Vegetables in Bahasa Indonesia
Hi y’all!
This time, I’m writing about vegetables names in Bahasa Indonesia. Vegetable is 'sayur' in Bahasa Indonesia, whilst a bunch of vegetables (AKA the plural form) is 'sayur-sayuran' or 'sayur-mayur'.
I think that, similar with in my previous post on fruits, there are some vegetables common in the West but uncommon here, and vice versa. Again, this post won’t be a long one.
Alright, let’s dive into it! First, in honor of my vegan Mom, here are the alliums, which we call ‘bawang-bawangan’ here, for good reason after you read their names in Bahasa Indonesia.
Chives = Lokio or bawang Batak
Garlic = Bawang putih
Garlic chives or Chinese leek = (Bawang or daun) kucai
Leek = Bawang prei
Onion = Bawang bombay
Scallion or spring onion = Daun bawang
Shallot = Bawang merah
If you’ve read one of my earlier posts about a folktale titled ‘Bawang Merah dan Bawang Putih’, now you know what they actually mean…
Anyway, next are some vegetables which I think are common both here and in a lot of place.
Baby corn = Jagung muda or janten
Beetroot = Buah bit (I suppose it looks like a fruit, that’s why it’s called so here)
Bitter melon = Pare
Broccoli = Brokoli
Cabbage = Kubis or kol
Carrot = Wortel
Cassava = Singkong or ubi kayu or kaspe or ketela pohon or sampe (it grows quite easily here, so each place has their own ways of calling this root)
Cauliflower = Kembang kol
Chili = cabai or cabe (we have various variety here, though, and each has their own names)
Corn = Jagung
Cucumber = Timun (the smaller type is sometimes called kyuri, which actually also means cucumber just in Japanese)
Eggplant = Terong
Green bean or string bean = Buncis
Lettuce = Selada (the specific type is usually said in English though, and without the specific name you will probably get the green curly lettuce)
Mung bean sprout = taoge or kecambah or just cambah (to be fair, soya beansprout is called the same here, though we acknowledge they are different and so are used in different dishes)
Pea = Kacang polong or ercis
Pepper = Paprika (we only have the red-green-yellow bell peppers here, though)
Potato = Kentang
Pumpkin = Labu (the smaller type is sometimes called kabocha, which actually also means pumpkin just in Japanese)
Seaweed = Rumput laut (though nowadays some prefer to call them nori).
Snap pea = (Kacang) kapri
Spinach = Bayam
Sweet potato = Ubi (jalar) or ketela
And here are some vegetables which has the same name in Bahasa Indonesia as in English.
Asparagus
Bok choy or pok choy (though the spelling is kinda different sometimes, as it can also be written as pak choy, pak coi, pakcoy, bok coi, or a variety of those. Some also call them ‘sawi daging’)
Burdock or gobo
Edamame
Ginseng
Kale
Lotus root
Okra
Winter melon (it actually has a proper Indonesian name, ‘kundur’, but practically none use it…)
Here are some vegetables which I think are common in Indonesia but not as common in the West:
Bengkoang (jicama)
Caisim (choy sum)
Gambas or oyong (angled luffa or Chinese okra)
Horenzo or bayam Jepang (even though it is known as ‘Japanese spinach’, it looks more like what the West know as Chinese spinach, in my opinion)
Kacang panjang (asparagus bean)
Kailan (Chinese broccoli)
Kangkung (water spinach)
Labu air (calabash)
Labu siam or manisa (chayote)
Pucuk labu (pumpkin or chayote shoot leaves)
(Sawi) pagoda (tatsoi)
Sawi pahit (Chinese mustard)
Sawi putih (napa cabbage)
Now, special feature on radish and turnip! In Bahasa Indonesia, ‘lobak’ refers to the white oriental radishes, whilst turnips are called as ‘lobak cina’ (lit. ‘Chinese radish’). I think it’s because the typical red-skinned radish/turnip is not common here, but they taste kinda similar so we just lump them together. Lobak is more common though, whilst turnips can only be found in high-class supermarkets (as of now).
Next, here are the nuts (which are not actually seen as vegetable here and some might even argue that they aren’t all nuts, but I’ll just put them here):
Cashew = (Kacang) mete or mede
Chestnut = Kastanya or kastanye
Jack bean = Kacang koro or kacang parang
Mung bean = Kacang hijau
Peanut or nut = Kacang (tanah)
Red kidney bean = Kacang merah
Soya bean = (Kacang) kedelai
On that topic, let us move on to the mushrooms and fungi, which are not actually even a plant (they have their own kingdom, and I understand why) but is considered a vegetable (or protein substitute). We call them ‘jamur’ here, and all of them has it before their name.
Button mushroom = Jamur kancing
Enoki mushroom = Jamur enoki
Oyster mushroom = Jamur tiram
Shiitake mushroom = Jamur shitake
Snow fungus = Jamur salju or jamur es
Straw mushroom = Jamur merang
Wood ear mushroom = Jamur kuping
As is the case with enoki and shiitake, a lot of our mushroom uses their ‘original’ names, such as himeji mushroom and truffle.
Lastly, here’s my take on the debate of whether tomato, which we call ‘tomat’, is a fruit or vegetable from an Indonesian perspective. We see them as both, depending on the variety. We have what we call ‘tomat sayur’, which is more oval with greenish tint and not as sweet but quite juicy.
We use them as an ingredient in sambal or as lalapan. In short, it is eaten with cooked food, and it’s kinda strange for us to see them as fruits. On the other hand, the rounder, redder, and sweeter (usually with western names) tomato are seen more as a fruit to be eaten raw or in a salad.
We are not used to cooking fruits, except for deep-frying or stewing a selected few like banana or jackfruit, so we divide them by how they are eaten. I mean, you don’t eat stir-fry strawberry or steamed grapes, but eat stir-fry broccoli or steamed pumpkin right? Well, that’s my take on it anyway, let me know what you think!
Alright, that’s all for today’s post. I think some of the names in Bahasa Indonesia contains traces of Japanese influences, probably because we were under them during WW2.
I’ll probably write a post on herbs and spices in the coming future. Look forward to it!
Bye-bye for now~
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