Galangal

Flavour and aroma

piney, citrusy, peppery, camphor. Peppery, citrusy and piney.

Heat

Very mild

Forms

fresh, frozen, dried, ground

How to use it

• infuse · Simmering technique

  For soups, slice into thin coins (2–3 mm) and simmer from the start; the slices are woody and are not eaten.

• crush · Dry grinding technique

  For curry pastes, peel, slice thinly across the fibres, then pound in a mortar or blend with the other paste ingredients; large chunks will not break down.

• soak

  Dried galangal slices: soak in hot water for 30 minutes before using; the flavour is flatter than fresh.

• Sliced into tom kha and tom yum
• Pounded into curry pastes and rendang
• Simmered in soups and braises
• Infused in Indonesian and Malaysian sauces

Identifying good quality

Rhizomes with smooth, pale cream to pinkish skin marked by dark rings, harder and woodier than ginger. The flesh is pale and smells sharply of pine and citrus. Young galangal is pinker and more tender.

• Not to be confused with Fresh ginger: Ginger has thinner, beige skin, is juicier and tastes hot-sweet; galangal is harder, pinkish-ringed and tastes of pine and citrus. They are not interchangeable in Thai soups.

Origin and history

Origin: Southeast Asia, probably Indonesia (greater galangal, Alpinia galanga).. Grown and used: Grown across Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia and Laos; used fresh in Southeast Asian cooking and sold frozen, dried and powdered elsewhere..

Galangal is a long-established aromatic of Thai, Indonesian, Malaysian and Cambodian cooking, especially in curry pastes and soups such as tom kha and tom yum. It was also traded to medieval Europe, where 'galingale' appears in English and French recipe collections.

Well documented

In masalas, pastes and sauces

• Thai red curry pasteMasala8 g per batch
• Thai green curry pasteMasala8 g per batch
• Massaman curry pasteMasala8 g per batch
• Panang curry pasteMasala8 g per batch
• Rempah for rendangMasala25 g per batch