Dishes · A classic of Balinese · Bali

Base genep

Also Basa genep, Bumbu Bali

The complete Balinese spice paste: shallot, garlic, four rhizomes, chilli, candlenut, shrimp paste and warm spices, ground together.

What makes it base genep

  • Galangal, kencur, turmeric and ginger together.
  • Shallot, garlic, chilli, candlenut and shrimp paste.
  • Warm spices — coriander, pepper, nutmeg, clove — ground in.

Where it comes from

Genep means complete, and base genep is the paste from which the island's festive cooking starts — rubbed into babi guling and betutu, mixed into lawar and sate lilit, fried as the base of soups and sauces. Every family grinds its own, and some keep a jar ready.

It's not a dish, but a cook of Balinese food makes it before anything else, and its fullness — heavier on rhizomes and spices than most Indonesian pastes — is the taste of Bali.

Be the first here

Start your own base genep
No one here has made base genep yet. Start it as v1, and every version after is an experiment the next cook can learn from.

Near it

BalineseBabi gulingA whole young pig stuffed with base genep and greens, rubbed with turmeric and spit-roasted over wood until the skin shatters.No one here has made it yetBalineseBebek betutuA whole duck or chicken stuffed and smothered with base genep, wrapped and cooked slowly in embers until it falls apart.No one here has made it yetBalineseLawarFinely chopped meat, vegetables and grated coconut, mixed with base genep and lime — made fresh for ceremonies and eaten the same day.No one here has made it yet