Friday, May 01, 2009

Balinese delights

You didn't think I was going to let this holiday pass without blogging about food, did you? Not a chance! I've tried quite a few mouth-watering delights starting with papaya juice for breakfast, which has been a "moving" experience :-P



My favourite Balinese dish so far has got to be babi guling or roast suckling pig. And not just any babi guling, it has to be Ibu Oka's. This world famous retaurant is located in Ubud and serves the yummiest porker ever! Never mind that we're in the middle of a swine flu pandemic, this dish is worth it. The meat is so juicy, it almost melts in your mouth. And when it's covered with a spicy bumbu (sauce) served over hot rice with some lawan (vegetable & coconut salad) and crackling on the side....sigh....enough said.






Ikan pepes is a delightful Balinese dish made by baking fresh local fish with pepes(spices) wrapped in banana leaf. When I had it for lunch last Tuesday at Pondok Minah, it was served with kangkong (local watercress) in a spicy peanut sauce over hot rice. Simple fare that's unbelievably tasty!








This is a bottle of Arak Bali that I won at a lucky draw on Sunday night. It's a locally-made rice wine with 36% alcohol content. After having 2 shots neat, I came pretty close to passing out. Still, it helped me make a few friends at the resort when I shared it around :-)

It tastes quite similar to Japanese sake or Korean soju except for one thing - this one burns!

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