/glace ginger is what's usually called for & chopped-up into recipes.
And, by the way, can easily be made at home;
www.recipezaar.com

"Ginger candy" is sugar/sweetener/some other binder(s) such as what I listed above
(i.e. cane sugar, maltose, potato starch, vegetable oil) mixed with ginger. They can be hard (lozenge type) or chewy (due to starch/oil content).
And, again, I recommend the chewy type. Yum.
If there's ONLY ginger and sugar in the ingredient list and ginger is the FIRST ingredient, it's crystallized/candied ginger.

To recap:
Candied/crystallized/glace ginger still looks (rather) like sliced or chopped ginger...but cooked.
Ginger candy looks like...candy! And, another give-away, it's probably individually wrapped.

And maybe Monty is now more confused. Sorry pal. :)

Monty - They are indeed two different things.

Candied Ginger or Crystallized Ginger are one in the same (just two different names, Crystallized Ginger is the correct term). This is when ginger is peeled, thinly sliced, cooked in water until tender, drained, and then tossed in sugar (I've over simplified the process here... recipes can be found on the net). It is primarily ginger. I take it from the discription Candied Ginger is similar in idea to candied peel (something I am more familiar with). And just like candied peel could be incorporated into other recipes, or eaten as is. Hence the confusion of it with Candy and the misnomer of the Reed's product.

Ginger Candy - Is a hard candy (or a chew). It is sugar based. A mixture of cane sugar, maltose, ginger, potato starch and vegetable oil. Basically it is a candy with real ginger flavouring.

Hope this helps.

AMR - Looks like between the time I started my post (and was looking up my Crystallized Ginger Recipe) you were here posting away with the same info. LOL

PS... As for any follow-up on Raisins... *wink-wink*

My Girlfriend has a saying, "Raisins are those dried up things that used to be grapes, I don't know why any one would want to eat them... when they could have their grapes crushed instead." AMEN for that!

:-)

another option are spelt ginger snap cookies (called travellers friend) by the shasha company (at all the grocery stores i have been too). they work well for nausea, are small and easy to eat. i would just nibble them. when i was sick with morning sickness they worked well. i found ginger hard candies hard to eat when my stomach was upset, they took too long to suck on and the intensity of the ginger flavour made that sick feeling worse.

also you should pick up some motion sickness arm bands, or learn where the pressure points are on your wrist.

here is the company for the cookies:
www.shashabread.com

HipFunkyFun - Thanks for the extras... I've heard about the arm bands, but I've never seen or tried them. And well did someone say cookies, LOL. Ginger snaps are one of my favourites, good to hear they might help. Looks like I might need my own private cooler on this boat trip.
:-)

Gravol makes a no-drowse version that is composed of ginger. They work great.

Another option, take the sugared ginger with you. get a cup of regular tea pre-boarding and drop in a few lumps of sugared ginger. Start the ginger BEFORE you feel sick!

Who knew there were so many solutions to a problem.... LOL

Olivers Rock - Ginger Tea, now that indeed sounds yummy. I definitely am going to do this.

Ok, I start out with Ginger Tea, have a couple of ginger snaps (maybe dunk em), have a little sugared ginger to chew on, and finish up with a hard ginger candy to suck on. I may just have this beat... in the very least I'll have enough to keep me busy, that I may not even notice the boat trip. LOL

Keep your eyes on the horizon!

Ive seen Ottawa Bagleshop has Ginger Candy. Also, I recently tried a line that seems to be just getting into town, an organic (hard) Ginger Candy from a company called Pure Fun, its wonderful if you are a ginger fan, I just saw it at the Produce Depot on Carling Ave.