[Sca-cooks] Galangal

[lilinah at earthlink.net]

Phlip wrote:
>Can someone tell me the difference between Greater and Lesser Galangal? And,
>maybe, direct me someplace where I might obtain both varieties? It's
>becoming important in some recipes I'm looking over.

I'm quite familiar with all three... (yes, i said three - see below) 
from living in Indonesia and cooking Indonesian and Thai food.

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First, take a look at Gernot Katzer's Herb and Spice Pages for 
photos, alternate names and spellings, and good info:

Greater Galangal, Alpinia galanga , often just Galangal:
http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/generic_noframe.html?Alpi_gal.html

Lesser Galangal, Kaempferia galanga:
http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/generic_frame.html?Kaem_gal.html

And as i suggested, there's a third in the family, called Fingerroot 
or Chinese ginger in English:
http://www.uni-graz.at/~katzer/engl/generic_noframe.html?Boes_pan.html

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Galangal/greater galangal (alpinia galanga) has a pleasant and 
relatively mild, slightly resinous flavor, whether fresh or dried in 
chips or slices. Dried galangal is better if soaked or simmered for 
some time. The packaged powder has an even milder flavor that fades 
fairly rapidly in storage.

Galangal is commonly used in Indonesian and Thai cooking. In Bahasa 
Indonesia it is called "laos" or "lengkuas". And in Thai it is called 
"kha".

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Lesser galangal, Kaempferia galanga, has a rather stronger and more 
resinous, even camphorous, flavor than standard galangal.

It is somewhat less often used in Indonesian cooking. In Bahasa 
Indonesia it is called "kencur" (the "c" has a "ch" sound), sometimes 
written "kentjoer" or "kentjur" (Dutch influenced spelling). It is 
rarely used in Thai cooking - it's called "Pra hom" in Thai.

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The third, fingerroot, is even more strongly camphorous than the 
other two and somewhat bitter.

It is used in only a few specific dishes in Indonesian cooking and is 
called in Bahasa Indonesia "temu kunci" (the "c" has a "ch" sound) or 
"temoe koentji" (Dutch spelling). It is much more commonly used in 
Thai cooking than in Indonesian cooking, and it is more commonly used 
in Thai cooking than Kaempferia glalana is. In Thai it is called 
"krachai"

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Ultimately your best sources for any of these are Pan-Asian markets, 
Southeast Asian/Thai markets, and Dutch shops (since Indonesia was a 
colony of the Netherlands). Around here (SF Bay Area) i can find all 
three fresh, although (greater) galangal is by far the most common 
and easiest to find.

-- 
Urtatim (that's err-tah-TEEM)
the persona formerly known as Anahita