Welcome to the Celtnet Guide to Spices entry for Galangal (Alpinia galanga)

Spice Guide Entry For: Galangal



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Galangal


This is the description page for Galangal (Alpinia galanga) and includes a description as well as an image, if available and a selection of recipes from this site that relates to the spice: Galangal.

Galangal root

As a spice, Galangal (also known as blue ginger, galingale, galanga or Thai ginger) represents the rhizome of one of three plants all from the family Zingiberaceae (the Ginger family): Alpinia galanga or greater galangal; Alpinia officinarum or lesser galangal; Kaempferia galanga, also called lesser galangal or sand ginger. In Europe galangal (obtained as a dried powder from the East) was a major ingredient in Medieval foods but subsequently fell into disuse (however, it is also often confused with galingale the root of Cyperus longus which was also a common Medieval spice.

Though galangal resembles ginger in appearance (it is actually paler and has pale blue rings). In it's raw form, it has a soapy, earthy aroma and a pine-like flavor with a faint hint of citrus. Though the raw form of galangal is becoming available it is easier to attain in powdered or dried form (see the inset image). These days galangal is most widely known from Thai cuisine where it is an essential ingredient in many recipes.


Recipes Utilizing Galangal

Thai Mango Fish Curry
Thai Coconut and Rainbow-Pepper Chicken Soup
Thai Chilli Sorbet
Sour Spicy Carp




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This is the description page for Galangal and includes a description of the plant and the parts used as spice, as well as an image, if available, or what the spice looks like and a selection of recipes from this site that reletes to the spice: Galangal.



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