Galangal is a ginger-like root that is widely used in Thai and Indonesian cuisine as a flavoring or a spice, characterized by its pungent aroma. There are two varieties of galangal: greater galangal, which is lighter in color and with a more subtle aroma, used mostly in Thai cooking, and lesser galangal, which is native to China.

Galangal is hard and woody on the exterior, with a strong citrus scent on the inside. It gives a citrus note to numerous dishes, and it is an important ingredient in Thai curry pastes. Galangal can come in many forms: as fresh root, dried root, or ground into a fine powder. 

Saigon cinnamon or Vietnamese cinnamon is a type of cinnamon coming from the Cinnamomum loureiroi tree. This type of cinnamon has the strongest flavor of them all, and it's the essential oils in the bark that give it its unique aroma and flavor.

However, all the cassia varieties, such as this one, have higher levels of coumarin, a compound which can damage the liver if consumed in large amounts. Saigon cinnamon is often used in baked goods, curries, and pho.

This Vietnamese pepper originates from the island of Phú Quốc, which produces over 1000 tons of it annually. The pepper is well-known for its strong aroma, pungency, and heat. The red pepper has an especially strong aroma and a sweet, citrusy heat, while the black one has large and solid corns.

There's also a third variety (but they're all the same pepper species) – white pepper, and the fourth one is green pepper (unripe, good for cooking and making herbal teas). The farmers use only organic fertilizers and dry the pepper in the sunlight. 

Kampot pepper or poivre de Kampot is pepper from two berry varieties, the Kamchay and the Lampong, of the species Piper nigrum L. grown in the provinces of Kampot and Kep in southern Cambodia. There are four types of Kampot pepper – green, black, red, and white.

The green variety is harvested while still young on the vine. It's aromatic with a mild peppery flavor, and it's recommended to use it with grilled or fried squid dishes. The black variety has a delicate and strong aroma, and the flavor ranges from mild and sweet to intensely spicy. 

Cubeb is a complex pepper variety native to Java, Indonesia. The pepper starts out as the immature fruit of a tropical climbing vine that sometimes grows in coffee plantations. The vines produce small flowers that turn into berries, which are gathered in the early summer.

The berries are then dried in the sun until they turn wrinkly and brown-black. Cubeb pepper barely has any heat, and the flavors are bitter, refreshing, and slightly numbing. Originally, it was grown for medicinal purposes, but over time it became popular as an ingredient due to its peppery and bitter notes. 

Fingerroot, known scientifically as Boesenbergia rotunda, is a type of rhizome that is native to China and Southeast Asia. It belongs to the ginger family and is widely used in the culinary traditions of countries like Thailand, Indonesia, and Malaysia.

The rhizome resembles fingers growing out of a piece, which is why it's called fingerroot. It has a slightly spicy and medicinal flavor, making it a popular ingredient in traditional dishes and for medicinal purposes. Fingerroot is often used in soups, curries, and traditional remedies due to its distinctive flavor and health benefits, including anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial properties.

In the Malaysian state of Sarawak, more precisely near the river Rimbàs, a local variety of black pepper known as Kuching is cultivated by the Ibans native group. The rows in small pepper fields are arranged on a slight slope in order to avoid the accumulation of excess water – a result of abundant tropical rains.

The pepper plant has the form of a bush and grows around a post of one of the most resistant woods in nature – ironwood or belian. The grains of pepper are collected when they turn from green to pale yellow color, and are then washed and left to dry in the sun.