What to eat Bali? culinary specialties and gastronomy

Cornerstone of the daily life of the Balinese as well as Indonesians in general, rice is omnipresent. The island has spectacular terraced rice fields and centuries-old irrigation systems (subak). But the volcanic ash also makes the Balinese soil very fertile for a host of vegetables: tomatoes, sweet potatoes, spinach, pumpkin, green beans, soybeans, cucumbers, bok choy cabbage, etc.

Bali is unique in Indonesia because here beef - very common in the rest of the country - is almost non-existent on this predominantly Hindu island, while pork - very rare elsewhere in Indonesia - is widely consumed. Chicken - very popular - and duck complete the picture. Fish, shrimp and squid are also very popular. Vegetarians and vegans will enjoy tempeh, a type of soybean bread fermented with yeast, resulting in a product resembling nougat but with a mushroom and nutty taste. Tofu is also common.

Balinese cuisine makes extremely generous use of all kinds of spices and for the uninformed palate it can sometimes seem a bit too spicy. There are dozens of different spices, many of which are native to Indonesia such as cloves and nutmeg. Bumbu or basa gede is a fresh spice paste used in countless Balinese dishes. It consists of garlic, chili, shallot, nutmeg, ginger, turmeric, palm sugar, cumin and shrimp paste, but can contain many other ingredients.

Other condiments include clear soy sauce, kecap manis (a thick caramelized soy sauce), terasi (shrimp paste) and sambal which are sauces or relishes with chili as a common ingredient. We find the sambal kecap (soy sauce, chili, shallot), the sambal matah (minced chili, garlic, lemongrass) and the sambal embe (caramelized shallot and chili).

If Balinese cuisine can be tasted in all types of restaurants, the warung is the place to discover for lovers of authenticity. A few tables, benches bounded by hanging canvases, planks or bamboo, the food here is often much better than in the chic restaurants for tourists. The warung is the meeting point of the locals, we eat, we discuss, we drink coffee, in short it is an inimitable social place at very low cost. Otherwise, you can enjoy the street vendors - kaki lima - who offer a lot of tasty snacks. For a little more comfort however, the rumah makan are warungs built in hard in the form of large canteens.

Of course, in Bali you will find the great classics of the national cuisine, such as the unmistakable nasi goreng- the Indonesian national dish - rice sautéed in kecap manis with shrimp, chicken, fried egg and vegetables, or the mie goreng, where rice is replaced by wheat noodles. Satays are small skewers of meat (beef, chicken, lamb, pork, etc.) served with a creamy peanut sauce (bumbu kacang). Many dishes are accompanied by nasi lemak or coconut milk infused rice.

Among the most popular meat dishes in Bali, bebek betutu is often reserved for special occasions. This duck filled with spice paste (bumbu) and wrapped in banana leaves requires a very long cooking time. Otherwise, another festive dish, babi guling is a spit-roasted suckling pig stuffed with chilies, garlic and ginger. The igababi is a recipe of pork ribs lacquered with chilli and kecap manis while the soto babi is a finely spiced pork soup. Finallyurutan is a pork sausage.

Otherwise try the sate lilit made of minced meat (pork, chicken, fish) spiced and pressed around a stick of lemongrass more roasted. Bakso is a type of beef dumpling that is often grilled or served with noodles in a broth. On the sea side, there are many fish, shellfish and mollusks that are simply grilled. As for the mujair nyat-nyat, it is a freshwater fish - tilapia - garnished with a spice paste (bumbu). There is also telur balado, hard-boiled eggs in a spicy sauce.

A complete dish, nasi campur is a rice cone served with satay, tempeh, beef cubes, vegetable curry and puffed shrimp chips(kropok). Alternatively, nasi jinggo is a portion of rice wrapped in banana leaves with various side dishes (fried chicken, noodles, etc.). On the vegetable side, try jukut urab, a mixture of vegetables sautéed with grated coconut or lawar which is very similar but with a little bit of minced meat. Finally the tipat cantok is a salad served with a peanut sauce containing tipat (steamed rice balls) and various vegetables.

Balinese desserts - like those of Southeast Asia - are relatively simple, with the recurring ingredients being rice, coconut and palm sugar. Let's mention the laklak, a small pancake with grated coconut and melted palm sugar, often colored in green. Bubur sumsum is a rice porridge with palm sugar sauce and grated coconut while bubur injin is a black sticky rice porridge with the same filling. Bantal (Indonesian for cushion) are packets of sticky rice, coconut, sugar and fruit (often bananas) wrapped in palm leaves. Sumpings are types of rice flour cakes wrapped in banana leaves and steamed. They can contain pumpkin (sumping waluh) or banana (sumping biu).

But there is also an incredible amount of tasty tropical fruits. Of course there are the inevitable mangoes, bananas, pineapples or papayas. But other rarer species are worth a visit. Like the rambutan (a kind of hairy lychee), the mangosteen (a purple fruit with a thick skin that hides a sweet and delicate white pulp) and the salak or snake fruit (a brown fruit with a scaly skin that contains a white flesh with a slight pineapple taste, often preserved in syrup).

We cannot forget the jackfruit - a huge fruit with a green and bumpy skin - whose dense and fibrous flesh is very appreciated as a substitute for meat in curries. But of course it is impossible not to mention the durian. This enormous fruit resembling a medieval mass covered with prickles contains a creamy yellow flesh. Its overwhelming smell, halfway between a rotting onion and dirty socks, has made it forbidden in airplanes or hotel rooms! Its taste is apparently milder, even delicious and incomparable according to the locals. To be tested then.

In Indonesia, we find the most expensive coffee in the world, the kopi luwak whose name comes from the luwak, a small mammal close to the European genet. This animal is indeed fond of coffee berries. Its digestive enzymes do not attack the seeds which are then recovered in the excrements of the luwak, cleaned and roasted. This pre-digestion would give the coffee an inimitable taste. A rarity that has a cost: between 200 and 1000 €/kg or 50 € per cup of coffee!

However, beware, not only are there many counterfeit coffees, but this process has led to a much less glorious drift: the luwaks are often locked in tiny cages and stuffed with coffee berries to produce the famous kopi luwak faster. Be sure to ask beforehand. You will also find Indonesian tea (teh), usually jasmine flavored and smoked. We appreciate the teh panas manis (sweetened hot tea), the teh panas tampa gula (unsweetened), the teh jeruk panas (orange hot tea), the teh jeruk nipis panas (lemon hot tea), the teh jahe (ginger tea), etc.

There are also many fruit juices. Try for example es jeruk, a kind of orangeade with calamansi, a citrus fruit halfway between a lime and a tangerine, incredibly fragrant. Otherwise, the es buah is a fluorescently colored mixture, made of condensed milk, various syrups, grated coconut, jelly cubes, and crushed ice. You either love it or you hate it.

Although mostly Muslim, Indonesia has kept from the Dutch colonial presence a certain know-how concerning the brewing of beer (bir) with notably the creation of the first brewery of the country, founded by Heineken in 1929. There are several varieties of lager in the country, the best known being Bintang, Anker and Bali Hai which, despite its name, is brewed in Java. The only craft beer made in Bali, in the north of the island, near Lovina, is Storm (the brewer is German). Although difficult to find, it is excellent.

If historically there is no viticulture in Bali, since the late 1990s some winemakers have tried the experiment. Thus, Hatten rosé wine is produced in Sanur, in the southeast of the island, but whose grapes come from the north of Bali, near Singaraja. Without being a great vintage, it is very pleasant, light and acidulous. It is also much less expensive than wines imported from Europe or Australia.

Those who are not too shy can try arak, a strong alcohol (35-50°) made from rice or palm wine fermented and distilled, which is mixed with honey (arak maduh) and lemon or even soda. In remote villages, you may be offered a home-made distilled one as a welcome gift, and in the island's resorts, it is the basis of many cocktails. Not to be confused with Lebanese arak, a grape brandy flavored with anise. Finally, brem is a sticky rice wine (5-14°). Quite sweet, it can be drunk chilled with meals.