Alpinia galanga, a plant in the ginger family, is an herb used in cooking, especially in Indonesian cuisine and Thai cuisine. It is one of four plants known as galangal, and is differentiated from the others with the common name greater galangal ( or simply Thai galangal) . The galangals are also called blue ginger or Thai ginger.

A. galanga is called Laos in Indonesian and is the most common form of galangal used in cooking. It is also known as Langkwas and galanga root.