Galangal

Kaempferia galanga

Lesser Galangal (Alpinia officinarum)

Galangal rhizome ready to be prepared for cooking

Galangal ^{[note 1]} is a rhizome of plants in the ginger family Zingiberaceae, with culinary and medicinal uses originating in Indonesia. The rhizomes are used in various Asian cuisines (for example in Thai and Lao tom yum and tom kha gai soups, Vietnamese Huế cuisine (tré) and throughout Indonesian cuisine, for example, in soto). Galangal is related to and resembles ginger. While ginger tastes a little like galangal, most cooks who use both rhizomes would never substitute one for the other and expect the same flavor profile.

In its raw form, galangals have a dissimilar taste from common ginger. They are available as a whole rhizome, cut or powdered. The whole fresh rhizome is very hard, and slicing it requires a sharp knife. A mixture of galangal and lime juice is used as a tonic in parts of Southeast Asia. In the Indonesian language, the greater galangal and lesser galangal are both called lengkuas or laos, while Kaempferia galanga is known as kencur. It is also known as galanggal, and somewhat confusingly galingale, which is also the name for several plants of the unrelated Cyperus genus of sedges (also with aromatic rhizomes). In Thai language, greater galangal is called "ข่า" (kha) or "ข่าใหญ่" (kha yai), while lesser galangal is called "ข่าตาแดง" (kha ta daeng). In Vietnamese, greater galangal is called riềng nếp and lesser galangal is called riềng thuốc.

The word galangal, or its variant galanga, can refer in common usage to four plant species all in the Zingiberaceae (ginger family):

• Alpinia galanga or greater galangal
• Alpinia officinarum or lesser galangal
• Kaempferia galanga, also called kencur, aromatic ginger or sand ginger
• Boesenbergia rotunda, also called Chinese ginger or fingerroot

Polish Żołądkowa Gorzka vodka is flavoured with galanga.

Footnotes

References

Further reading

• Qureshi, S.; Shah, A.; Ageel, A. (2007). "Toxicity Studies on Alpinia galanga and Curcuma longa". Planta Medica 58 (2): 124–7.  
• Bendjeddou, D; Lalaoui, K; Satta, D (2003). "Immunostimulating activity of the hot water-soluble polysaccharide extracts of Anacyclus pyrethrum, Alpinia galanga and Citrullus colocynthis". Journal of Ethnopharmacology 88 (2–3): 155–60.  
• Morita, Hiroshi; Itokawa, Hideji (2007). "Cytotoxic and Antifungal Diterpenes from the Seeds of Alpinia galanga". Planta Medica 54 (2): 117–20.  
• Oonmetta-Aree, Jirawan; Suzuki, Tomoko; Gasaluck, Piyawan; Eumkeb, Griangsak (2006). "Antimicrobial properties and action of galangal (Alpinia galanga Linn.) on Staphylococcus aureus". LWT - Food Science and Technology 39 (10): 1214–20.  
• Itokawa, Hideji; Morita, Hiroshi; Sumitomo, Takayoshi; Totsuka, Nobuo; Takeya, Koichi (2007). "Antitumour Principles from Alpinia galanga". Planta Medica 53 (1): 32–3.  
• Matsuda, Hisashi; Pongpiriyadacha, Yutana; Morikawa, Toshio; Ochi, Momotaro; Yoshikawa, Masayuki (2003). "Gastroprotective effects of phenylpropanoids from the rhizomes of Alpinia galanga in rats: Structural requirements and mode of action". European Journal of Pharmacology 471 (1): 59–67.  
• Mitsui, Seiji; Kobayashi, Shinsaku; Nagahori, Hitoshi; Ogiso, Akira (1976). "Constituents from seeds of Alpinia galanga Wild. And their anti-ulcer activities". Chemical & Pharmaceutical Bulletin 24 (10): 2377.  
• Matsuda, Hisashi; Morikawa, Toshio; Managi, Hiromi; Yoshikawa, Masayuki (2003). "Antiallergic principles from Alpinia galanga: Structural requirements of phenylpropanoids for inhibition of degranulation and release of TNF-α and IL-4 in RBL-2H3 cells". Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Letters 13 (19): 3197–202.  
• De Pooter, Herman L.; Omar, Muhammad Nor; Coolsaet, Brigitte A.; Schamp, Niceas M. (1985). "The essential oil of greater galanga (Alpinia galanga) from Malaysia". Phytochemistry 24: 93–6.  
• Barik, B.R.; Kundu, A.B.; Dey, A.K. (1987). "Two phenolic constituents from Alpinia galanga rhizomes". Phytochemistry 26 (7): 2126–7.  
• Borthakur, M.; Hazarika, J.; Singh, R.S. (1998). "A protocol for micropropagation of Alpinia galanga". Plant Cell, Tissue and Organ Culture 55 (3): 231–3.  
• Haraguchi, Hiroyuki; Kuwata, Yoshiharu; Inada, Kozo; Shingu, Kazushi; Miyahara, Kazumoto; Nagao, Miyoko; Yagi, Akira (2007). "Antifungal Activity from Alpinia galanga and the Competition for Incorporation of Unsaturated Fatty Acids in Cell Growth". Planta Medica 62 (4): 308–13.  

External links

• Encyclopedia of Spices