iNaturalist Plant Observations - Costa Rica (iNaturalist:Plants-Costa Rica)
Etlingera elatior (Jack) R.M. Sm.
Zingiberaceae
Torch ginger
indianplumleaf
2018-06-18
Costa Rica, Puntarenas, Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Puntarenas, CR
9.00184445 -83.2202216667 +-65m.
Torch ginger, of the family Zingiberaceae, is native to Indonesia and Malaysia. It is used ornamentally, as a key ingredient in the Nyonya dish Iaksa. In North Sumatra (especially in Karo tribe), the flower buds are used for a stewed fish dish called Arsik ikan mas (Andaliman/Szechuan pepper-spiced carp). In Bali, people use the white part of the bottom part of the trunk for cooking chilli sauce called "Sambal Bongkot", and use the flower buds to make chilli sauce called "Sambal Kecicang". In Thailand, it is eaten in a kind of Thai salad preparation. In Karo, it is known as asam cekala (asam meaning 'sour'), and the flower buds, but more importantly the ripe seed pods, which are packed with small black seeds, are an essential ingredient of the Karo version of sayur asam, and are particularly suited to cooking fresh fish. It’s also used to heal wounds, cure earaches, and remove body odor in native tribes. Modern science has isolated chemicals that act as antioxidants, larvicides, insect repellents and have antibacterial and anti cancerous properties.