Balinese Cooking

If you remember, we ate locally cooked Balinese food with a friend of our tour guide in Bali. The next day, I returned to Wayan's house for her to teach me some secrets.  

Gado-Gado (Vegetables in Peanut Sauce)
 

 











 Ingredients:

2 handfuls green beans, chopped into 2 cm sections
1 cup soy sprouts
3/4 c. peanuts
1 small chili
pinch of sugar
pinch of salt
1 clove garlic
2 T sweet soya sauce (basically a soy sauce reduction)
lemongrass
water   

First, fry the peanuts for 2-5 minutes until they are lightly browned. If you have coconut oil available, it's the traditional cooking oil. Then, in a blender (or with a mortar and pestle if you prefer) blend the peanuts, the garlic, the sweet soya sauce, the sugar, salt, chili, and lemongrass. Add water as needed until it becomes a sauce rather than a paste. Finally, boil the green beans and blanch the soy sprouts and mix them into the peanut sauce. Should you wish, feel free to add other vegetables. I've found that lightly cooked carrots or zucchini works well.

Rudiah (Green Mango Salad)
 

Ingredients:

1 green (unripe) mango sliced
1/2 spicy chili
dehydrated fish sauce (or just regular fish sauce, adjust proportions, you do not want an overwhelming taste)
coconut sugar (can potentially be replaced by brown sugar mixed with coconut oil and ground coconut)

Mix together crushed chili, fish sauce, and coconut sugar. Add water if needed. Toss together with green mango until coated.

Enjoy! This is particularly good with sweet iced lemon tea.