The ginger shoot is the tender young stem-and-bud of the ginger plant, harvested while the rhizome is still immature and the stalk is soft, pale and flushed rosy-pink at the base. In Japan it is known as hajikami and, trimmed to a slender spear and pickled in sweetened vinegar, it becomes the blushing pink garnish laid alongside grilled fish — crunchy, sharply aromatic and clean on the palate, a vegetable eaten as much for its refreshing bite as for its bright colour.