Chinese Keys Ginger
boesenbergia rotunda

days to maturity:
plant spacing: 1 plant per 5 feet
sunlight requirements: 6-10 hours
look out for: needs very compost rich soil
harvest notes:
perennial

Chinese keys, also known as fingerroot or lesser galangal, is a fun plant in the ginger family that produces finger shaped rhizomes that are used in culinary and medicinal preparations.

The rhizomes are commonly used as vegetables in main dishes or eaten raw when young in Thailand and Cambodia. It is also used to help make tempeh, a traditional Indonesian food. Its roots and rhizomes are cultivated in Indonesia, Indochina, and India in small homes and is also popularly used in flavorful curry dishes. Fingerroot is also incorporated into tonic mixtures such as the famous Indonesian tonic Jamu, which is oftentimes made with ginger as a replacement in the US, but you can make yours with authentic ingredients if you grow your own Fingerroot.

Like its cousins Turmeric and Galangal, Fingerroot likes partial shade, well draining yet fertile soil, and it will spread as the underground rhizomes and the plant matures. Blade-shaped leaves will form a cluster as the plant spreads, and if it flowers they will come from the base of the plant in pinks and whites.