[Sca-cooks] Galangal

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

While it is true that galangal (galanga alpina, zingerberacea) is a
rhizome that is closely related to ginger, it tastes NOTHING like
ginger. Ginger is MUCH hotter. In fact, both fresh galangal and dried
galangal are rather mild, with a slightly resinous flavor. That is to
say, galangal has a strong enough and distinctive flavor, but it is
quite different from ginger, which i think is NOT a suitable
substitute.

And there's NOTHING else that tastes like galangal. I lived in
Indonesia where fresh galangal is common and a common seasoning in
Javanese food. The Indonesian name for galangal is laos.

Fresh galangal root is available in Thai markets - the Thai name for
it is kha - and possibly some other Southeast Asian and Asian markets.

The closest substitutes i can think of are the Indonesian
zingiber-related rhozomes kentjur and temu kuntji, both of which are
much much harder to get, and are stronger tasting than galangal.

Unless your recipe calls for LOTS of galangal, you can leave it out
and make no substitutes.

But it is useful to have in your spice cabinet, so i recommend
ordering some. Keep it VERY TIGHTLY sealed, as the delicate flavor of
dried powdered galangal will eventually vaporize, leaving a rather
tasteless beige powder. And dried root chunks will probably kill your
spice grinder. However, if you can find dried slices, these can be
somewhat reconstituted, then ground. Don't throw out the water you
reconstitute them in, but add that to the liquid in your recipe.

If you're even in a Thai restaurant order the Tom Kha Gai soup. It is
a chicken soup with kha / galangal slices. You're in luck if they
leave the kha slices in the soup. Don't eat them, but suck on them to
see what galangal tastes like by itself.

Anahita