HELLO LOVELY VIEWERS! Important Note: If you have questions about this recipe, you can post it here for the community to answer. But if you want to ask me, please get in touch via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or my website (all links are in the description above). If you leave questions in the comments I may not see them due to the large volume of comments I receive across the hundreds of videos on this channel. Also, before sending on any questions be sure to read the written recipe on the website as I often add extra tips and notes not covered in the video. Thank you for watching!
Hi everyone! Just a note to add to clarify something. Many people seem to be confusing the differences between "taste" and "flavour", which are often used interchangeably when we casually speak about food, but are in fact quite different: There are only 5 tastes that we know of currently: sweet, salty, sour, bitter and umami. "Flavour" is the combination of everything else you sense, including aroma, mouthfeel, AND yes, taste plays a role in flavour as well. So spicy, or cooling, or zingy are not "taste" but a part of flavour. So when I said galangal has no "taste" I mean that in a very specific way, that it is neither sweet, salty, etc. If galangal didn't have any "flavour" we wouldn't be using it as an herb, would we?! :) I hope this clarifies things!
Thank you Pai. I buy fresh galangal from Amazon. It's at my door in two days. It is a little more expensive than the Thai grocer but it's worth the convenience of not making the drive. Keep up the great work. Thanks again!
In terms of powdered galangal, I would say that it has the flavour (albeit rather exaggerated), but an odd texture. I would compare it to fresh vs. instant coffee. Instant is good enough for baking and giving a coffee aroma, but if you actually want to drink the coffee go with the original. For powdered galangal, if it's an ingredient in a complex curry go ahead - if it's infused into a soup like tom yum, stay away from the powder.
A C thank you!! I purchased some powdered galangal a little while ago, but I wasn't sure how useful it would be. I pretty much only make curries anyway, so i guess it will be perfect!
I'm from Vietnam. Galangal is one of the common spices used for cooking in Vietnam! It's used with fish or pork. and It's very versatile! and of course I really love its flavor!
When I found galagal in Hyderabad India, I used some fresh... Some i dried and a small portion I planted in my garden. Now I have unlimited supply of Galangal. Thank you for the tips to use them.
My local H-Mart just stopped selling frozen galangal (and jarred lemongrass) and now only sells fresh galangal (and fresh lemongrass). The fresh galangal is such a relief given the difficulty of working with frozen. As for the lemongrass, I was intimitated until I saw your lemongrass video and realized how easy it is to work with! Thanks once again.
The smell reminds me of the incense that's burned during a Catholic mass! I have tons of galangal. It's taking over my garden. Thanks for the encouragement to freeze the excess.
I wish it was more common. The province knows about it and I heard people put it in their foods often, but in the city it’s like a culinary secret or something so if you ask markets they don’t know. I think I should plant it at lola’s house too.
Managed to locate 2 modest size couple yrs old galangal rhizomes from poor location with minimal direct sun and replant in few new more sunny but late day shade locations, USDA zone 9a in Cali we have hot dry summers and best I can tell hot is ok *with humidity* but less late day sun might be beneficial for my environment. High hopes! (hope they don't turn out to be gopher delicacies, previously located between/under citrus which are one of few things gophers don't seem to like)
Pailin I can’t thank you enough for this video as my daughter is,doing a high school project on this and I sent this video to her so she can watch it and understand exactly what galangal is. Much appreciate. ❤️
An easy way to distinguish the two if anyone's still confused, is galangal looks like a foot, specifically like a chicken's foot! It has these shoots that grow upwards into shoots, so that's how it gets these claw-like shapes. On the other hand, ginger resembles a hand, growing flat and sideways, with knobs spreading out wide and not reaching upwards. I used to purchase a fair amount of galangal when it came into season in spring / summer in Brisbane. The (western) supermarket staff usually would look puzzled, with some cashiers would be ringing it up as "ginger" as it looks similar. As these were sold as mature rhizomes, I'd peel them carefully, using a potato peeler first, them finishing the cleaning up with a small sharp knife. For the way I was likely to use them, I'd cut them into 1" chunks and freeze them separately until hardened. Sealing them afterwards in a vacuum-save bag was the best way to prevent freezer burn and they would last for a really long time. I'd be able to just take out one or two knobs, reseal the rest, then give what I needed to use a quick partial defrost in the microwave and they'd be ready to slice or process into pastes etc. If using them whole in soup, I'd give these frozen knobs a firm thump or two in the granite mortar and pestle and that would crack and break them up sufficiently to throw into liquids for infusion. Instant hit of flavour without fuss or bother. A little prep once a few months would yield a convenient source of flavour at a moment's notice... quite rewarding!
there are other easy ways to distinguish galangal from ginger. First, ginger has a light brown / tan / beige color to it. Galangal is more yellow with tinges of pink. It has also sections or bands. Finally, there's always the scratch and sniff test. If you never had fresh ginger, well the sniff test might not work.
I’m from Australia and grow my own galangal. It is not seen in stores very much. I freeze it for frequent use. It grates very well into foods or pastes and the aroma is easily detected. The powder is how I started using galangal until the Thai supermarket people suggested the frozen product. I feel the powder is OK as a substitute, but frozen is better.
I’m in the tropical Northern Territory of Australia and I grow it in my garden. I harvest and chop it into pieces, place it in a jar and cover with sherry and put it in the fridge. I just take out what I need from the jar.Lasts for about a year until the next Wet Season.
Saying galangal is like ginger is like saying ginger is like carrot or worse, iris which has the same kind of rhizome but isn't edible. We can only get fresh galangal even in our local Thai market only on rare occasions. I have been able to get it on Amazon, but that too is iffy. I got tired of only having it on rare occasions, so I bought two live roots off of Etsy and planted them in a 30 gallon tote, and put them under lights. The lights are now up to the ceiling, as are my galangal plants, and over the course of 2 years, they have grown tons of rhizomes. I can now have fresh galangal anytime I want. I Just dig a bit of it up, divide the rhizomes, then put the part I'm not going to use right away back in the tote to grow more rhizomes. This works not only for galangal, but also for turmeric root, and ginger root. I have totes full of each. Once a year I divide down my turmeric, then slice it thin and put it in a slow oven for 24 hours, or until it's hard and completely dry. Then I put it in my spice grinder and make the freshest ginger you can imagine. That bit of freshness makes all the difference, believe me. I usually harvest my ginger a little at a time, just as I do with my galangal. That ensures that I have fresh, juicy ginger anytime I want it. It's so much better than it is in from the store. I grew my ginger a couple of pieces of ginger I bought at our local grocery store. It wasn't anything special, but it went to town. Since then, I've been cutting off the sections of rhizome which have buds on them and putting them in my 30 gallon totes, or in my garden, and have been able to grow enough that I never have to buy from the store since. I did the same with my turmeric root. My plants are all big and healthy, and produce lots of rhizomes... probably too many. When I get too many I simply make more than I need, put it in spice jars, tie a piece of pretty fabric around the lid with a piece of ribbon, and give it to friends for gifts. They all tell me that store bought turmeric is never the same after having the fresh stuff. So pretty cool gift! It's not hard to grow galangal. The only thing that is hard is leaving them alone until your plants grow enough rhizomes to use. The aroma and flavour make it very difficult to resist it until it's ready to harvest!
Galangal is wonderful! I realized it's what makes tom yum soup taste so good. I freeze it, grate it, put it in the simmering soup, and in just a minute or two it makes my kitchen smell great. Galangal isn't ginger but it's in the ginger family. In some stores it's called galanga.
I'm blessed enough to live down the street from a small Asian market that specializes in South East Asian ingredients so it's not hard for me to find this as well as other ingredients you use in your recipes ☺
Your chanel is so interesting!!! I'm ukrainian from Israel and i love to watch your videos to know something new about thai kitchen and this way I'm learning English 😊💖
Hi! Sorry to be 4 years late, but I've found a good source of galangal powder here in Norway (where it can be quite difficult to find southeast Asian ingredients) and it really does the trick. I've compared it to what is used in some green curry pastes when making my own green curry and I would say it does work. Fresh is best, but I think powdered compares equally to frozen. It is also a little more convenient when making a super quick paste to use powder, skipping the mortar when in a hurry. Absolutely love your videos, so glad I found your channel. Thank you!
Hi Pai! I use powdered Galangal from time to time when I'm in the mood for Tom Yum Gai. Normally I'll use it when I'm in a hurry to make the soup quickly, or if I'm to lazy to thaw some out. I find it still has the same aroma as before, but just a bit stronger. I like it, but I prefer fresh.
I’ve baked a galangal cake before using the traditional ginger cake recipe but substitute ginger with galangal. As Pai said, it does not taste anything like ginger cake, but rather like a pine forrest cake. I’d call it a cozy taste.
how about sharing the galanagal cake recipe? If possible, I'd like to spare myself the effort trying to get the ratios correct. Such as usual equal amounts of galangal as one would use ginger? Grated Tsp for grated Tsp. I wonder how the galangal would infuse into a vodka or vodka based liqueur? I'll give it a try someday.
Yay, finally galangal is a topic. I love the stuff. Personally, I find freeze the entire Galangal rhizome then using a fine grater (like a Microplane grater) to grate it into the cooking whilst still frozen. The same can be done with Ginger and large chillis - Think ginger/Chilli snow. 😎 Too much Galangal I find has a soapy taste. Love your Channel Pai thanks for sharing your extensive knowledge 🙏🏼Thai food addict here ❤️
This is a great tip ! Where l live galangal is very expensive and just cutting the slices and throwing them away after the soup is done feels like such a waste! From now on I'll microblade it. Hopefully the flavor will be strong enough
Hi Pailin, Love your video on Galangal. The powder form of this spice still retains it's potency. I bought a bag of Galangal dried chips from an online herbal distributor not long ago as it has other very good benefits especially for older men using it along side with Muira Puama, Tribulus, Siberian Ginseng & Ashwagandha, they supposed to make a pretty cocktail for labido and testosterone. I'm also very careful of what I eat and DO NOT Touch sugar or sugary substances. My energy comes from the home grown greens, eggs & fish. I make my own capsules with all my powders and they seem to give me that lift I need at the age of 61 it's help me live an active productive life much better than when I was in my 30's. So much more to share but this is it for now. Thank you again for a fabulous informative video. God Bless.
I found a Thai lady with an amazing garden. I drove over 2 hours to buy from her. I bought 2 kilos. She went out the back and dug it straight out of the garden, washed it and I was good to go. Thanks for the video because I don't want to risk wasting any
Sawasdee krup. Thank you I recently integrated galangal in my Thai dishes before I wouldn’t know where to use it and how to preserve it when was starting to become old, hard and moldy in the fridge. I also use it for other things such as soups and a type of broth which in Italy we call “brodino” is a light winter warmer broth with the color and consistency of chicken or vegetable stock and galangal gives it an extra aroma. luckily I started to find Galangal roots in some major chains of supermarket here in Kent, UK where I’m based. Kap Kung krap, Mario
I always walked past this stuff in the market (I live in Cambodia)... I had no idea that was galangal! It's everywhere! Please do more videos like this :D
In Khmer it's called "rum-deng". (but pronounce it with correct Khmer accent) :-) I use it in some Khmer dishes, but mostly for Thom Ka Gai & Thom Ka Pla (wonderful Thai soup).
And once they find some in their specialty stores it's easy to plant, like how you plant ginger. That way you'll have enough supply once the rhizomes grow.
yes, easy to grow if you have the right climate. The plants will die at temps below 50°F, so forget the garage, etc. and other places where you might let the plants winter over.
Too funny> That was what my comment was going to be as well. As to climate, I grow it year around in Indiana, outdoors when it's warm and indoors (I have an indoor greenhouse grow area) along with coffee and lots of other tropical plants, turmeric and ginger included.
We love Thai soup. I almost never make it because our Asian Market only sells galangal in package and I never knew what to do with the rest. As I have stored it in the refrigerator or on the counter and it molded fairly fast. Great information, thanks for sharing.
Thank you for this helpful and informative video knowing it is sold frozen is very helpful! My wife and I enjoy green tea with healing herbs and will include Galangal.
Thanks for this marvelous video. I've been using galanga for 20 years or so. It is my camphor comfort. Fresh, frozen, dried. Try this with the frozen root: just microplane what you need directly into the soup, noodles etc. Try making a regular eggroll dip (fish sauce, sugar, chilis, vinegar), then just before serving, microplane in the galanga. OMG. Brings it to life, all Try it - you'll see. Only thing is -- the effect mutes after about a half hour. Also: Take those seemingly stonelike dry galanga "ears" we find in the markets, put through a coffee grinder and sift into a small bottle. It's not the same as the fresh root, but becomes a peppery, brite seasoning for vegetable stir fries, especially indoneasian. Try it, you'll see. The dry seems good for a year or more, the 'ground dry' is good for a couple of weeks. One question: there is a whole galanga family it seens, can you perhaps clarify some of the confusion about "Sand Ginger" vs "Young Galanga" vs "False Galanga" vs... Thanks again.
After years of learning and searching I finally got my hands on fresh galangal in my city. 😭 I was also dying to know what made it so distinctive from ginger, and yes, it has a much more herbal and medicinal aroma than actual ginger does. It's more herbaceous and bracing. The spicy bite is highly similar to ginger though. To me, it is like cardamom and ginger had a baby and called it galangal 😅 I've yet to cook with it, but I'm excited to.
I have watched your video just now, I have discovered this channel really late, but now follow every video I find. I could not find fresh galangal at the Chinese store today and only after watching this video I have realised that there might be the frozen ones somewhere in the store. However I have bought a galangal powder, which is yet to be opened. I shall definitely let you know(although this video is old :) ). And thanks so much for all the videos. Best wishes from Baltimore. Stay safe!
Willy Jimmy I'm in Florida, but you can grow in pots for winter and grow in the garden outside for summer and bring in a start for winter and so on. How I did it when I lived in Michigan.
Thank you for this very good video. Very informative. I also love Thai Basil. I grow it and love it - I eat it every time I'm out there watering my plants - just have to have some Thai Basil it tastes so good. Very hard to find however. They have the Greek Oregano mostly that I"m not that crazy about. I seem to love the Thai foods.
You make me so happy watching you. You have such an infectious personality. Love your recipes. I live in Austin Tx but my sister and I are coming to Vancouver the end of March. We’re very excited. I hope at some point you make it to Texas for a book tour.
Your explanation is always very clear and nice to hear your voice as well😎 love your channel from north east india😎😎😘my dinner today was a steam fish which i learned from you😁 it was delicious😎 thank u😘
You make such great videos. Whenever I am trying something new in Thai cooking, I look for your instructional videos. You are very helpful and a joy to watch. Thank you!
Nothing beats fresh galangal; even frozen is a poor second, but it's better than no galangal. I've tried it in dried form and it bears resemblance to fresh galangal in name only.
Nice and clear explanation, thanks. I just bought a big sack of the dried one, out of curiosity (never heard of it before, sry). I am planning to use it after grinding it, probably on grilled fish. let's see what happens
I went to a good size Asian market here in Grand Rapids and asked for "galangal." I got a few side glances but a helpful man came to me a few minutes later with a frozen package and pointed to the word at the top of the package. Galanga. No final L. He kinda smirked at me. Silly white boy doesn't know what galanga is. I provide this only as information, Pai. I love your videos and I would like very much to sing with you sometime.
4:10 - instead of foil, use a vacuum pouch on the frozen pieces. Because you remove nearly all the oxygen and it's frozen, it'll last a lot longer and won't get freezer burn. You can do that with ziplock bags and a bowl of water to remove the air, or buy a vacuum sealer - there are two types: suction and chamber. Suction work fine, they pull the air of the bag then seal it, but you do need special embossed plastic film which can get expensive and you have to be super careful with liquids! Chamber units suck all the air out of a chamber the bag is sitting in, then seal it. They work a whole lot better, and work with liquids but they are much bulkier and much, much more expensive - hundreds to thousands of dollars (though they are coming down) compared with less than a hundred for the suction type. The bags are much cheaper though. I started with a suction machine, but got a chamber for a Christmas present and wouldn't go back - the suction machine is used to reseal bags if there are crisps / chips or cookies left over that you don't want to go soft. Also damn good for marinating as you can squidge it all together without any tools or getting your hands dirty!
Incidentally, I just made tom kha gai (and red curry chicken) for dinner and froze a bunch of sliced fresh galangal for easy prep next time! 😄 both the soup and curry were delicious 😋💕💖💕
I vaguely remember a Taiwan cooking show using galangal powder to marinade chicken to make plain steamed chicken. It was the "secret ingredient". Tried googling for it, can't find it yet.
I use powdered in my cooking. It has a different flavor for sure but it has its uses. Like when I make bean sprout stir fry I add almost at the end with a little ginger powder. Try it and you’ll immediately taste the role (Laos it’s called here) can serve in your spice arsenal.
Thank you so much Palin!.. for saying people say.." go ahead and use ginger" they're not even freaking the same! I made the this mistake several times! Not even close! And the texture isn't even the same it's Woody and it doesn't cook soft or maybe it's the one I got because you said older galanga is woodier.
Dried Galanga: Put a few slices into that Braun grinder and then pour over a vegie stir fry. Surprisingly good, (and completely different in flavour than fresh G.) Frozen Galanga: Microplane a tsp or more into that freshly made fish/springroll dipping sauce just before servine. Oh yeah!!
I made Kua Gling a few weeks ago and it was my first time using Galangal. You said it doesn't have flavor, but I found it spicy (well more uber-piney).
As Squirrelwolf said, what I mean is it doesn't have any "taste" which is different from "flavour", and the spiciness that you taste in raw galangal doesn't really last once you cook it.
I have always assumed ginger could be a substitute for the galangal now Im sad not to follow your recipe without it. But will def look for the paste. Im new to your channel but me and my husband loves curry and spicy food.
I use dried galangal with other dried spices, rather than as a substitute for fresh. It goes really well in spice cakes, gingerbread, and spice blends like ras al hanout. I've always thought it would go well with mustard, but have yet to try it out.
Hi Pai, I love you and your channel, been following your channel for couple of years now. Recently I try to find a teriyaki recipe and I just realize u haven't made your version of teriyaki dish. If you like teriyaki, can you please make your version of it? If its ok, the version Without mirin and sake. Thanks 😁
I have used powdered galangal. But instead you could substitute sawdust. If you use pine sawdust it might even be better. I have been seeing fresh galangal showing up in more and more stores. Even non oriental stores.
Great information. I have seen it in recipes but rarely come across it and was not sure what it did. Great video Pailin! Never knew about the 'cooling' effect lol.
I cook a lot of chinese and korean. Chinese cuisine, especially northwestern cuisine. They don't use it as much as south east asians, but they do use it. I lived in Guangdong and they sell them both dried and fresh. Btw, Chinese markets here in Southern CA sell fresh galangal.
I cook rarely, so it's been a pain point to keep herbs like garlic cloves til the next time I cook. I'll try your freezing tip to keep garlic cloves from sprouting. Thank you!
The galangal in my local store is always dark red and very very stiff - almost like trying to chop through a rolling pin! Even my large cleaver can't get through it easily. It's such a chore to slice. Guess that means it's an older galangal they stock.
Hi, there! How u doing? Amazing explanation, but you didn't tell much about it's medicinal values! I use it in powder form for cough and cold band stomach upset. In India, especially in Southern India, it is very popular as medicine for cough. Raw is very rarely available. Please come up with a video on how people in Thailand value it as medicine! Bye
The Thai sausages are amazing!! And the turmeric chicken soup is so easy and delicious! Definitely going to make more of your recipes :) I have powdered galangal, rarely use it, because I also have freshly frozen slices :) I think it tastes similar, but the taste goes away very fast, while the taste of fresh (or frozen) galangal lingers and is more refreshing. Also, two requests/questions: Can you please make a video about shrimp paste? I am confused, the shrimp paste I got is pinkish and softer than the one I see you use in your videos, it is from Thailand though. Can I also frees it? The jar says it should be finished in 60 days, I dont use it that much (yet). Second question, is Kencur (Kaempferia galanga) also used in Thai cuisine? If so, Iḿ very curious about recipes using it! Brought it a while a go by mistake, also sliced it up and froze it.
I brought home a pouch of dried galangal yesterday, these slabs are like little BOARDS. A knife won't go through them, but I can kinda break them in pieces with my hands, so I am simmering this wood to make a kind of tea. It tastes both mild AND strong, in a special way. I guess I'll just drink a little until it's gone, I made 3 cups and I've heard it's body-beneficial. I have never tasted fresh, so I'm going to order a plant and grow the plant! Evidently all parts can be simmered and ingested for body benefits. Would you agree?
How about a little side series on traditional western dishes that can be greatly improved by adding fish sauce? I made homemade Split Pea Soup the other week and added some fish sauce, it really turned out great. I also added some to a potato gratin and it worked out extremely well.
Hi Pai, very clear and informative content as usual delivered in your wonderful upbeat cheerful way! Lovely sharp knife btw, what brand and length is it? Cheers...till your next video❤❤❤
I'm fortunate that there's an international market that usually carries fresh and powdered galalngal. I really enjoy the flavor but have only coked a few times with it. (usually tom yum kha). most stores in the southern U.S. will not carry either.
Thanks for the info. Can you do another one for us: What's really the difference between kaffir kime zest and regular lime zest? Am I killing myself over nothing trying to get my hands on the former?
Hi Everybody! Im writting from Lima, Peru, in a cloudy spring with 18 to 21°C Last week i bought the Galangal flowerpot of the pic in a local Thai restaurant. With the current weather conditions, in how much time u think that the plant could grow up?.
Fabulous vid. I have your cookbook Pailin, and glossed over the pages on Thai ingredients. Of course, Galangal is there. Now I know everything there is to know about this ingredient. P.S. I recently made your recipe for ground beef (a kind of Thai Bolognese). Except I used no-antibiotic ground chicken. Delish. I also found the spicy vinegar recipe you gave to be more work than I was willing to do, so I found an easy recipe on the net: a chopped up thai pepper (I took out most seeds) and white vinegar. I loved how his added to the meal. So often, it is these little condiments that make a recipe pop! haha Love your enthusiasm and you knowledge of Thai food. Why eat out, when some of it is so easy to make? More bang for your buck. Brendan in Toronto
Does Galangal have any medical uses? I use ginger to soothe upset stomachs and gas. I chew cloves when i have canker sores. I use cinnamon to cure athletes foot. i use basil, thyme, and mint when i have colds
So one more thing. You said that galanga is used for it's a Aroma and not its flavor, but then later on in the video you said Somethin about it loses its "flavor" if you buy it in a paste or in powder form so I guess I'm a little confused about that. I just love galanga and I just want to make it easier to use and work with and so appreciate your video! thank you.
Hi there, I bought galangal for the first time which was already frozen and I put it in a fridge. Once you de-frost it, can you re freeze it again to save it??
I love your shows! Thank you for your great information. I only have dried galangal that I bought when I was in Bangkok, but I'm going to get some at a local Asian market. Have you tried grating the galangal while it is still frozen? I do this with ginger with great results but have not tried in on the galangal yet.
Hi Adam here, and great question! I think you're going to have to ask her that one directly though as she doesn't see the comments on here once the post is more than a week old (as per her note above). You can check out options to get hold of her here hot-thai-kitchen.com/contact . Cheers!
Desmond San Nicolas - tasted like galangal. Just an enhanced version of fresh. Very strong in flavor of galangal. Be careful to not accidentally sniff it.
