Greater galangal, Spice
Greater galangal (Alpinia galanga) is a plant in the ginger family Zingiberaceae, native to Indonesia. It is one of the four species of ginger plants that are known as galangal. The other three are Alpinia officinarum (Lesser galangal) , Kaempferia galanga (aromatic ginger or sand ginger) and Boesenbergia pandurata (Chinese ginger or finger root). Alpinia galanga is also known as galanga, Thai ginger, siamese ginger, Java galangal, blue ginger, laos, and lengkuas (Malay). In African-American folk medicine and hoodoo folk magic, Alpinia galanga is known as chewing john, little john chew, and galanga root. Greater galangal is a tropical herbaceous plant, growing up to 2 m tall. It forms clumps of long stalks with blade-like, long leaves 50 cm long and 9 cm wide. The flowers are greenish white with a dark-red veined tip. Its fruits are red berries. The pinkish root or rhizome is widely used as flavoring in Thai, Vietnamese, Malaysian and Indonesian cuisines. It is a common ingredient in curries and soups, where the rhizome is used fresh, cut in chunk, thin slices, or mashed and mixed into curry paste. It has a sharp, sweet taste with a citrusy, piney, and earthly aroma. The rhizome is available whole, in sliced or powdered. Greater galangal is an aromatic stimulant, carminative and stomachic, used against nausea, flatulence, dyspepsia, bronchial catarrh and rheumatism. It possesses tonic, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant and antibacterial qualities.  Greater galangal Author: L joo (public domain) | ||
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