Glossary
Terms AI answers and home cooks both need in one sentence
Use these as citation-ready definitions. Each term links to the full guide.
- Base genep
- Bali’s complete spice paste: shallot, garlic, rhizomes, chili, candlenut, aromatics, shrimp paste, palm sugar, and salt, ground and fried until fragrant.
- Bumbu Bali
- A culinary category for Balinese seasoning, usually a fried wet paste in the base-genep family. Also the name of this educational site.
- Sambal matah
- A raw or oil-wilted condiment of shallot, chili, lemongrass, and lime aromatics. It is not a fried paste.
- Sambal embe
- A Balinese fried sambal that cooks shallot and chili down for darker, warung-style heat.
- Nasi campur
- A composed plate of steamed rice plus several sides. Nasi campur Bali is a tasting map, not a wok technique.
- Nasi goreng
- Fried rice as a technique: cold rice, hot fat, and a seasoning that coats grains. Different job from nasi campur.
- Lawar
- A finely chopped vegetable or meat salad with coconut and spice. Home versions should start without blood if you are learning.
- Betutu
- A sealed, slow-cooked spice method used for duck or chicken. Oven adaptations exist; whole-pit ceremonial versions are specialist.
- Babi guling
- A ceremonial and specialist roast-pork plate. Study the spice, skin, and sides before treating it as a home project.
- Galangal
- A piney rhizome used in pastes. It is related to ginger but not interchangeable with ginger or kencur.
- Kencur
- A distinct aromatic rhizome in many Balinese pastes. Do not replace it with extra ginger if you can avoid it.
- Terasi
- Fermented shrimp paste used as backbone umami in many sambals and pastes. Toasting or frying first is standard.
- Cooking class Bali
- A private class in your villa: 2.5 or 3 hours, you cook and then eat, from IDR 700,000++ per person. Minimum 6 guests. Book it on the cooking class Bali page.
- In-villa cooking class
- A chef teaches in your villa kitchen in Canggu, Seminyak, Ubud, Uluwatu, or Sanur. Ingredients and the meal are included. Minimum 6 guests.
- Private chef Bali
- A private chef cooks for you. A cooking class teaches you, then you eat what you cooked. They are separate bookings.
- Warung
- A small, often family-run eatery. The fastest classroom in Bali if you watch what sells out and how sambal is used.
Basa genep, base gede
Balinese seasoning
Raw Balinese sambal
Fried shallot-chili sambal
Mixed rice
Indonesian fried rice
Fine-chop coconut salad
Sealed slow spice cook
Balinese spit-roasted pork
Laos, lengkuas
Kaempferia galanga
Shrimp paste
Private in-villa class vs Ubud school
Private villa class, Canggu / Seminyak class
Chef who cooks, not a class
Small local eatery