Galangal, Alpina galangal, is frequently mistaken for ginger, though the two are quite different in both flavor and appearance. If you find galangal, it will most likely be in a specialty grocery store that sells ingredients favored in Southeast Asian cuisine, since it is a star ingredient in these cuisines. 

It has a 0.5-1.5% essential oil content, mainly comprised of 1,8-cineol. 

This spice has a lot of different names and spellings. Sometimes it’s spelled galangale, other times it is galingale. In Arabic, it is called “kholanjan,” in Mandarin “liang chang,” in French it is “souchet long,” in German “galangawurzel,” in Hindi “kulinjan,” in Japanese “nankyo,” in Portuguese “gengibre do Laos,” in Russian it is “kalgan,” and in Spanish it is called “galang.” It is also called Thai ginger or Siamese ginger. It may show up on a shelf called “Laos Root,” or even “kah.” 

History of Galangal

This spice was first used thousands of years ago in Chinese and Southeast Asian cuisines, where it is still predominantly used today. 

Galangal made it’s first appearance in Europe during the middle ages. Geoffrey Chaucer references “galyngale” in The Canterbury Tales, a collection of 24 stories about pilgrims on the way to Canterbury from London that is thought to be the best out of all his works. During this period in the middle ages, the rhizome was used as an aid for indigestion and was thought to help with hearing problems. About 100 years after The Canterbury Tales was published, it seems that galangal pretty much disappeared from English cooking, though it would later have a resurgence when Asian food’s popularity began to rise there again in the mid to late 20th century.  

Witches of the middle ages used galangal to break curses and aid in healing. Current magical applications of this root include wrapping money around it to attract more money or burning for 14 days before a court case and bringing the ashes with you to help the judge favor you. It is often called the “court case root” for this reason. 

Galangal was brought to America around the same time that turmeric was, with the introduction of more Asian foods to American culture. There is no definitive evidence of when exactly it found its way to America, and to this day it is not used much outside of Asian food in the United States. 

The medicinal properties of galangal are still valued across Asia, and it is utilized to ease indigestion, respiratory problems, and nausea. In the Western world of alternative medicine, it is sometimes used for the same things, but usually those responsibilities fall on the shoulders of the rhizome more familiar to the west, ginger.  

Galangal Cultivation

Galangal is indigenous to Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, and China. It is a rhizome, which means it grows horizontally underground, and it is has shoots that come out of it and grow as a tall plant, with plants usually reaching 3-6 feet in height and leaves ranging from 10 to 13 inches long. Galangal prefers areas with average water and less direct sunlight. This rhizome does not struggle with many diseases but can become afflicted with some if the soil in which it grows is too moist. The rhizome has a tough, woody body with a flesh that is reddish brown in color and thicker than ginger. Ginger can be peeled with a spoon, but galangal requires a vegetable peeler or knife. 

The flowers that grow from the rhizome are often beautiful and hardy, and they resemble orchids. The green leaves are thick and when planted alongside other crops, can protect the crops from small animals because they are tightly packed and hard to get through. 

Our galangal comes from India.  

Types of Galangal

There are three types of galangal; greater galangal, lesser galangal, and kaempferia galangal. Greater galangal is the most commonly used and found outside of Asian countries, while also being the most commonly used in Asian countries as well. 

Lesser galangal is used sometimes, but is less intense and less common than greater galangal. 

Kaempferia galangal is most frequently used in liqueurs and beers in Russia and Scandinavia, though you will occasionally find it in meat curry pastes. 

Cooking with Galangal

Galangal is primarily used in Southeastern Asian dishes. 

In Thai cooking, you will find galangal in everything from curries to tom yum soup. It is a star ingredient that packs just a little bit more of a punch than ginger, but it also has its own flavor profile. It is distinctly more piney than ginger, and it also has a bit of a menthol flavor. 

Galangal is excellent with beef. It can be used in stews and soups that have a savory flavor, and anywhere that pepper would work well. 

You can make an excellent, light mushroom curry with galangal powder that can be poured over rice and served with vegetables. The ingredients needed for this recipe are two cups of coconut milk, two tablespoons of galangal powder, three torn up kafir lime leaves, two teaspoons of salt, 1/3 to ½ pound of mushrooms, depending on your preference for mushrooms, 5 Thai chiles and finally ¼ cup of lime juice. Put the coconut milk in a pot and bring to a boil. Add the lime leaves, the salt, and the galangal powder. Simmer for roughly ten minutes, and then add the mushrooms. Cook for another five to seven minutes, giving the mushrooms time to soften, and then remove the pot from the heat. Stir in the lime juice and pour over the rice. Top with the Thai chiles to serve or leave those out if you would prefer something less spicy. 

This rhizome also has some delicious sweet applications as well. You can include it in sugar cookie recipes and the cookies will have a zingy flavor. The flavor of galangal is also excellent with citrus fruits, which makes it a perfect addition to thinks like orange margaritas or lemonade. 

Galangal is essential in Thai curry pastes, and it tastes good with chicken, fish, and other seafood. It combines well with chili, coconut milk, fennel, fish sauces, garlic, and lemon. It also does well with ginger and kaffir lime leaves. 

Dried vs. Fresh

Dried galangal has a less intense flavor than fresh galangal, only because it has lost some of its oils to the drying process. It is often much easier to find dried than fresh, and it is even easier to find galangal powder than it is to find dried galangal. Galangal powder is the most accessible form of this rhizome in America. 

Fresh galangal is hard to find, but if you can find it, it’ll probably be frozen in chunks. This makes it hard to work with, and if you let it thaw all the way before slicing it, the rhizome may become mushy. Try to let it thaw just a little bit and then chop some pieces off to the desired size and then refreeze immediately. When storing galangal in the freezer, if you wrap it first in plastic wrap and then in foil, followed finally by a freezer bag, it will keep for a very long time. 

What Does Galangal Taste Like?

Galangal powder has a flavor that is tart, with a slight heat and a citrus aroma that has a bit of a bite to it. Some say it even has a little bit of a cinnamon flavor. This is the more intense cousin of ginger. 

Fresh galangal has a bit of a sour menthol flavor, and it usually used in soups or curries. 

What’s the Difference between Galangal and Ginger?

Galangal and ginger look so similar it is not hard to confuse the two from sight alone, which makes it an easy mistake to make if you are in the grocery store and you happen to pick up the former instead of the latter. Galangal’s flesh tends to be a little darker, but it has a similar shape to ginger. Their main difference is how flavorful they are, with galangal being much more intense than ginger. 

Substitutions and Conversions

If you absolutely must substitute galangal, you could use ginger at a one to one ratio, but ginger is much less intense than galangal, so you may have to isolate what flavor you are looking for exactly and amplify that. For example, if you are looking for the cinnamon notes of galangal, you may want to add the ginger and then also add a small amount of cinnamon. 

If you are cooking a Thai dish, you may find that lemongrass suits your needs as a substitute better than ginger in some cases, but usually only in soups or meat dishes. This is all about flavor preferences, and the lemongrass can also be substitutes at a one to one ratio.  One and a half teaspoons of galangal root powder is approximately equivalent to one tablespoon of chopped fresh galangal. 

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