Payuk Bali Cooking Class (Part 2: 4 more recipes included)

Continuing from my first Payuk Bali Cooking Class post, here is the second part.

In part one, I mentioned about visiting the local market and rice fields before arriving at our final stop, Payuk Bali Cooking Class, as part of the package.

I also shared 4 recipes; one of which is the Balinese Multipurpose Spice Base –an important component in most of the recipes shared in my post.

As Payuk Bali Cooking Class is held in a traditional family residence, we had the opportunity of interacting with locals staying there.

Language was the main barrier to communication –most of them do not understand or speak English. Our communication with each other is conveyed through body language and genuine smiles.

We stepped into a little hut, where a lady of mild temperament dwells in during the day.

She spends her days roasting coffee beans and extracting coconut oil from fresh coconuts.

Soft-spoken in nature, she barely exchanged more than a few sentences with our guide, Agung, who speaks their native language.

After roasting the coffee beans, she pours them into a huge granite mortar and grinds them with a long wooden pestle manually.

She then scoops up the finely ground coffee beans into a sieve basket.

Ground coffee is passed through the sieve to remove unwanted remnants and impurities.

Here you have it. Freshly ground coffee bean in powder form.

This girl is trying her hand at roasting coffee beans. The heat is pretty intense.

The use of coconut oil is prevalent in many Balinese recipes.

We witnessed how coconut oil is extracted from the kernel of matured coconuts. This is undoubtedly organic extra virgin pure unrefined coconut oil.

Moving on to the recipes… I stopped at the fourth recipe in my previous post.

Recipe 5: Fish Skewer (Sate Lilit)

Ingredients:

- 100g minced fish fillet
- 1tbs Balinese Spice Base (Base Gede) Click here for recipe
- 2 tbs coconut milk
- 2 tbs chicken egg beaten
- ½ tbs lime juice
- ½ tbs finely sliced lime leaf
- 1 tbs palm sugar
- 1 tbs fried shallot
- 8 pcs bamboo stick

Method:

1) Mix and knead all ingredients together. Fish is pound into a paste-like texture.

2) Season with salt and black pepper.
3) Wrap mixture around the end of bamboo stick.

4) Place skewers on a hot grill.

You can substitute fish with chicken, duck, pork or even beef.

Recommended fish are snapper, mackerel and tuna.

Recipe 6: Grilled Fish in Banana Leaf (Psean Be Pasih/Pepes Ikan)

This is the Balinese version of a popular Javanese dish, Ikan Pepes. If banana leaves are not available, you can use greased aluminium foil in its place.

Ingredients:

- 500g tuna fish
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup Balinese Spice Base (Base Gede) Click here for recipe
- 4 Salam leaves (bay leaves)
- 1 tomato, sliced
- 4 banana leaves, cut into squares (15cm on each side.)

Method:

1) Season fish with salt and cover evenly with the Balinese Spice Base.
2) Place fish in centre of banana leaves, together with salam leaf and sliced tomato.
3) Fold banana leaves around fillets in shape of a small parcel, and fasten with toothpicks.
4) Steam parcels for 7 minutes, then place on charcoal cooker or under a grill and cook for 5 minutes until banana leaves are evenly browned.

Recipe 7: Balinese Fried Chicken (Ayam Bumbu Bali)

Ingredients:

- 1kg chicken
- 1 tbs limejuice
- 50g Balinese Spice Base (Base Gede)
- 2 pcs tomato wedges
- 25ml coconut milk
- Oil
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 3 pcs lime leaf
- 2 pcs bay leaf
- 1 pcs smashed lemongrass

Method:

1) Cut chicken into bite-size cubes or to your own preference.
2) Marinate with limejuice, salt and pepper.
3) Heat oil in pan and fry chicken till golden brown.
4) Remove from heat and put aside.
5) Heat Balinese Spice Base in a new pan.
6) Add coconut milk and fresh tomato.
7) Bring to boil before adding chicken, bay leaf, lemongrass and lime leaf.
8) Cook with a slow fire until liquid reduces. Chicken should turn out a dark yellow-red colour.
9) Serve hot with steamed rice, cracker or pickle.

Recipe 8: Braised banana saba in palm sugar gravy (Kolak Pisang)

Ingredients:

- 100g banana saba or your preferred type of banana
- 50g palm sugar
- Water
- Pandan leaf (tied into a knot)
- Coconut milk
- Salt
- Corn flour

Method:

1) Slice banana. (Not too thinly)
2) Heat palm sugar and water in pan until dissolved.
3) Add banana, pandan leaf, coconut milk and salt.
4) Bring to boil until banana is soft.
5) Add a little corn flour that is premixed with water. (It shouldn’t be too thick)

This dessert can be served hot or cold, and makes for a great afternoon snack.

Our famished stomachs couldn’t help rumbling to the wafting aroma in the kitchen –the sky was dark by the time we finished cooking.

This was where we enjoyed the dinner that we cooked from scratch. Picture was taken before we started cooking.

I hope you find these recipes helpful, as it is for me. What an amazing journey in Bali, Ubud.

Payuk Bali Cooking School
www.payukbali.com
Email:
Tel: +62 81246368226 (hp) +62 361 8987854 (office)
Facebook:

Here’s a sneak peek of what my next Bali post would encompass.

Check out my previous Bali posts here:
Bali, Ubud; a heartwarming experience; an unplanned adventure
Petanu River Villa
Payuk Bali Cooking Class (Part 1: 4 recipes included)