What's Galangal, and How Is It Different From Ginger?

Galangal is a pale, very hard rhizome from the ginger family, and it tastes of pine, citrus peel and black pepper rather than ginger's juicy heat. Thai, Malaysian and Indonesian cooks slice it into soups such as tom kha and pound it into curry pastes. Because it is so dense, the way it is cut decides whether it perfumes a broth or ends up as woody chips on the spoon.

What is galangal?

Botanically, galangal is the rhizome of a tall plant in the ginger family, Zingiberaceae, native to South and Southeast Asia. A Thai, Malaysian or Indonesian recipe that simply says galangal means greater galangal, Alpinia galanga, the kind sold fresh and frozen in Asian grocers.

Shops and cookbooks also call it kha in Thai, lengkuas in Malay and Indonesian, laos in Javanese, riềng in Vietnamese, and Thai ginger on English labels.

Plant

Alpinia galanga, greater galangal

Family

Zingiberaceae, the ginger family

Part used

The rhizome, sold fresh, frozen, dried and ground

Native range

South and Southeast Asia, with early cultivation on Java

Main aroma compound

1,8-cineole, the cool compound also found in eucalyptus

A rhizome is an underground stem rather than a root. The even rings around galangal's skin are the nodes of that stem, and they are one of the quickest ways to tell it from knobby ginger.

The plant itself grows in clumps of stiff stalks up to about 2 meters tall, but only the rhizome reaches most kitchens.

The English word traces back through Arabic to gaoliangjiang, the Chinese name for lesser galangal. The name has since spread to several different rhizomes, so a label alone can mislead.

Greater galangal, lesser galangal, kencur or fingerroot: which is which?

Four ginger-family rhizomes are sold under a galangal name, and only greater galangal gives the pine and citrus flavor a Thai or Indonesian recipe expects. The others taste different enough that swapping them in changes the dish.

Lesser galangal comes from the southeastern coast of China, including Hainan. It was the galangal of ancient and medieval Europe, where it went into sauces and spiced wine, and today it is mostly sold dried or powdered in Chinese shops.

Kencur, sometimes labeled black galangal, is a different plant again, and its camphor taste cannot stand in for greater galangal in a Thai soup.

Fingerroot adds its own confusion, because some sellers call it lesser galangal too. Its bunched, finger-shaped roots look nothing like a single thick galangal rhizome, so the shape settles the question at the shelf.

A jar labeled only "galangal powder" does not say which plant it holds, so the botanical name on the label is the only sure check.

What does galangal taste like, and how is it different from ginger?

Fresh greater galangal smells of pine needles, citrus peel and black pepper, with a cool, almost medicinal edge. That coolness comes largely from 1,8-cineole, the main compound in the rhizome's essential oil.

A 2025 aroma study of fresh Thai-grown rhizomes by Shi and Steinhaus found 1,8-cineole had by far the strongest odor impact. Galangal acetate came second, with a fruity, pungent character.

Galangal acetate is also the source of the quick bite in a raw slice. It triggers the same nerve receptor as mustard and wasabi, and its sting is milder than chile heat and fades fast instead of lingering.

That compound breaks down in water, which helps explain why a simmered broth tastes of galangal's aroma more than its bite.

Common ginger gets its warm, juicy bite from gingerol, a different pungent compound.

Those differences matter most where galangal leads the dish. Swapping ginger into tom kha, a soup named for galangal, means a hotter and sweeter bowl without the pine note at its center.

Texture is the other giveaway, and it is the difference a cook feels first at the cutting board.

Can you eat galangal slices?

You can, but thick slices of mature galangal are woody enough that most diners leave them in the bowl. In tom kha and tom yum the coins work much like bay leaves, flavoring the broth and then staying behind.

Pushing them to the side is normal and says nothing bad about the cook.

Young galangal, pale pink with taut skin, is milder and crisp enough to eat when it is sliced paper-thin.

Mature galangal pounded into curry paste is eaten with the sauce, because the fibers are broken too small to notice. The fine mince in a stir-fry softens enough to eat in the same way.

How do you peel and cut fresh galangal?

Mature galangal is hard enough to skid under a dull knife, so a sharp, heavy blade and a rhizome that cannot roll matter more here than with ginger.

Young galangal with thin, clean skin can go into soup unpeeled after a scrub. Peeling matters when galangal is chopped or pounded, because tough skin stays stringy in a paste.

1. Scrub and dryRinse off the soil caught in the rings, then dry the rhizome so it does not slip on the board.
2. Make a flat sideCut a thin slice from one side and set the rhizome down on that flat face.
3. Slice across the grainCut coins about 3 millimeters thick for soup, pressing straight down rather than sawing.
4. Mince for pasteStack a few coins, cut them into thin strips, then cross-cut the strips into small cubes.
5. Pound or blendPound the mince with a pinch of coarse salt, or process it in small batches so the blade does not jump.

Cutting across the grain matters because it shortens the long fibers that run the length of the rhizome. A coin cut that way breaks down in a mortar, while a lengthwise strip stays stringy however long it is pounded.

Coarse salt gives the pestle grip on the fibers, the same reason it helps when grinding whole spices by hand.

How is galangal used in soup, curry paste and stir-fry?

Each dish asks something different of galangal, so the cut follows the cooking method. Soup wants removable coins added at the start, when the liquid has the whole simmer to draw out their aroma.

In Thai curry paste, galangal goes into the mortar first with lemongrass and dried chile, because the hardest ingredients need the longest pounding.

Stir-fries cook too fast to soften thick pieces. A fine mince added to the oil at the start has time to cook through, and a brief oil bloom releases its aroma before wet ingredients cool the pan.

Coconut milk, lemongrass, makrut lime leaf, chile, fish sauce, seafood and chicken are its natural partners across Thai cooking. Each one adds sweetness, sourness, heat or salt without covering the pine note.

If the galangal tastes too strong, more coconut milk, broth or vegetables will dilute it. Longer boiling softens its top notes but will not make an excess of galangal taste milder and sweeter like ginger.

How do Indonesian, Malaysian and Vietnamese cooks use galangal?

Outside Thailand, galangal is usually ground into a spice paste with shallots, garlic and candlenuts, then fried in oil before any liquid goes in.

Because the paste stays in the dish, the galangal is eaten rather than lifted out.

Ginger often goes into the same paste. A beef rendang recipe from Singaporean Malaysian Recipes grinds 2.5 centimeters of galangal with 5 centimeters of ginger, and Daily Cooking Quest's soto ayam uses 1 inch of galangal with 2 inches of ginger.

In those dishes ginger brings warmth and galangal brings the sharp, piney top note, so neither rhizome replaces the other.

Frying the ground paste in oil first changes how galangal tastes in these dishes. The raw edge softens, and the aroma carries into the fat that coats the meat, the same idea behind other cooked spice pastes.

In the Hanoi fish dish the amount is small. Vicky Pham's recipe uses 1 teaspoon of grated galangal with turmeric, garlic and shallot for the marinade, and it is one of the dishes that shows galangal's place in Vietnamese cooking.

Fresh, frozen, dried or powdered galangal: which should you buy?

Fresh galangal gives the clearest pine and citrus aroma, and frozen comes closest after it.

Freezing softens the texture a little but keeps most of the flavor. That makes frozen galangal the practical backup when the shop has no fresh rhizome.

Jarred galangal paste sits between frozen and dried. One widely sold paste is about two-thirds galangal, with water, cornflour, salt, sugar and citric acid, so the salt and acid in the recipe may need trimming.

Dried slices also turn up in packaged tom yum herb kits with dried lemongrass and makrut lime leaf, and they work in a long simmer but never soften enough to eat.

Powder is the weakest choice. The Herb Society of America notes that powdered galangal has much less flavor and aroma than fresh, so it suits a dry rub better than a soup built around galangal.

Frozen whole rhizome from an online spice shop usually beats a supermarket jar of powder, for the same whole versus ground reason that applies to dried spices.

How much galangal should you use?

A pot of tom kha made with one can of coconut milk and one can of broth typically takes 10 to 12 thin slices of galangal. That is the amount in Nancie McDermott's recipe from Fine Cooking, reprinted by the Herb Society of America.

Tom yum, where lemongrass and lime lead, uses fewer. Thai-Foodie's four-serving tom yum puts 8 thin slices into a quart of broth.

Curry paste and stir-fries use less, because minced galangal stays in the food instead of being left in the bowl.

Indonesian and Malaysian recipes often measure galangal by length instead. A 1-inch piece gives about 1 tablespoon once grated, according to the author of Daily Cooking Quest's opor ayam.

Strength varies with the age of the rhizome and how finely it is cut, so these amounts are starting points. Tasting the broth after ten minutes of simmering shows whether it needs more, and a few extra slices can still go in then.

What can you substitute for galangal?

Frozen galangal is the only true substitute, because it is the same ingredient. Everything else rebuilds part of the flavor, usually by pairing young ginger with a citrus aromatic.

Ginger goes in at a smaller amount than the galangal it replaces because its heat arrives faster and can take over a delicate broth.

Kencur and fingerroot are left off this list because each has a flavor of its own that turns a Thai soup into a different dish.

In a dish named for galangal, such as tom kha, waiting until you can buy frozen galangal gives a truer result than any of the galangal substitutes.

How do you buy and store galangal?

A good piece feels heavy and rock-hard for its size, with tight skin and a clean pine smell at a cut end. Pink tips mark young growth, which is milder and well suited to soup.

• FirmnessHeavy, hard and smooth, with no give when pressed.
• SkinTight and glossy, cream to pinkish, without deep wrinkles.
• Cut endMoist and pale, with a strong pine and citrus smell.
• ShapeOne thick rhizome with even rings, not a bunch of slim fingers or a small round brown knob.
• Frozen packsSeparate, frost-free pieces show the pack has not thawed and refrozen.

Soft, wrinkled pieces have already lost moisture and much of their aroma, so they are worth passing over even before they show signs of going bad.

Fresh galangal belongs in the refrigerator, dry and loosely wrapped, because trapped moisture invites mold. For anything beyond the next few meals, freezing is the better choice.

Freezing the galangal already cut, as coins or minced portions spread on a tray before bagging, means each cooking amount comes out on its own.

Frozen coins go straight into hot broth without thawing. A whole frozen piece slices more cleanly after a few minutes on the counter, when the surface has softened just enough for the knife to bite.