It’s simply the custom. In restaurants, sushi chefs stock either natural pickled ginger or ginger dyed pink artificially or with beet juice, oftentimes depending on the color of servingware used. But plenty of places don’t even give it that much thought — whatever color your ginger is, it’s more or less the same thing.

What type of ginger is used for sushi?

Gari, sometimes called sushi ginger, is the pink pickled ginger usually found at sushi restaurants. The pink color comes from the pink tips of fresh young ginger. Young ginger is preferred for pickling, as it has a thin skin, which is incredibly easy to peel, and the flesh is tender and easy to thinly slice.

Is the ginger that comes with sushi healthy?

Pickled ginger is low in calories and filled with the same health-promoting nutrients as fresh ginger. … Made from thinly shaved pieces of young ginger — before ginger develops its papery skin — pickled ginger is commonly served alongside sushi.