Bali Dairy Day Four: Relaxing + Local Food.
In our house we love cooking. We are always looking for new ways to experiment with flavours. Our favourite is definitely Asian cuisine. That's why we we booked ourselves in for an afternoon cooking class. The company is Paon Bali, they also offer a morning class along with a tour of the local markets. Although seeing how the locals haggle would have been a great experience we decided to leave the morning open for a well-deserved sleep in and relaxation time.
As our accommodation lacked a pool, we wandered over to The Greenhouse. It is a close by Hotel + Bar with deck chairs by the pool. We paid 50,000 IDR about $5 Australian to use their facilities. Of course it would not be a complete relaxation without a couple of Bintang.
Note: DO NOT PUT YOUR HEAD UNDERWATER IN BALI – We learnt this the hard way. Result: Bali belly and ear infection.
After our relaxed morning we made our way to the pickup point. The Balinese cooking class started just after 4pm. It did not take long for us to learn why they had such a high rating on TripAdvisor. The staff were super friendly and accommodating. They taught us while not smothering us, leaving room for our own hands to get dirty. It was very hands-on which was great, we were able to use local produce and have a go at using traditional Balinese equipment. We definitely enjoyed the cultural culinary and are looking forward to making them at home.
We learnt how to cook 10 Balinese recipes in total: Mushroom + Vegetable Soup Basic Yellow Sauce (the heart of Balinese cooking)
Chicken in Coconut Curry Minced Chicken Barbequed on Bamboo sticks Vegetables in Peanut Sauce Coconut and Snake Bean Salad Steamed Fish in Banana Leaves Fried Tempe in Sweet Soy Sauce Boiled Banana in Palm Sugar Syrup + Coconut
You can find Paon cooking class here
Here is a sneak peak the recipes that I will surely be making at home: Find more Indonesian recipes here. Chicken in Coconut Curry. Serves 4-6 pax Ingredients: 3 chicken breasts 1 cup potatos - cubed
7 cloves of garlic - thinly sliced
3 shallots - thinly sliced
1 spring onion - thinly sliced
2 red chilies - sliced
3 tablespoon coconut cream
500ml of chicken or vegetable stock
2 tablespoon of basic yellow sauce 1 tablespoon coconut oil
2 salam leaves (or bay leaves)
5 kaffir lime leaves
salt + pepper to taste
Method: Prepare all items by cutting into designated sizes. Saute shallots, garlic, spring onion and chili in coconut oil Add basic yellow sauce and chicken, stir together
Add chicken stock and bring to boil Break the salam and kaffir lime leaves and add into the stock. Add salt and pepper to taste. Add coconut cream, reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes. The sauce should thinken as it reduces. Serve in bowl with steamed rice.
