Lounge
A spice-packed food adventure through Bali
Summary
Think nasi goreng and satay is all there is to the food of this island? The truth may surprise you
If there’s one thing to learn from the rich and fascinating Balinese cuisine is their approach to flavour–vibrant, punchy and textural. Fish massaged with spices, minced meat wound around lemongrass stick, soup made with banana stems and little rice dumplings that spurt liquid palm sugar - bold flavours define most of the food of this small Indonesian island east of Java. Bebek betutu–a whole duck stuffed with spices and slow roasted for several hours marked my official initiation into the rich and varied cuisine of Bali. This slow-cooking makes the meat exceptionally tender and the spices to deeply infuse the duck. “Duck meat is considered auspicious and so bebek betutu is a dish reserved for special occasions. A whole duck is stuffed with spices before being wrapped in palm leaves and cooked on coal," says chef Luh Suyasni, of the luxury retreat Amankila where I tasted the dish during dinner.
The matriarch maintains a vegetable patch at the resort where she grows her own water spinach, long beans, bok choy, chillies, herbs and papaya. The dinner on the beach also included gule kambing a fragrant, coconut-based lamb curry. The super soft meat and flavourful curry felt familiar, but not entirely so. Let me explain. Balinese cuisine uses many familiar ingredients such as white peppercorns and coriander seeds for fragrance, different varieties of chilies for vibrant heat and coconut to add a hint of sweetness to the thick, glossy curries. But then there’s also candlenut a relative of macadamia nuts which adds a rich texture and also helps tenderise meat. The nuts are always roasted before being added to the spice blend. There’s also shrimp paste which lends an umami edge to the dishes.
Also read: Where and what to eat in Seychelles
The base for most Indonesian dishes is the basa gede, literally meaning “big spice mix". The multilayered blend consists of shallots, garlic, ginger, galangal, turmeric, candlenut, bird’s eye chilli, coriander, black peppercorn, salam leaves (Indonesian bay leaf) salt and shrimp paste. “We use a mortar and pestle to pound the spices and make a big batch as it’s used in almost everything. Grinding it in a food processor doesn’t bring out the same flavour," adds Suyasni. As may be expected from a volcanic island, Balinese cuisine serves up more than a little fire in your belly with its use of aromatic spices and chilies. But the heat is balanced by fragrant herbs and coconut creating a rich and delicate taste. Spices like cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon, which were once traded by sailors, play a pivotal role. Chinese, Indian, Arab and Dutch influences have also shaped Indonesian food. For example, the use of coconut milk and spices shows Indian influence, while certain noodle dishes reflect the Chinese impact.
Come for satay, stay for babi guling
Sure nasi goreng and satay are the culinary ambassadors for this cuisine, but it goes beyond fried rice and chicken on a stick. For starters there’s a rich and unique variety of soups. At the resort Amandari in Ubud, I tasted a piquant jukut ares a soup made from the tender core of the banana stem. The banana stem is highly valued in Balinese cooking. Thinly sliced and cooked in a flavourful broth made with garlic, shallots, galangal, turmeric, lemongrass and bay leaves, it adds a unique texture and absorbs the flavours of the soup. Even salads get a fresh twist. Gado gado (mix-mix) is a salad of blanched vegetables smothered in luscious peanut sauce and topped with a boiled egg. The tender (never mushy) veggies, crunchy sprouts along with the toasty, salty, sweet and spicy sauce make for an exquisite balance of flavours and textures.
But the hero of Balinese cuisine is the babi guiling. In this dish, a suckling pig is rubbed with turmeric before being stuffed with basa gede and roasted over open fire. “In the past, babi guiling was only eaten at special occasions like weddings, funerals and baby milestones. Now, because of tourism, many restaurants serve it as a regular dish. It’s a favourite among the locals," says Suyasni. A good babi guling is never only about the meat, she tells me. Each serving of babi guling is supposed to have a chunk of the juicy meat, a side of vegetables such as spiced long beans, amber-coloured shards of super crispy skin that splinters against the teeth, a tablespoon of the flavourful stuffing and steamed rice. It’s nose-to-tail cooking and eating it felt like I had attained carnivorous nirvana. The dish is so popular in Bali that most warungs (streetside restaurants) specialise and serve only babi guling as their signature dish.
Spicy sides
No meal in Bali is complete without a side of sambal–a chilli-based sauce. While there are countless varieties, sambal kecap made of shallots, sweet soy sauce and lots of chilli is perfect for lightweights who want to tip their toes in spicy waters. Then there is the super spicy sambal korek which uses the small red chilies. Eating it felt like unexpect explosion in my mouth. My favourite is the mildly spicy sambal matah (matah means raw). I wanted to bring a bucket full of it home with me and introduce it to everything lurking in my fridge. My last meal in Bali had to be a succulent babi guiling at Amandari, Ubud. The smoky lusciousness of the meal with a view of the Ayung river gorge already had me plotting my return to the magical island.
Visiting Bali? Make sure to check these out
Dapur Bali Mula
This is not a typical restaurant but a place run by chef Jero Mangku Dalem Suci Gede Yudiawan, who also happens to be a priest. There is no menu and you pay whatever you like. The food is cooked in a wood-fire stove, using only local ingredients and techniques. Expect excellent pork ribs, fish cooked in a tube of young bamboo and urutan (pork sausages). Don’t leave without trying the house-made arak–palm wine fermented in eighth century Chinese clay pots.
Murni’s warung, Ubud
This oldest restaurant in Ubud (founded in 1974) has the best chicken rice where the rice is served with 4-5 chicken dishes and sambal matah. The serene setting next to the murmuring Pakerisan river is a huge bonus.
Locavore NXT, Ubud
A regular on Asia’s 50 Best list, Locavore is a small, experimental restaurant with their own vegetable farm and duck farm. The food by chefs Eelke Plasmeijer and Ray Adriansyah is fresh and experimental.
Nivedita Jayaram Pawar is a Mumbai-based food writer.
