Produce
Torch ginger flower
Bunga kantan
Also called bunga kantan, kecombrang, ginger flower, Etlingera elatior
The tight pink bud of a tall tropical ginger plant, picked before it opens into a large, waxy flower. It is sliced or shredded raw and eaten as a herb, or halved and dropped into soups and curries for its scent.
Origin
Native to Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, where it grows in gardens and at the edges of forest. Abroad it turns up frozen, or now and then fresh, in Southeast Asian grocers, usually as single buds.
Flavour
Floral and resinous, with a sharp, sour, gingery edge and a hint of citrus. It perfumes a pot more than it flavours it, and tastes stronger raw than cooked.
How to use it
Halve a bud lengthways and simmer it in asam laksa or a sour fish curry. For garnishes and herb rice, peel off any tough outer petals and slice the bud as thinly as you can across, so it falls into fine pink shreds.
Storage
Wrap fresh buds in damp paper and keep them in the fridge for up to a week. They freeze well whole; slice them while still frozen.
Recipes using it
Asam laksa
Penang's sour fish noodle soup: flaked mackerel in a tamarind broth thick with chilli, lemongrass and torch ginger, over round rice noodles with pineapple, cucumber and mint.
MediumHot
Nasi kerabu
Kelantan's blue rice, coloured with butterfly pea flower, served with hair-thin raw herbs, toasted coconut kerisik, fried mackerel and a sharp fish sauce sambal.
MediumMedium heat
