BALI - TRADITIONAL FOOD (1)

Lately, I was tickled to write about Balinese Traditional Food.

Balinese Traditional Food has its own character which able 'hypnotizing' their devotees. If you have Balinese friends who have been away from Bali for sometimes or have been settled foreigners somewhere else, you may ask them, whenever they return or happen to have a chance visiting Bali, I bet first thing appears at a very first glance on their mind is Balinese Traditional Food........, Babi Guling (suckling pig), nasi campur (rice with various kind of meats, egg & vegetables), jaje bali (balinese style cakes) and many more.

Few days ago I had a chance to have my lunch at Pesinggahan that well known of its fish dishes.

Pesinggahan is a small village located at the eastern part of Bali. Very close to the famous Tourism Object - Gua Lawah (Balinese Temple located in front of a big bat cave). The fish that they use as the main ingredients is Tuna Fish; caught by local fishermen which guarantee the freshness of the fish used. I never had any experience got not fresh fish during my time having my meals there. If you are sensitive you can feel a bit itchy on your tongue when having a fresh fish which already not fresh.

Mainly there are 3 types of main dishes served there.
First is the Fish Soup. They will serve this automatically accompanied with a plate of rice as soon as you take your seat and order your drinks. The soup consists of several pieces of fish in a clear broth but if you stir it, the sediment off all spices that set at the bottom of the bowl will mix and make the broth not clean anymore. A pinch of fried onion spread on top of the soup give a nice blended smell between the soup and the fried onion itself.

Then they will serve the second and third main dishes,
Sate Lilit Languan and Pepes Ikan Tuna (Roasted tuna fish wrapped with banana leaves).


Sate Lilit Languan or Tuna Fish Satay, is satay that is sticked on a young bamboo skewer - bigger than normal satay skewer, seasoned with traditional Balinese all spices seasoning and baked.








The Pepes Ikan Tuna tastes a bit hot for me. But it is really delicious. The smell of the burnt banana leaves covered the tuna fish gave an additional sensational smell to the fish.

But I should remind you, these dishes only taste good when you eat it while it is still hot. Otherwise, it won't be as good as it should be.



As accompaniment they will also serve a plate of fried nuts and steamed water spinach mixed with hot chilly sauce. And the most important accompaniment is the SAMBAL MATAH, a sauce is a combination of onion which is sliced thinly, hot chilly - also sliced thinly, baked fermented fish (smell really strong!), coconut oil, salt and a squeeze of fresh citrus lime.

Next time if you have a chance driving to eastern part of Bali, do not forget to try this traditional food. Actually along Kusamba village up to Pesinggahan village you will find many stalls selling Sate Lilit Ikan, Pepes Ikan and Soup Fish, but the most famous is the one that I cover at the beginning.