Krachai – [Kra chai, Kachai, Chee-puu, Poh-see (Thai); Fingerroot, Chinese ginger, Chinese keys, Lesser ginger (English); Temu kunci (Indonesia); Gieng rung (Viet);Kaempferia pandurata alt. Boesenbergia pandurata, B. rotunda]
Originating in Southeast Asia and Southern China, this plant grows from rhizomes that have the form of a cluster of long fingers. It is not much available fresh outside Thailand, but it is available in Asian markets frozen or put up in jars of brine. Both forms are quite acceptable for use. It is also available in tiny jars as dried powder and as bags of dried strips, but dried is more bitter and less flavorful than frozen or brined. Krachai is sometimes wrongly labeled “lesser galangal”, a very different plant.
Krachai is used mainly in Thailand though some is used in Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia. Outside those regions it is almost unknown except dried as a medicinal in China. The flavor is milder and much more earthy than ginger or galangal. It is most often used in fish dishes but also with beef and rice or as a general aromatic vegetable. The photo specimen in the front was 3-7/8 inches long and 0.52 inch diameter at the big end. These were brined. Details and Cooking.
Mango Ginger – [Ama Haldi (india), Am Haldi (West Bengal), Amba Haldi, Curcuma mangga]
Native to Eastern and Southern India and related to turmeric, rhizomes of this plant are similar to ginger but have a distinctly mango flavor. They are most used in pickles in Southern India. I have seen sites listing “mango ginger” as an alternate name for turmeric but this is not correct.
Myoga Ginger – [Zingiber mioga]
The shoots and flower buds of this ginger plant are used in Japan and are now grown in Australia and New Zealand for export to Japan. The buds, which are fairly mild, are generally shredded very fine and used as toppings and garnishes, particularly for yakko (chilled tofu), miso soup and sunomono (vinegared salad). Photo by Avenafatua distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike v2.5.
Torch Ginger – [Wax Flower, Red Ginger Lily, Porcelain Rose; Kaalaa (Thai); Bunga Kantan (Malay); Bunga kecombrang, honje, Asam cekala (Indonesia); Xiang Bao Jiaing (China);Etingera elatior]
The shoots and buds of this rather striking flower are used as an herbal spice in Southeast Asia. The sweet and sour seed pods are also used as well as the black seeds, particularly by the Karo people of Sumatra. Photo by Geni distributed under license Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic.
Turmeric – [Haldi (India); Curcuma longa | White Turmeric;Curcuma zedoaria (ginger family)]
Described as “The true spice of India”, Turmeric is a relative of Ginger. It is most familiar in North America as a finely ground yellow powder, but fresh and whole dried roots are also available in Indian and Southeast Asian markets. The fresh root is preferred in SE Asia. Shown are fresh root, dried root, powder, and our ever present dried red kidney bean for scale. Details and Cooking.
White Turmeric (Zedoary) is also available as fresh root and is used particularly in Southeast Asia as an aromatic vegetable, and in India it is grated and added to various pickles. It has little color but a considerably sharper taste than yellow turmeric. Details and Cooking.
Turmeric has long been a medicinal, including Zedoary in Europe. Today it is getting a lot of research attention in the medical community due to containing a powerful anti-cancer element (curcumin) and as a treatment for other diseases.
Wasabi – [Japanese Horseradish; Wasabia japonica]
This very pungent green fleshed root is used grated as a condiment, particularly to accompany sushi. Most sushi lovers, however, have never tasted wasabi. Pretty much all sushi bars in the US and nearly all in Japan serve a fake wasabi made from Horseradish, mustard seeds and green food coloring. Real wasabi (hon-wasabi) has a more refined hotness, a sweet after-taste and is not nearly so bright a green as the fake. It’s also very expensive and the flavor is extremely perishable.
Imported “wasabi” purchased as tiny cans of dried powder or tubes of paste is all faked up from horseradish. The Japanese can export horseradish under the name “wasabi” because the Japanese name for horseradish is “seiyo wasabi” (Western wasabi). They can even call it “real wasabi”.
Several companies set up wasabi production in North America. At first they expected to export it to Japan, but local demand has been so great there’s little left to export. Two grades are grown in North America: sawa-wasabi (semi aquatic – for culinary use) and oka-wasabi (field grown – for the nutritional supplement industry). Fresh product is available from these growers (see Details and Cooking for suppliers). Photo “borrowed” from Pacific Coast Wasabi.
In general, the quantity of spices used in everyday cooking is not sufficient to have either a positive or negative effect on health. On the other hand, extracts of many spices are highly medicinal, and a few are toxic. Some spices, particularly nutmeg, which are harmless to people can be deadly to dogs, cats and other animals.
