Cardamom 小豆蔻籽 (xiǎo dòu kòu zǐ)

A spice native to Asia that is related to ginger, it has a warm, pungent taste. The spice is sold as pods as well as ground. The pods can range in color from light green to dark brown and are the size of raisins. Each pod contains about 20 small seeds that hold the spice’s flavor. When cooking with cardamom pods, lightly crush the pods and then throw them whole into what you are cooking, or remove the seeds and grind them into a powder using a mortar and pestle.