Long aubergine (US: eggplant). This is the large, glossy aubergine we see in the west. The Lao aubergine is generally small and round.
A spicy paste of small sweet aubergine (US: eggplant), grilled and pounded with chillis, shallots and garlic. Added to dishes to give flavour.
Galangale. The rhizome of a plant of the ginger family, although it is smaller and more shrivelled. It has more translucent, flesh-coloured skin than the rhizome of ginger. It is peeled and grated or thinly sliced and used in the same way that fresh ginger is used, but has a slightly more complex flavour reminiscent of camphor. Greater galangal resembles a cross between ginger and pepper; lesser galangal is more pungent, with cardamom and eucalyptus flavours, whilst kempferia is the strongest.
