Ginger (infused and removed)
With care — Allowed by some hospitals and not others, or allowed only prepared a particular way.
In one line: Slice it and simmer it to flavour the liquid, then remove every piece. It is never eaten.
Ginger is fibrous. Anyone who has grated it and found the woody strings wrapped around the grater knows this already. Those strings do not soften in cooking, and grated or chopped ginger left in a dish is exactly the sort of thing this diet is built to keep out.
What ginger also is, is generous. Its flavour compounds move into hot liquid readily, and a few slices will scent a whole pot of broth within half an hour.
The preparation
Peel and cut into coins the size of a ten pence piece, big enough that you can find them again. Add them at the start, let them simmer, then fish out every single piece before serving. Count them in and count them out. Nothing goes in the bowl. See infusing and lifting out.
Never grate it, never chop it, never leave a piece in for looks.
Where hospitals differ
Ginger is a spice, and the leaflet this book follows lists spices under foods to avoid. Some hospitals allow fresh ginger cooked into a dish, and St George's allows dried spices generally. Infusing and removing satisfies the stricter reading, because nothing of the ginger itself reaches the plate.
If you have been told to leave it out
Say so in the recipe and leave the slices out. A congee or a broth still works on stock, soy sauce and salt alone, and the dish loses a note rather than its point. See herbs and spices.