Indonesian Bay Leaf substitute
Leave it out
Omit entirely, and add a squeeze of lime at the end
The most honest answer is to leave it out, especially in a heavily spiced dish like rendang or opor ayam, where you will lose a quiet background note rather than anything structural. If you want something in the pot, four to six curry leaves per two salam leaves fill the same role of a mild whole-leaf aromatic. Ordinary bay laurel is what most people reach for, and it does work at half a leaf per two salam leaves, but be aware it adds a camphor and eucalyptus note that tastes Mediterranean and can dominate a rendang. Daun salam's job is quiet aroma and a slight savoury astringency, not the sharp resinous edge laurel gives.
Other indonesian bay leaf substitutes
Ranked, with the exact amount to use
Substitutes for Indonesian Bay Leaf with ratios
2Curry leaves, fresh or dried
Different tasteWhat changes
- Best for
- gulai and curries, soto and clear broths, coconut braises, sambal goreng
Curry leaves are the same kind of ingredient: a small whole leaf added early, meant to perfume the pot quietly and then be fished out or eaten around. They are more assertive than daun salam, with a distinctly nutty, citrus-tinged aroma that reads South Indian or Sri Lankan. In a Sumatran gulai, which already sits close to South Indian cooking, this is barely a compromise at all. In a Javanese dish it is noticeable but not jarring. Fresh leaves are considerably better than dried, which lose most of their aroma.
3Kaffir lime leaves, torn
Different tasteWhat changes
- Best for
- soto and clear soups, laksa and coconut soups, curries with plenty of liquid
Kaffir lime leaf, or daun jeruk purut, appears in many of the same Indonesian recipes as daun salam, so it belongs in this cuisine and is easy to buy frozen. What it is not is subtle: it is intensely citrus and floral, and it will be the first thing anyone tastes. That is lovely in a soto or a coconut soup and wrong in a dark, long-reduced rendang, where the citrus fights the toasted coconut. Use one leaf, torn rather than shredded, and remove it before serving.
4Bay laurel, used lightly
Different tasteWhat changes
- Best for
- braises and stews, soups, when it is genuinely the only leaf in the house
The two ingredients share nothing but a name in English. Laurel carries a strong camphor, pine and eucalyptus character that is exactly right in a French daube and clearly foreign in Indonesian food, where it tends to make a rendang taste vaguely medicinal. If you use it, use half a leaf rather than a whole one, add it late, and pull it out after twenty minutes so it does not have time to dominate. Used with that discipline it adds a pleasant herbal note without ruining anything.
5Guava leaves
Close matchWhat changes
- Best for
- braises and curries, rice cooked with aromatics, traditional preparations
Guava leaves share the same family as daun salam and go in a genuinely similar aromatic direction: mildly astringent, faintly tea-like, and quiet enough to sit in the background. They are used this way in parts of Southeast Asia and in some Latin American cooking, so this is not an invented workaround. Availability is the obstacle: unless you have a guava tree or a well-stocked Asian or Latin grocer, you are unlikely to find them, and they are usually sold dried for tea.
6Lemon basil (kemangi) or a bruised piece of lemongrass
Taste and texture differWhat changes
- Best for
- soto and sayur lodeh, pepes and steamed dishes, clear soups
Neither of these tastes anything like daun salam, so this is about function rather than imitation: they give a broth the herbal top note that makes it taste finished rather than flat. Kemangi is an Indonesian staple in its own right and belongs naturally in soto and pepes; add it right at the end so it does not go bitter. Lemongrass goes in early, bruised with the back of a knife. Both are easier to buy than salam leaves in most Western cities.
What is Indonesian Bay Leaf?
Indonesian Bay Leaf is the leaf of an Indonesian tree in the myrtle family, known locally as daun salam and a completely different plant from Mediterranean bay laurel, contributing a mild, faintly sour, tea-like aroma to Indonesian braises, curries and rice dishes.
Cooking tips
- Dried daun salam is very mild, much milder than dried laurel, so recipes routinely call for two or three leaves where a European recipe would use one bay leaf. If you are using real salam leaves and cannot taste anything, add more rather than assuming they are not working.
- Add salam leaves at the beginning with the spice paste and leave them in for the whole cook. Unlike laurel, they do not turn bitter or medicinal over long simmering, which is why they suit dishes that reduce for two or three hours.
- Do not confuse Indonesian bay leaf with Indian bay leaf. Tej patta, often sold in English as Indian bay leaf, is a cassia leaf and tastes strongly of cinnamon, so putting it in a rendang gives you a sweet spiced note rather than a quiet savoury one. It is a different mistake from the laurel one, and just as noticeable.
- Fresh salam leaves are considerably more aromatic than dried and are worth freezing if you find them. They keep for months in a sealed bag in the freezer and go into the pot straight from frozen, no thawing needed.
- Fish the leaves out before serving, or at least warn people. Salam leaves stay leathery no matter how long they cook, and biting into one is unpleasant in the same way biting into a bay leaf is.
Frequently asked questions
Is Indonesian bay leaf the same as a regular bay leaf?
Can I use regular bay leaves instead of daun salam?
Can I just leave the Indonesian bay leaf out?
Is daun salam the same as tej patta or Indian bay leaf?
Where can I buy Indonesian bay leaves?
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