What does galangal taste like?
Galangal tastes sharp, piney and citrusy, like a sharper, more perfumed ginger with a peppery bite and a whiff of pine needles.
Galangal
ginger, but piney and sharp
Galangal is a root in the ginger family, pale and harder than ginger, and a pillar of Thai, Indonesian and Malaysian cooking. It looks like ginger but tastes different: less sweet and warm, more sharp, piney and citrusy, with a peppery, almost medicinal edge. Cooked into a soup or curry paste, it gives a clean, bracing lift that ginger can't quite copy. It's tough and woody, so slices in a soup are there for flavor rather than eating.
Where you’ll see it
Sliced into tom kha gai (coconut chicken soup) and tom yum, pounded into Thai red and green curry pastes, and in Indonesian rendang and satay marinades. It rarely gets named on the menu; it's just in there.
Order it if you like ginger and want a sharper, more aromatic version.
Quick questions
- Is galangal the same as ginger?
- Same family, different taste. Galangal is harder, sharper and piney, while ginger is sweeter, warmer and juicier.
- Can you eat the galangal in tom kha?
- You can, but the slices are tough and woody, and they are there for flavor. Most people leave them in the bowl.