Galangal is a cousin to ginger and is quite popular in SouthEast Asian cooking. You can find it in dishes such as Thai Coconut Chicken Soup (Tom Kha Gai) where galangal is a key ingredient.
Even though galangal and ginger look very similar, they taste very different from each other. Galangal has a sharp, woodsy flavor, while ginger has a warm, spicy fragrance. Galangal is also much more fibrous and tougher than ginger; not very pleasant when bitten into.
You should not substitute ginger for galangal unless specifically stated in the recipe.
It is usually sliced, added to a dish early in the cooking process to infuse its flavor, then removed just before serving.
Tom Kha Gai (Thai Coconut Chicken Soup) | Wok & Skillet
Sunday 21st of June 2020
[…] 3 cups (two 13.5oz cans) of coconut milk into a pot. Add 6 slices of fresh galangal and 3 stalks of lemongrass (cut into 2-inch pieces), then set the pot on your stove over medium […]
Quick and Easy Tom Yum Soup - Wok & Skillet
Sunday 24th of May 2020
[…] 2 stalks of lemongrass (halved) and 3 slices of galangal to the chicken stock (or water). The galangal slices should be about 1/8-inch […]
Thai Tom Yum Paste Recipe - Wok & Skillet
Thursday 16th of April 2020
[…] inch galangal […]
Thai Yellow Curry Paste - Wok & Skillet
Monday 24th of June 2019
[…] inch galangal, grated (or substitute with equal amount of ginger if you don’t have access to […]
Thai Red Curry Paste - Wok & Skillet
Saturday 22nd of June 2019
[…] inch galangal, grated. (If you are not able to find galangal at your local Asian supermarket, you may substitute […]