The One Ingredient That Will Elevate Your Watermelon Every Time

Adding a sprinkle of salt to watermelon is about as classic as it gets, but if there's one thing watermelon does well, it's pair perfectly with potent flavors. That's why just a smidge of ginger produces something truly unique, combining the best of spicy, floral, and sugary notes.

Ginger is one of those seasonings best used in small doses, thanks to its high concentration of gingerols. A sort of chemical relative to capsaicin, it produces that trademark, back-of-your-sinuses heat much like a fruity horseradish. While this contributes to what makes the root so delicious, it also makes it best used in small doses on watermelon. The fruit contains enough juice and sugar to dull the strength of these compounds, but it's still quite easy to produce an overwhelming taste. Just a shred or two of grated ginger is enough to combine the flavors without either overwhelming each other.

Ginger also pairs incredibly well with a wide variety of other classic watermelon seasonings, whether you want to give it a savory twist with chili powder or a drizzle of hot honey. Its own unique "spiciness" makes the heat taste more complex, but its combination with sugary toppings balances things out, so your snack doesn't taste too one-note. Plus, since ginger is so cheap and available in so many different varieties, from fresh roots to powder to syrup, it's easy to replicate this flavor across cocktails, baked goods, and just about anything else you'd put watermelon in.

How you add ginger to watermelon largely boils down to how you want to serve it. The key is to balance the right amount of root to surface area, guaranteeing you have ample seasoning for each bite but not so much that you can't taste the fruit.

If you're working with whole ginger, your best bet is to cube your watermelon, organize it into a single layer, and grate it directly over top. The topping tends to be pretty wet, so it's difficult to shred it into a bowl and sprinkle it like a dry seasoning. Plus, it's much like topping pasta with cheese, letting you see exactly how much you're adding to each piece. If your ginger seems to be sticking to the grater, you may have to toss the cubes with it instead, but do so gently, so you don't bruise the fruit and release a ton of juice that makes your seasoning sink to the bottom of the bowl.

Sliced ginger can add a marvelous layer of texture to tender watermelon, especially if you have access to a mandolin slicer that can cut it razor-thin. If you want a bit of savory with your sweet, you can even try adding some pickled ginger, adding salt, acid, and heat to a bite without needing to spend too much time in the kitchen. You'll probably have the best luck with gari, the sweet, pale variety often served as a palate cleanser with sushi.