Chinese Keys

Known in Indonesia as kunci and as kra chai to the Thais, this member of the ginger family is sold in many Thai and other Oriental food shops in the West, usually fresh. A root of it ❹ looks like a bunch of thin brown fingers joined to a yellowish corm; its resemblance to a bunch of old-fashioned Chinese keys gives it its familiar name. It is used all over Southeast Asia, as well as in south India and Sri Lanka, for the pleasant aroma it gives to savoury dishes. It is regularly used in Thailand and Cambodia for a wide variety of curry pastes and soups.