Bawang Merah and Bawang Putih — Shallots and Garlic

The shallot, Allium cepa var. aggregatum, and garlic, Allium sativum, are both bulbs of Asian continental origin that reached the archipelago long before the Dutch period, and both are now so deeply fixed in the kitchen that no regional table is without them. Sri Owen treats them as the foundation of the Indonesian spice paste, the bumbu, in which bawang merah and bawang putih are ground first or fried first, before the rhizomes, chillies and candlenut are added. The shallot is the dominant partner in Javanese, Balinese and Sumatran cooking, and it is grown in the lowlands of Java, notably in Brebes, which is long associated with the crop.

Bawang merah is the small, purple-red, multi-cloved shallot, Allium cepa var. aggregatum, whose bulbs grow in clusters and are sweeter and less sharp than the onion. Bawang putih is garlic, Allium sativum, the Indonesian bulb being small, tight-skinned and pungent, with cloves that are often peeled whole and pounded rather than sliced. In the kitchen the two are used raw in sambal, sliced thin and fried until crisp as bawang goreng for scattering, and ground into the base paste. Shallots are sliced across the bulb for frying, finely sliced for sambal matah, and chopped or pounded for the bumbu.

Shallots and garlic go into nearly everything savoury, with rice, coconut milk dishes, grilled fish, soups such as soto, and fried noodles and rice. They are drunk with nothing in particular, but the table that carries them takes tea or plain water. Structurally, the sweetness of shallot and the sharpness of garlic form a base that rounds the heat of chilli and the acid of tamarind or lime, and the crisp fried shallot adds a texture that soft rice and broth lack.