Passing by local cafes, which are called warungs here, you can notice many unfamiliar names. Nasi goreng, babi guling, gado-gado... At first it is not clear, but since time you can figure out what does it mean and which local dishes do you like.
Let's start with the most popular on the island.
Nasi goreng
Nasi is rice, and goreng means fried. There are many varieties of nasi goreng. The basis is boiled rice, which is then fried with vegetables, tofu, seafood or meat and seasoned with spices. It is usually served with a fried egg and corn chips called krupuk. Traditionally, the dish is served with sambal hot sauce made from chili peppers.
My favorite one is with seafood. Very satisfying and tasty.
Mi goreng
For those who are indifferent to rice, there is an alternative dish with instant noodles – mi goreng. The same vegetables, chicken, soy or seafood, fried egg and chips. Noodles taste classic and is very popular here. In stores on the shelves you can find up to 20 types of different instant noodles. It's definitely worth to try once.
Reading the name of the dish, you can determine with what it is served: mi ayam – with chicken, mi bakso – with meatballs, mi udang – with shrimp.
Gado-gado
From Indonesian, gado-gado literally translates like “ different stuff”. This is what the composition of this famous salad looks like. It includes various boiled vegetables, eggs, tempeh or tofu. All ingredients are cut into large pieces and seasoned with peanut sauce with pieces of nuts.
Sate
These are mini-kebabs that are cooked everywhere in Bali. They can be chicken, meat or seafood. The meat is cut into small pieces and strung on wooden skewers, then fried and served on a banana leaf with peanut sauce or sambal.
Baby Guling
This dish does not belong to the national Indonesian cuisine, since the main ingredient is babi - pork, and many residents of the country profess Islam. But the Balinese, who have their own religion, are happy to eat this suckling pig baked on a spit. The cooking of babi guling takes a lot of time and is rather difficult: the whole pig is stuffed with a paste of spices and sauces, and then it is fried on a spit constantly rotating and smearing with broth or coconut oil to make a crispy crust. But meat is searved already sliced, and absolutely all parts of the pig are used, even the ears. The meat is very spicy and aromatic.
You should try babi guling in warungs, which specialize in this dish. You can find them by a sign with the name Babi Guling and a painted pig on a spit. They can often be found on the main roads of resort regions.
Tempe
In stores and shops, you can often find white rectangles wrapped in cling film called tempeh. These are fermented soybeans. They are first boiled until half cooked, then spread in a thin layer and mixed with fermenting mushrooms. In this form, tempeh should lie down for about a day, and then it is packaged in a film and sold as an additional source of protein. You can eat it raw, but it will not be very tasty. Balinese tempeh is fried with spices and sauces, cut into pieces and served as a separate dish or as an addition to salads and side dishes. It can be very tasty!
Pisang Goreng
This is a local sweet dessert. The word goreng is already familiar to you, and pisang is translated as banana. The dish is prepared like this: bananas are cut into strips, rolled in special mixtures of flour, coconut milk and vanilla extract and then deep-fried. Sometimes they are poured with honey or sweet sauces. In stores, you can find special kits for making pisang goreng at home. Be sure to try it, fried bananas are incredibly delicious!
Of course, there are many other local dishes worth trying, but I decided to mention only those that I tried and recommend myself. And, of course, do not forget to choose warungs carefully, prefer those where many locals are in, this will save you from food poisoning, which, unfortunately, happens here.
