foodbuzz 24 x 24 : a balinese feast

Balinese spices

A few months ago, my husband and I went to Bali, Indonesia for our honeymoon. One thing about GT and me is that we are foodies. And what do foodies do in a new country? We eat the local food and that is exactly what we did in Bali. Dining in Bali is really quite a highlight with an array of international cuisines. But after eating Italian to Japanese, we found Balinese food to be our favorite. It is quite an extraordinary cuisine.

So, while we were there, we found that there were a few restaurants that offered Balinese cooking classes. With an extra morning to spare, we booked one of these classes. For this month's Foodbuzz 24 x 24, I wanted to remake some of the recipes we made at our cooking class at Sate Bali (jln. laksmana 22A, kerobokan, bali).

gado gado : assorted vegetables with peanut sauce

ingredients

• 200 gr green beans, blanched
• 200 gr bean sprouts, blanched
• 200 gr white cabbage, shredded
• 200 gr spinach, blanched
• 200 gr bumbu kacang, recipe to follow

directions

1. mix all ingredients and season to taste

bubmu kacang
ingredients

• 35 gr garlic
• 25 gr cardamon
• 10 gr red chili
• 120 gr palm sugar
• 15 gr fried shallots
• 500 gr fried peanuts
• lime juice from 1 lime
• 1.5 liter water

directions

1. grind all ingredients except water in a food processor
2. place mixture in a heavy saucepan, add water and reduce to thick consistency over low heat
3. let cool and ready to use

 sambal tomat: tomato sambal

ingredients

• 4 tbsp oil
• 15 shallots, peeled and sliced
• 10 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
• 4 large red chilies, sliced
• 2 medium sized tomatoes, cut into 6 wedges
• 2 tsp roasted dried shrimp paste
• 2 tsp fresh kaffir lime juice

directions

1. heat oil in a pan. add shallots and garlic, saute for 5 minutes over low heat. add chilies and saute for 5 more minutes, then add tomatoes and shrimp paste and simmer for 10 more minutes.
2. add kaffir lime juice. put all the ingredients in a food processor and pure coarsely. season to taste with salt. 
3. cool before using.

This sambal can be frozen. This is an ideal accompaniment to grilled fish or for making nasi goreng (fried rice) or mie goreng (fried noodles).

be celeng base manis: pork in sweet soya sauce

ingredients

• 2 tbsp oil
• 3 shallots, peeled and sliced
• 5 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced
• 1-1/2 lb boneless pork should, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
• 3 inch ginger, peeled and sliced
• 4 tbsp sweet soya sauce
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp black peppercorn, crushed
• 2 cup chicken stock
• 6-10 bird's eye chilies, left whole

directions

1. heat oil in a saucepan, add shallots and garlic, saute for 2 minutes over medium heat. add pork and ginger and continue to saute for 2 more minutes over high heat. add broth lots of soya sauce and black pepper, and continue to saute for 1 minute.
2. pour in chicken stock and simmer over medium heat for approximately 1 hour. when cooked, there should be very little sauce left and the meat should be shiny and dark brown, if the meat becomes too dry when cooking, simply add a little more chicken stock.

pepes ikan: steam marinated fish

ingredients

• 1-1/2 lb tilapia, skin removed and cut into 1 inch cubes
• 1/3 cup basic seafood marinade
• 1 tbsp tamarind juice
• 1 tsp black peppercorns, crushed
• 1-1/2 tsp salt
• 5 salam leaves
• 3 tbsp oil

directions

1. in a deep bowl combine fish, basic marinade, tamarind juice, black pepper, leaves, salt, and oil, mix very well to coat fish evenly. cover and marinate for 2 hours or overnight.
2. place fish and marinade on foil and fold over to make a poach.
3. bake in a 350 degree F oven until done, about 30 minutes.

serve with sambal tomat and lime.
base be pasih: basic seafood marinade
ingredients

• 5 red chilis
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 3 shallots, peeled and sliced
• 4 inch ginger, peeled and sliced
• 1 tsp turmeric
• 1 medium sized tomato, diced
• 1 tbsp coriander seeds
• 10 candlenuts or macadamia nuts
• 1 tsp dried shrimp paste
• 4 tbsp oil
• 2 salam leaves
• 2 lemon grass, bruised
• 2 tbsp tamarind pulp

directions

1. process all the ingredients except oil, tamarind pulp, salam leaf and lemongrass until coarsely ground. 
2. heat oil, add ingredients except tamarind. stir frequently over moderate heat for about 5 minutes until fragrant and golden color. 
3. finish with tamarind pulp and let cool.

nasi gorend: fried rice

ingredients

• 300 gr steamed rice
• oil
• 50 gr chicken, chopped
• 50 gr shrimp, peeled 
• 1 egg
• 60 gr cabbage, shredded
• 15 gr leek, shredded
• 20 gr sambel ulek
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp sweet soya sauce

directions

1. saute chicken and shrimp.
2. add garlic and egg. add cabbage and leek, cook until withered.
3. add steamed rice and other ingredients. 
4. taste then serve on plate and garnish with fried shallot on top. 
5. taste the serve on the plate and garnish with fried shallot on top, fried egg, and chicken sate.
6. ready to serve with condiments in a separate bowl. 

Luckily, I was able to find most of the ingredients at a local asian grocery store, oriental food market (2557 madison avenue, montgomery, al)

This post is part of Foodbuzz’s 24×24 for the month of June which features 24 meals in 24 hours in 24 blog posts.