Luyang Dilaw

background – turmeric rhizomes, foreground – cross-section, in powdered form

This is the ginger I am just starting to get to know well, for I only knew one kind of ginger until about a couple of years ago. I have heard about luyang dilaw in college, when I started making friends with people from all over the country, but did not actually came face to face with it until the family moved to Cavite.

Of course I have been eating it in a blend in the form of powdered curry since I was small, but not as a main ingredient on its own. There is no name in Pangasinan that I am aware of, since it is not prevalently used in the province.

It is more commonly known as dilaw (the Tagalog term for the color yellow) because it turns everything it gets into contact with an attractive lemony yellow. Known in other Filipino languages as kalabaga (Bisaya) and kulyaw (Ilokano), and turmeric the world over, or at least in those places where English is spoken. In other languages its name is the equivalent term for the color yellow.

As the common ginger (Zingiber officinale) is the ginger I know and prevalently use, it is the standard to which I compare other ginger I meet, or did not meet early on in my life. So relatively speaking, luyang dilaw is more peppery than gingery. More earthy. The fresh rhizome smells like wet socks, or wet dog fur at the extreme.

up top, common ginger, bottom, luyang dilaw

It looks exactly like a ginger rhizome, with branching nodes and pale, thin skin, the thick flesh compact. But it looks emaciated when placed beside the common ginger and another variety, galangal. It looks like a pinkie, the cylindrical form more defined, while the latter two are much more thicker than a thumb with a more flattened out shape.

Beneath the thin, pale skin of the turmeric a glimmer of orange shines through. Peeled, the flesh is more porous and not as fibrous, more akin to carrots than ginger. It is a brighter orange than a carrot, though.

I sometimes buy kilos in Cavite to bring home to the elders in Pangasinan as organic pasalubong. It is very much appreciated, because of its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant, and subsequently anti-carcinogenic, properties, as well as its lowering effect on cholesterol levels.

A poultice of the rhizome also purportedly heals skin eczemas and dermatitis. It is boiled and made into tea to ingest its heath benefits, and for its believed potency in expelling intestinal worms.

So far I have been rubbing and marinating roasted chicken and chicken steamed on a bed of salt with pounded pulps of turmeric, mainly for the nice color it imparts, and not for the flavor. The flavor is too subtle to make a difference, anyway, in such dishes.

I try mixing it with our daily kalamansi juice , which gives it a rather unnatural deep yellow color, like we were drinking powdered mango or dalandan juice. And in arroz caldo, with unfavorable outcome.

But I have eaten a nice, aromatic dish of marine catfish steamed in turmeric and lemongrass (alimusan sa dilaw) at an eatery in Iloilo, and bringhe, a delicacy in Pampanga where glutinous rice is seasoned with turmeric, coconut milk, meats and seafood, and wrapped in banana leaves.

Friends from Bulacan tell me luyang dilaw is used in paksiw na isda (fish stewed in vinegar), and there is a festival celebrating the plant (annually in May 2, in Marilao). In Cavite it is used in adobo, where the adobo is stewing meats only in vinegar.

I hope to encounter more Filipino dishes using this spice, so I could incorporate it more in my cooking. Though I’m sure I’ll find it as an ingredient in many cuisines, as it is used extensively the world over. Perhaps I’ll try my hand at drying some rhizomes to pound into powder, especially now that turmeric is in season. Maybe I could even come up with my own curry blend.

Bahay Kubo

Bahay kubo, kahit munti
Ang halaman doon ay sari-sari
Singkamas at talong, sigarillas at mani
Sitaw, bataw, patani

Gundol, patola, upo’t kalabasa
At saka meron pa, labanos, mustasa
Sibuyas, kamatis, bawang at luya
Sa paligid-ligid ay puno ng linga

Roughly translated as:

Bahay Kubo
Filipino folk song

Nipa hut, even though small
the plants surrounding it are varied and many
turnips and eggplants, winged beans and peanuts
yard-long beans, hyacinth beans, lima beans

wax gourd, sponge gourd, bottle gourd, squash
and then there are more, radish, mustard
onions, tomatoes, garlic and ginger
the surrounding spaces filled with sesame

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Adobong Malabanos sa Luyang Dilaw
Arroz Caldo sa Luyang Dilaw
Pinaupong Manok sa Asin