Edit History

To my great surprise, I've never listed galangal(e) (Alpinia galanga) in this topic. So now I remedy that. According to the OED, the word came into English from Old French galingal or garingal,  which in turn came from the Arabic khalanjān or khaulinjān, believed to have entered that language from Chinese 高良姜  (gāo liáng jiāng), literally 'mild ginger from Ko', a historic prefecture of Guangdong Province.

In modern Mandarin it is also known as S: 南姜; T: 南薑 (nán jiāng, literally 'southern ginger'), in reference to its being native to southern China and SE Asia. In Cantonese, it is naam4 goeng1. It is often called greater galangal in English to differentiate it from three other plants referred to as galangal - Alpinia officinarum (lesser galangal), Kaempferia galanga (kencur or sand ginger) or Boesenbergia rotunda (Chinese ginger, Thai: กระชาย (krachai), or fingerroot).

It is more fibrous than ginger and has a more citrus and spicier taste.

To my great surprise, I've never listed galangal(e) (Alpinia galanga) in this topic. So now I remedy that. According to the OED, the word came into English from Old French galingal or garingal,  which in turn came from the Arabic khalanjān or khaulinjān, believed to have entered that language from Chinese 高良姜  (gāo liáng jiāng), literally 'mild ginger from Ko', a historic prefecture of Guangdong Province.

In modern Mandarin it is also known as S: 南姜; T: 南薑 (nán jiāng, literally 'southern ginger'), in reference to its being native to southern China and SE Asia. In Cantonese, it is naam4 goeng1. It is often called greater galangal in English to differentiate it from three other plants referred to as galangal - Alpinia officinarum (lesser galangal), Kaempferia galanga (kencur or sand ginger) or Boesenbergia rotunda (Chinese ginger, Thai: กระชาย krachai or fingerroot).

It is more fibrous than ginger and has a more citrus and spicier taste.

To my great surprise, I've never listed galangal(e) (Alpinia galanga) in this topic. So now I remedy that. According to the OED, the word came into English from Old French galingal or garingal,  which in turn came from the Arabic khalanjān or khaulinjān, believed to have entered that language from Chinese 高良姜  (gāo liáng jiāng), literally 'mild ginger from Ko', a historic prefecture of Guangdong Province.

In modern Mandarin it is also known as S: 南姜; T: 南薑 (nán jiāng, literally 'southern ginger'), in reference to its being native to southern China and SE Asia. In Cantonese, it is naam4 goeng1. It is often called greater galangal in English to differentiate it from three other plants referred to as galangal - Alpinia officinarum (lesser galangal), Kaempferia galanga (kencur or sand ginger) or Boesenbergia rotunda (Chinese ginger, grachai or fingerroot).

It is more fibrous than ginger and has a more citrus and spicier taste.

To my great surprise, I've never listed galangal(e) (Alpinia galanga) in this topic. So now I remedy that. According to the OED, the word came into English from Old French galingal or garingal,  which in turn came from the Arabic khalanjān or khaulinjān, believed to have entered that language from Chinese 高良姜  (gāo liáng jiāng), literally 'mild ginger from Ko', a historic prefecture of Guangdong Province.

In modern Mandarin it is also known as S: 南姜; T: 南薑 (nán jiāng, literally 'southern ginger'), in reference to its being native to southern China and SE Asia. In Cantonese, it is naam4 goeng1. It is often called greater galangal in English to differentiate it from three other plants referred to as galangal - Alpinia officinarum (lesser galangal), Kaempferia galanga (kencur, grachai or sand ginger) or Boesenbergia rotunda (Chinese ginger or fingerroot).

It is more fibrous than ginger and has a more citrus and spicier taste.

To my great surprise, I've never listed galangal(e) (Alpinia galanga) in this topic. So now I remedy that. According to the OED, the word came into English from Old French galingal or garingal,  which in turn came from the Arabic khalanjān or khaulinjān, believed to have entered that language from Chinese 'ko-liang-jiang', literally 'mild ginger from Ko', a historic prefecture of Guangdong Province.

In modern Mandarin it is S: 南姜; T: 南薑 (nán jiāng, literally 'southern ginger'), in reference to its being native to southern China and SE Asia. In Cantonese, it is naam4 goeng1. It is often called greater galangal in English to differentiate it from three other plants referred to as galangal - Alpinia officinarum (lesser galangal), Kaempferia galanga (kencur, grachai or sand ginger) or Boesenbergia rotunda (Chinese ginger or fingerroot).

It is more fibrous than ginger and has a more citrus and spicier taste.