Bali has its own cuisine. Balinese food
consists or rice as a staple, often served with dishes made of pork, a variety
of sate and vegetables, often mixed with chili. Two of the most famous items in
Balinese cuisine are lawar and babi guling.
• 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. 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.
• Babi guling:
Babi guling is Bali’s most famous 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.
• Vegetarian Indonesian food:
Vegetarians visiting Bali will have no problem at all,
finding delicious food. The selection of international restaurants is amazing.
You might go for a spinach lasagna at Warung Italia, a vegetarian Indian dish
at Gateway to India, or a vegetarian Meditereanean plate at Zula, on Jl. Dhyana
Pura. But how about Indonesian food? Hitting a Padang food place, the Sumatran style places with
pyramids of food in the window, you will notice many vegetarian options. Rice
will be a staple, vegetable choices are often free and other items cost more.
For example I might choose fried temple (made from soy beans), kangkung (the
leafy green vegetable), nangka (curried jackfruit), hard boiled egg and a
potato cake. In other Indonesian-style places, you will find dishes such
as Gado Gado, which is steamed cabbage and sprouts, with rice, tofu and peanut
sauce. Its quite tasty!
A good option for a vegetarian is nasi campur (mixed rice) I
get this all the time, with meat of course, but if you specify no meat, you
will get, rice, various green vegetables including spinach, green beans, tofu,
tempe, egg, peanuts, sambal, etc.
• Popular Dishes in Bali: Nasi Goreng:
Nasi goreng (fried rice) is a dish popular, not only in Bali,
but all over Asia. Nasi goreng is made by tossing a small plate of steamed
white rice, into a wok, with oil, vegetables and sometimes seafood, or chicken.
It is usually served with a fried egg slapped on top and giant prawn cracker.
Javanese food:
Javanese cuisine originates from the island of Java. Here is
a little guide to the cuisine of Java.
• Common spice
ingredients:
Common ingredients are nasi (rice), bawang putih (garlic),
bawang merah (red garlic), tumeric, merica (pepper), pala
(black pepper).
Usually use coconut oil for cooking, which comes in a
bottle.
• Vegetables:
Wortel (carrot), kacang panjang (long beans), buncis (green
beans), jangung (corn), sawi kankung (green vegetables), kentang (potato),
terong (sour vegetable), taro (root vegetable), cabbage, kacang (peanuts).
• Meats:
Ayam (chicken), sapi (beef), kambing (goat), burung (bird)
• Fish:
Udang (prawn), bandeng (boney white fish), cumi-cumi
(squid), kepiting (crab), tuna, gurame (flat white fish), tongkol (barracuda).
Javanese food has a sweet taste, without many spices, so if
they want ot cook one meal they use special spices, they don’t like to mix
spices. for example Balinese food often contains a mixture of many hot and
powerful spices, whereas Javanese cuisine often says ‘this dish should have
onion, but no garlic, this other dish should have garlic but no onion’.
Sumatra has more spicy food, Javanese food is famous for
sweet, west Java is famous for raw vegetables, Central Java very sweet.
Often items containing, fried fish, tofu, tempe etc, can be
cooked and served cold, just as in a warung. The rice that accompanies it is
usually served hot, whether it be plain rice, yellow
rice or rice with coconut milk. In Java it is popular to use
a wajan (wok) for cooking, over a gas burner.
The most popular methods of cooking are goreng (deep frying)
in the wajan, rebus (boiling) is used for eggs, noodles, tofu, tempe. Bakar
(grilling) is used for fish.
Javanese love using coconut milk. This is applied to dishes,
by cooking the meat and vegetables in a wajan with hot oil. After they
ingredients are ready, they are transfered to another pan / wajan and the
coconut milk is added with particular spices.
Javanese cuisine doesn’t really have the ’starter-main
course-dessert’ set up of western cuisines. Javanese often prefer to get
straight into the main meal with various dishes, accompanied by a sweet drink.
From Central Java the most famous meal is called Gudeg, made from
Jackfruit, boiled in a pot with spices. People say the brown colored vegetable,
actually tastes better a couple of days after cooking, the difference in taste noticeable.
Restaurants serving Javanese food give a fork and spoon, but
many Javanese people prefer to use hands. In my opinion many westerners would
appreciate Javanese food, as it is not overly spicy, interesting, colorful and
complex.
• Bubur – The Breakfast Delight:
Go into any restaurant or warung in Indonesia, pick up the
menu and you are guaranteed to see bubur on the list. Bubur ayam or chicken
porridge are early morning favourites with many Indonesians.
• A Food called Maize: Indonesia:
One of the greatest delights is to get a corn cob or jagung
that is toasted over hot coals, put on some salt and coarse pepper, and then
make a pig out of yourself devouring it. One will often see grilled corn
vendors at the beach, especially on Sunday afternoons, a time popular with
Balinese families.
• Vegetarian Tucker in Indonesia:
Vegetarian food in Indonesia is not that hard to find, Asian
food in general not having the preoccupation with a big chunk of meat like some
European cuisines.
• Eating in a Warung:
One of the many aspects that makes Bali a sensational place
to visit is the availability of cheap and tasty food. The most common type of
eating establishment in Bali is the warung, the small local cafe type places
that traditionally serve local food, but have adapted to accommodate foreign
palletes.
• The Pisang Goreng Delight:
Fried bananas or pisang goreng, are one of the tastiest
delicacies to devour for a quick snack between meals. Even better, add a couple
scoops of ice-cream and it is the yummiest!.
• Guide to tropical fruits in Bali:
Visitors to Bali are often unaware of the delights that
await at the local fruit market. Odd looking fruits and strange names can put
people off being as adventurous as they might like to be so here is a quick guide
to some tropical fruits found in Bali.
• True local: The Bali pomelo
Let us enjoy a citrus fruit of true Indonesian origin. It is
a rather large fruit sometimes nearly as big as a football. Its name is jeruk
Bali or Bali pomelo.
Posted in: Cuisine
