Krachai (Boesenbergia pandurata, B. rotunda, Kaempferia pandurata) is a rhizome grown across much of Southeast Asia which is in the Zingiberaceae family, along with ginger and galangal. It is known in the west mainly through its use in Thai cuisine, where it gives a delicate ginger flavour to many seafood dishes.
Quite distinctive in appearance, it consists of slender tubers up to 15 centimetres in length attached to the rhizome head. Some believe its appearance to be similar to a bunch of keys, Hence the western name Chinese Keys
Some folk remedies associated with this spice are the treatment of diarrhoea, worms and flatulence.