Black pepper

Before chillies arrived on Indonesian shores, it was left to pepper to provide the heat. The fruits of a climbing vine ripen from green to red and eventually to black. White peppercorns are the inner seeds with the dark outer layer removed. They have more heat but a less complex flavour. Both white and black peppercorns are much used in bumbu spice pastes, the choice often determined by the colour of the dish (black can muddy a pale coconutty curry, though I can’t say I mind this and prefer the flavour). Fresh green peppercorns are used in some Balinese lawars.