The rhizome contains up to 1.5% essential oil (1,8 cineol, α-pinene,
eugenol, camphor, methyl cinnamate and sesquiterpenes).
In dried galanga, the essential oil has quantitatively different composition
than in fresh one. Whereas α-pinene, 1,8-cineol, α-bergamotene,
trans-β-farnesene and β-bisabolene seem to contribute to the
taste of fresh galanga equally, the dried rhizome shows lesser variety in
aroma components (cineol and farnesene, mostly).
(Phytochemistry, 24, 93, 1985)
The resin causing the pungent taste (formerly called galangol or alpinol)
consists of several diarylheptanoids and phenylalkanones (the latter are also
found in ginger and grains
of paradise). Furthermore, the rhizome is high in starch.
Alpinia galanga: Galangale inflorescence
(Probably) Galanga flowers
Alpinia galanga: Single flower
Close-up to flower of galanga
naturepark.freeservers.com
Origin
South East Asia, probably southern China; it is now cultivated in Indochina,
Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Etymology
Galanga and similar forms derive from the Persian/Arabic name
qulanjan [قولنجان]
or khalanjan [خلنجان],
which itself is probably an adaption of Chinese
gao liang jiang [高良姜] high, good ginger
.
The names in Northern Indian languages have the same source: Sanskrit
kulanja [कुलंज]
and its successors in modern Indic languages,
Hindi kulanjan [कुलंजन],
and Urdu kholinjan [کھلنجان].
The genus name Alpinia is in memory of an Italian botanist
(Prospero Alpina, 1533–1617). The alternative (younger) genus name
Languas is based on Malay lengkuas
galanga
, which as its Indonesian counterpart laos,
originates probably from a shorter form of the Chinese name,
liang-jiang [良姜] high ginger
.
The derivation appears more plausible if a Southern Chinese pronunciation of
姜 (Yue geung, Minnan kiang) is
taken into account.
Selected Links
Indian Spices: Galanga (indianetzone.com)
The Epicentre: Galangal
Medical Spice Exhibit: Galangal (via archive.org) (via archive.org)
Nature One Health: Galangal
Sorting Alpinia names (www.plantnames.unimelb.edu.au)
Recipe: Rendang (recipegal.com)
Recipe: Rendang Daging (pepperfool.com)
Recipe: Tom Kha Kai [ต้มข่าไก่] (bigpond.com via archive.org)
Recipe: Tom Yum [ต้มยํา] (bigpond.com via archive.org)
Recipe: Nasi Goreng (Indonesian fried rice) (balivacationvillas.com)
Recipe: Nasi Goreng (Indonesian fried rice) (indochef.com)
Erläuterungen zu Nasi Goreng
Alpinia galanga: Flower cluster
Flower cluster of galanga
naturepark.freeservers.com
Alpinia galanga: Galanga flower
Galanga flower
kanchanapisek.or.th © Thai Junior Encyclopedia
Greater galangale, mostly referred to simply as galangale
or galanga, is
a very popular spice in whole South East Asia and especially typical for the
cuisine of Thailand. It is also known and used in Malaysia, Indonesia,
Cambodia, Vietnam and Southern China. Chinese five spice powder is
sometimes enhanced with galangale (see star anise).
In Western countries, however, galanga is not well known, at least in our days;
it has, however, been a valued spice in the early Middle-ages.
Galangale may be used fresh or dried, which makes a great difference in
flavour. Fresh galanga has a pure and refreshing odour and a mildly spicy
flavour; it is the galanga of choice for all Thai foods, where thin
slices of galanga are often added to soups, e. g., to the well-known
tom khaa [ต้มข่า] which basically is
a variant of tom yam [ต้มยํา]
(kaffir lime) with galanga and
coconut milk. Moreover, galanga
is often used, finely cut or chopped, for stir-fries;
and last but not least, ground fresh galanga rhizome is an
essential ingredient in most curry pastes (see coconut for a discussion on these typical Thai
flavouring). Like ginger, its aroma merges well
with garlic.
Dried and powdered galanga is less fresh but more spicy, something
in between of ginger and cinnamon. Dried galanga is also sold if form of
slices that must be reconstituted in warm water and come closer to fresh
galanga in their flavour.
In most South East Asian countries dried galanga is
employed only whenever fresh galanga is not available.
Indonesians, for example, frequently
use slices or powder of the fresh or dried rhizome, e. g., for nasi
goreng (fried rice with vegetables and meat) or for the characteristically
sweet Jawanese curries (see tamarind).
Alpinia galanga: Galanga (plant)
Galanga (plant)
Another well-known Indonesian dishes which makes use of dried galanga is
rendang, a spicy beef (or buffalo) stew. Cubed beef is
cooked in thick coconut milk
together with dried chiles, garlic and dried turmeric,
ginger, Indonesian
bay-leaves and galangale; some recipes additionally prescribe Indonesian cinnamon, black
pepper or even fennel.
Rendang is famous both for the soft texture of the
otherwise tough buffalo meat and for its hot and aromatic flavour; even
for ordinary beef, I found a cooking time of three hours appropriate,
unless the procedure is sped up by using a pressure cooker.
Rendang is a great example of the food style called
nasi Padang Padang-food
in Indonesia. It
originates from Western Sumatra province (Sumatra barat)
and is named after the capital Padang. The region is inhabited by the
Islâmic minangkabau people who are known all
over Indonesia for their strong breeds of buffalo. By Indonesian standards,
Padang food is quite spicy; due to much domestic migration,
nasi Padang
has become available and popular all over the country, and can
thus also be enjoyed in Jawa or Bali.
Galangale is sometimes confused with other spices of the ginger family; see lesser galangale for details. Its taste and appearance
are, however, characteristic; it cannot be substituted by any other spice.
- Gernot Katzer’s Spice Pages Table of Content page
- Indices Various indices to search for a particular spice
- English All English spice names, sorted alphabetically
- Multilingual Search spices by foreign names
- Alphabetic More than 10000 spice names in 70+ languages
- Greek ScriptSearch spices names in Old and Modern Greek
- Cyrillic ScriptSearch spices names in Russian, Bulgarian, Kazakh,...
- Hebrew ScriptSearch spices names in Hebrew and Yiddish
- Arabic Script Search spice names in Arabic, Farsi, Urdu,...
- Indic ScriptsSearch spice names in Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu,...
- Hanzi & Kanji Search spice names in Chinese and Japanese
- More ... Spice names in rarer tongues
- Geographic Spices sorted according to region of origin or frequent usage
- Botanical Spices sorted according to plant families
- Morphologic Spices sorted according to part of the plant
- Spice Mixtures Index of spice mixtures and their main ingredients
- Search Explanation how to use the search engine
- Other Some other texts on spices
- German (Deutsch) Die Seite können Sie auch auf Deutsch lesen
- Contact