GALANGA

Galanga or galangal (kah): This robustly pungent member of the ginger family is the primary ginger used in Thai cooking and is, therefore, sometimes referred to as "Siamese ginger." It is also called "greater galanga" (there is a very different relative called "lesser galanga") and "laos root." Fresh galanga has an ivory or very pale yellow color and its growing tips are tinged pink, much like young ginger. Denser, firmer and even more knobby than common ginger, the rhizome is also rounder, marked with concentric rings every half inch apart and has no skin to be peeled. Tasting nothing like ginger, its hotter and sharper bite combines with a tangy spicy flavor which, to some people, is reminiscent of hot mustard. To others, it tastes medicinal and indeed it is.