0 Babi Guling

Babi Guling is Bali’s most fmaous dish. Ask a Balinese person what their favourite food is and there is a good chance they’ll say “Bali guling”. Indonesia is a Muslim country, so pork isn’t celebrated as it is here in Bali. The Balinese however often keep pigs at home behind the house, feeding on food scraps, for that important time when they will be killed and eaten. The young suckling pig is used because of its tenderness, spit-roasted to perfection. Finding Bali Guling is a bit hard in tourist areas as it takes a while to prepare and is not really a dish most foreigners will ask for. As soon as you get away from the tourist scene in Kuta / Seminyak and head to Kerobokan, Mengwi, Ubud, or any other local place, the babi guling stands pop up.

There is a babi guling stand on Jl. Canggu, about 100 meters after the turn off from Jl. Raya Kerobokan, open during the day. The town of Gianyar is famous for it babi guling and the main street has stands that are easy to find. A Babi Guling stand will have the whole pig in the front window and a lady busily cutting bits into chunks. When you ask for a plate of Babi Guling you get a couple of slices of meat, some fat, skin, intestines, virtually everything that can be eaten. You’ll get a small portion of rice to accompany your pork, which is not specially spicy. 

Here are the ingredients used in preparing Babi Guling

• 1 suckling pig, weighing about 6-8 kg (13-17 lb) • 1 1/2 tablespoon salt • 10 shallots, peeled and sliced • 6 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped • 5 cm (2 in) ginger, peeled and chopped • 15 candlenuts, chopped • 10 cm (4 in) fresh turmeric, peeled and chopped • 2 tablespoons coriander seeds, crushed • 5 cm (2 in) laosfinely chopped • 25-30 bird’s-eye chillies • 10 stalks lemon grass, sliced • 1 tablespoon black peppercorns, crushed • 1 teaspoon dried shrimp paste, roasted • 5 fragrant lime leaves, finely shredded • 2 salamleaves • 2 1/2 tablespoons oil • 4 tablespoons turmeric water

Here are the instructions in case you have the urge to cook a babi guling at home.
Ensure the inside of the suckling pig is completely cleaned out. Season inside and outside with salt. Combine all other ingredients, except turmeric water, and mix thoroughly. Fill the inside of the suckling pig with this mixture, close the belly with string or thin satay skewers. Rub the outside of the pig with turmeric water until the skin is shiny yellow. Bake on a spit over a charcoal fire or in a moderately hot oven for 2.1/2 hours. Test if the meat is done by inserting a skewer into the thickest part. If the liquid runs clear the piglet is cooked. Baste with oil during cooking. Serve slices of pork with white rice and a hot tomato and chili sambal. If preparing a larger pig, increase the amounts of ingredients accordingly and allow extra cooking time. Alternatively place the suckling pig on a roasting rack and roast in hot oven (220°C/425°F) for approximately one hour. Rest for 10 minutes in warm place before serving.

Serving Babi Guling
When serving, first remove the crisp skin with a strong carving knife, then loosen meat from the bones and cut into even dice or slices. Place a heaped tablespoon of stuffing on each serving plate, then top with meat and skin. Traditionally this dish is eaten with Jukut Nangka Mekuah and steamed rice.

Suggestion :
If you have a large barbecue with a rotisserie or constantly turning spit, you can cook the pig over charcoal for an authentic Balinese flavour. You don’t want to burn it, but slow cook it, so patience is necessary.

0 Bebek Betutu

Bebek Betutu (roast duck) is one of the most famous dishes in Bali. Balinese people themselves may cook it for a special occasion and its not really an everyday dish. Some restaurants in Bali offer bebek betutu, with the request you order a day in advance, due to the preparation time.

Balinese Roast Duck
Ingredients
• 1 duck, whole  • 18 shallots, peeled  • 6 cloves garlic, peeled  • 3 stalks lemon grass  • 5 kaffir lime leaves  • 6 candlenuts  • 2″ ginger, peeled  • 3″ fresh turmeric, peeled  • 3″ kencur, peeled  • 5 Thai chilies  • 1 tsp. black peppercorns  • 1 tsp. coriander seeds  • 2 tsp. shrimp paste  • 1 1/2 tbsp. salt  • 3 tbsp. oil  • banana leaves

Instructions
Place the shallots, garlic, lemon grass, candlenuts, ginger, turmeric, kencur, chilies, peppercorns, coriander seeds, shrimp paste, salt and oil in a blender or food processor and grind into a paste. Wipe the duck dry and rub mixture on the outside. Put remainder mixture into the duck cavity. Close the opening of the duck with a satay skewer. Wrap the duck in banana leaves. Wrap this with aluminum foil and puncture several holes in the bottom. Steam the duck for 50 minutes. Put the duck in a roasting pan and roast at 350f until done.

The flavor of this excellent duck will be even better if the final roasting is done over a slow charcoal fire rather than in the oven; be sure to turn the duck several times if cooking over charcoal.

0 Lawar

Lawar is one of Bali’s most famous local dishes. Made from pig’s blood and spices, together with an assortment of other goodies, lawar can be found in every village in Bali.

What is Lawar?
Balinese cuisine has many signature dishes including babi guling and bebek betutu. One of the local dishes that all Balinese love is Lawar, with every family making lawar at special occassions such as ceremonies. Attending a wedding ceremony in Bali, foreigner might be asked “Bani ngajeng lawar?” (“Are you brave enough to eat lawar?”). The ingredients of lawar as well as the taste mean westerners often aren’t immediately taken by it.

Ingredients in Lawar :
Balinese traditional spices such as kunyit, shrimp paste, salt and ground pepper, galangal and other roots; grated coconut, green beans, boiled young jackfruit and occasionally, singkong leaves, all chopped up and blended together.

Meats used in Lawar
The meat distinguishes the type of lawar – chicken, duck, beef, pork, turtle, or even dragonfly. Although it is considered a delicacy at ceremony time, fortunately turtle Lawar is becoming less and less common. Dragonfly Lawar is most unusual because it takes so much time and money because you have to use so many dragonflies to fill you up! Most lawar has raw blood mixed with it but not all Balinese like this and many prefer their lawar vegetarian.

Lawar & Ceremonies :
On the day of a ceremony Balinese people rise early to prepare food. The men will take care of the sate, the women chopping away preparing vegetables. Men are also responsible for the Lawar and sit in a circle, chopping, chatting, and mashing, generally socializing. There’s no rush in Balinese ceremonies and the men enjoy chatting, sipping a coffee of some arak, while making the Lawar.

Where to get Lawar:
Lawar can be spicy and very salty, so a small portion is best for your first time. The nasi bungkus (rice to go) that is sold on the street from a motorbike, in small packets for 2,000rp sometimes contains lawar. Glory Restaurant in Legian is one of the places you can get Lawar, along with many other authentic Balinese dishes (Sundays is the Balinese buffet). 

If you go to a Balinese person’s village tasting Lawar and sipping some arak will earn you some ‘bule points’.

0 Sate

Sate is one of the favourite street foods in Bali and Java. Sold from smokey street-side carts, this snack of bbq meat on bamboo sticks needs no advertising, you can smell it a block away. In Bali and Java sate can include many ingredients including ayam (chicken), kambing (goat), sapi (beef), kelinci (rabbit) and others. The Balinese love Sate penyu (turtle), which officially can only be sold at ceremonies, but in practice is sold at other times as well.

Sauces :
Some familiar sauces are used, particulary kecap manis (sweet soy sauce), or peanut sauce. For sate ayam peanut sauce is used. Sate kambing uses soya sauce, garlic and chili. Sate sapi uses soy or peanut sauce and kelinci peanut sauce. In general the sauces used are very similar to those in Bali.

Sate vendors :
Tukang Sate (sate vendors) are easy to spot, because of the billowing smoke emanating from their carts. They often use an electric fan to feed the glowing coconut husks with air. A more traditional method is to fan the glowing embers with a kipas (hand held bamboo fan).

Where to buy Sate:
In the morning you can find a tukang Sate at the pasar pagi (morning market) in Kuta. Balinese love Sate lilit (mashed up fish and coconut), which is then pressed onto a lemongrass stick with spices, roasted and served with salt and chili. The pasar pagi closes at around 8.30am. During daylight hours you might look for warungs that are frequented by locals, such as some of the ones in Tuban, if there is an abundance of smoke, sate can’t be far away.

In Seminyak there is a sate vendor across from Bintang supermarket, who works from around 5.30pm and finishes around 11pm. All these guys keep their own hours so there’s no exact time on when they are around. When ordering sate from a vendor be sure to ask what kind of sate they serve, as its usually only 1 kind of meat. Ask the price and then tell him how many sticks you want. Sate is usually served with longtong (rolled and compacted rice). The local pasar malam (night market) will usually hve a sate vendor.

How much does sate cost?
A ballpark figure on sate prices is a as follows. Ten pieces of Sate ayam (chicken) without longtong 4,000rp. You should add 1,000-2,000rp more for sapi (beef), kelinci (rabbit), kambing (goat) and penyu (turtle).

Sate sapi is roughly the same price as kambing and turtle, 5,000rp for 10 pieces. Turtle Sate has a deliciously complex sauce that is not padas (spicy hot). It takes about 10 ingredients to make including corriander (cilantro) seeds.

History of Sate
Satay (also written saté) is a dish that may have originated in Sumatra or Java, Indonesia, but also popular in many other Southeast Asian countries such as Malaysia, Singapore, Philippines, and Thailand, as well as in The Netherlands which was influenced through its former colonies. In Malaysia, satay is a very popular dish especially during celebrations and it can be found throughout the country. A close analog in Japan is yakitori. Additionally, shish kebab from Turkey and sosaties from South Africa are also very similar to satay.

Although recipes and ingredients vary from country to country, satay generally consists of chunks or slices of meat on bamboo or coconut leaf spine skewers, which are grilled over a wood or charcoal fire. Turmeric is often used to marinate satay and gives it a characteristic yellow color. Meats used include beef, mutton, pork, venison, fish, shrimp, chicken and even the cow stomach. Some have also used more exotic meats, such as crocodile and snake meat. It may be served with a spicy peanut sauce dip, or peanut gravy, slivers of onions and cucumbers, and ketupat. Pork satay can be served in a pineapple based satay sauce or cucumber relish. An Indonesian version uses a soy-based dip.

Origins of sate (satay) :
Some allege that satay was invented by Chinese immigrants who sold the skewered barbecue meat on the street. Their argument is that the word satay means “triple stacked”  in Amoy dialect, and indeed, satay is often made with three flat lozenges of meat. On the other hand, it is also possible that it was invented by Malay or Javanese street vendors influenced by the Arabian kebab. The explanation draws on the fact that satay only became popular after the early 19th Century, also the time of the arrival of a major influx Arab immigrants in the region. The satay meats popularly used by Indonesians and Malaysians and , mutton and beef, are also traditionally favoured by Arabs and are not as popular in China as are pork and chicken.

Indonesia :
Known as sate in Indonesian (and pronounced similar to the English), satay is a widely renowned dish in almost all regions of Indonesia. As a result, many variations have been developed.