Sand Ginger (Kencur) Substitutes: Dried Kencur, Fingerroot, Galangal and Ginger

No common spice really matches sand ginger, which Katzer describes as strongly aromatic and almost medical.¹ So the best swap depends on how your recipe uses it: fresh, as in Indonesian cooking, or dried, as in Chinese cooking. For fresh, dried kencur (its name in Indonesia and Malaysia) is the easy fix, and fingerroot is the only stand-in a reference says tastes like it. For a Chinese broth, dried galangal is the nearest thing most stores carry.

Quick answer

How the ratios on this page are labeled

• Computed: based on a measurable physical relationship.
• Attributed: a named source publishes this ratio. We quote it as theirs.
• Disputed: named sources give different answers to the same swap. You get each one, side by side.
• Method: our starting point, based on how the two compare. Taste and adjust.

Why nothing matches it exactly

Sand ginger is strongly aromatic, almost medicinal.¹ Fingerroot comes closest, and Katzer says its taste resembles sand ginger.¹ Galangal is strong and pungent, like a mix of pepper and ginger,² and ginger is simply pungent. Each has a different main aroma compound, and no source we found has actually tested the swaps.

If the recipe uses fresh sand ginger

Katzer calls sand ginger essential to Javanese cooking and notes that it often flavors peanut sauce. In Southeast Asia it’s mostly used fresh, grated or crushed.¹ Northern Illinois University’s Indonesian-cooking reference says it has a “unique, champor [camphor] flavor” and should be used sparingly.³

1. Dried kencur, sliced or powdered

If you can find kencur in any form, use it. Look for it as kencur or cekur.⁴

Ratio (Attributed): The NIU reference gives dried sliced kencur or kencur powder as the swap for fresh. Soak dried slices in boiling water for about 30 minutes, or use 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of powder for each 1-inch piece of fresh root.³ The reference doesn’t say where that figure comes from.

2. Fingerroot

Fingerroot (Boesenbergia rotunda) is another ginger-family rhizome. Katzer says it’s very often confused with sand ginger and that “its taste, however, resembles lesser galanga,” his name for sand ginger.¹ Of the substitutes here, it’s the only one a reference says tastes like sand ginger. Katzer also calls fingerroot’s flavor strong and dominating.⁵

It’s easier to find than you might think. Thai food stores quite often carry it, and Asian grocery stores sell it in brine, in jars.⁶

Ratio (Method): Start with roughly the same size piece of fingerroot as the sand ginger called for, and taste, since both are strong.

3. Ginger and galangal together

Marvellina of What To Cook Today, writing about the West Javanese salad karedok, says that if you can’t find kencur, you can swap in ginger and galangal in equal parts.

Ratio (Attributed): Her recipe replaces 2 inches of kencur with 1 inch of ginger and 1 inch of galangal.⁷ That’s one writer’s swap for one dish, not a tested equivalence.

Galangal on its own is a shakier fit. Katzer finds sand ginger’s smell less pleasant than greater galangal’s,¹ and says galangal itself can’t be replaced by any other spice,⁸ which suggests the two aren’t interchangeable. Ginger alone adds heat but none of sand ginger’s aroma.

If the recipe uses dried sand ginger

Katzer says Chinese cooking always uses sand ginger dried, that it’s especially common in Sichuan, and that it’s a popular flavoring for broths. He also lists it as an optional ingredient in five-spice powder.¹ If a Chinese recipe calls for dried sand ginger slices or powder, try a Chinese grocery before you substitute.

Ratio (Method): Dried galangal slices are the nearest dried rhizome most stores carry. Katzer finds dried, powdered galangal “less fresh but more spicy” than fresh,⁸ so start with less than the sand ginger called for and add more after you taste the broth. Ground ginger is a fallback. McCormick counts 1 teaspoon of grated fresh ginger as 1/4 teaspoon ground,⁹ so the powder is concentrated. Start small.

Zedoary: not a good fit

You’ll sometimes see zedoary (Curcuma zedoaria) suggested. PROSEA says its oil smells like ginger oil mixed with camphor,¹⁰ and Katzer describes it as strongly aromatic, medical and not very pleasant, and too bitter to use alone as a spice.¹¹ We found no source that recommends it in place of sand ginger.

What isn’t known

• You’ll often read that if a recipe calls for both ginger and sand ginger, you should double the ginger. None of the sources here back that up.
• We couldn’t trace the suggestion that cinnamon and mace can imitate sand ginger.

Related

• Sand ginger, fingerroot, galangal, ginger, zedoary
• Galangal vs ginger, dried galangal vs fresh, fresh ginger vs ground ginger
• Galangal substitutes, ginger substitutes, cooking with ginger