Galangal (aka galangal, galingale, blue ginger, Siamese ginger) is a ginger-relative with a flavor evoking ginger and pepper with hints of citrus and pine. Most commonly found dried, it is also used fresh in Thai, Malaysian, southern Chinese and Indonesian food.
Fresh galangal is much more tender and less woody than dried galangal, and is particularly preferred over dry in Thai cooking. This fresh galangal is the larger, more mild and white fleshed greater galangal variety. Though it is often called “galangal root,” it is actually a rhizome.
