How to discover different food in Bali

As wonderful as Bali is as an island for exploration and holidaying, Bali is also an amazing place to discover wonderful flavours! This is indeed good news for the foodies, isn’t it? Experience the culture of Bali with your fork and spoon and of course what’s on the plate. Here’s how to explore flavours that are authentically Balinese, flavours influenced by Indonesia and other parts of Asia as well. A rollercoaster ride awaits!

The Balinese cooking culture

Take one bite and you are in heaven, yes, this is the result of some painstaking cooking! As the locals have it, the women do the cooking just once a day and prepare enough food for the entire day. Roasting coconut and even making some coconut oil for cooking are part of the daily process. the food that has been prepared is then kept on the table covered with a piece of paper or in a glass cabinet for the members of the family to serve and eat at whatever time they want.

Cooking is delicious not only at the fancy hotels like Hotel Indigo Bali Seminyak Beach, but the little kiosks in the villages too which the locals call warungsalso offer customers some amazing food made from scratch. Suppose that’s what makes it all the more taste bud popping!

The spell of six flavours

Shove that food into your mouth and prepare to face the explosion of flavours that follow…roll the food in your mouth and you’ll be able to identify six main flavours that were concocted in there just to give your senses that extra bit of excitement. A bit of sweet, spicy,sour, bitter, saltyand astringent are combined in the most delightful ways to bring to life the dish sitting right in front of you. The reason all these flavours are included in almost every dish is that it promotes health and vitality throughout the day, not to mention, a thrill for the tongues as well!

The taste of chilli, ginger and garlic are very prominent in every dish to enhance the flavours and aftertaste of the food. Ingredients and a few flavours also came from various colonies that once ruled Bali. Cassava from the Dutch, bok choy and snake bean from the Chinese and chilli from the Portuguese are a few of the ingredients the locals managed to take from the foreigners and inculcate into the local way of cooking. Interesting isn’t it?

The worshipped ingredient

If you are wondering what this is all about, well in most Asian countries, rice is considered a sacred ingredient that keeps the locals alive. It is also an ingredient that can go well with any side dish. The rice bowl is the largest one for each person of the family. You’ll see that rice is always generously served when dining here. The grains of rice become light and fluffy when boiled but make for a heavy meal that’s enough to keep you refuelled twice as much as other foods do. Because of this nature of the ingredient, rice goes great with several other side dishes that complete the meal. This is called nasi campur at the local shops.

Off to the market for the freshest makes

If you want the best local experience there is to have with food and dining, then hitting the market is an absolute must when in Bali. But you’ll have to get there as early as possible as the freshest items are out only from 6 am to 7am. Get any later and the food will begin to spoil in the tropical heat. Warungs here sell a lovely coconut drink called es cendol, nasi campur and bubur which is rice porridge. Some of the best villas in Seminyak are located close to such markets making them easily accessible too.