Balinese cuisine commonly consists of rice, meat or fish, vegetables, and spices. Since the island is mostly Hindu, beef is never or rarely consumed. The people of Bali enjoy a cuisine that demonstrates indigenous traditions such as offering pork, duck, and turtle meat in specific religious rituals. Balinese restaurants, including small, family-owned establishments called warungs, specialize in particular foods like crispy duck or mixed rice. Many dishes include the Balinese 8-spice, consisting of white pepper, black pepper, cumin, nutmeg, and more.
Needing some recommendations of foods you should try while visiting Bali…look no further!
Foods To Try
Sate (Satay) Varieties
Sate lilit is the favorite street food on Bali. This traditional delicacy is usually made with minced meat which is wrapped around a flat skewer. All meat varieties (and sometimes even fish) are used to prepare sate lilit. However, the most common variety is prepared with pork.
Nasi Jinggo
Nasi jinggo (also known as nasi jenggo) is a Balinese ready-to-eat street food, packaged in small portions of banana leaves. Apart from being eaten as street food, nasi jinggo is also used in various religious ceremonies such as the Ngaben funeral rites, birthday celebrations, and meetings.
Pisang Rai
Coconut Banana (Pisang Rai) is one of traditional Balinese heritage snack, it is made from banana which usually be eaten as a breakfast (a traditional breakfast) along with tea/coffee, on the other hand, its also perfect snack for your afternoon tea/coffee.
Nasi Tepeng
The Spicy Nasi Tepeng is made from rice mixed with several herbs. Such as cayenne pepper, red chili, garlic, onion, pepper, salt, and a little sugar. So that it produces spicy taste. Well, these spices are then mashed and then mixed with rice that has a texture like porridge.
Laklak
A plate of laklak, popular in Bali. Laklak is Balinese traditional little pancake with grated coconut and melted palm sugar. This food is made of rice flour, water, coconut milk, suji leaf extract, baking powder, salt, grated coconut, and brown sugar.
Rujak Bulung and Rujak Kuah Pindang
Rujak bulung is Bali authentic cuisine, used only 2 main ingredients, bulung (seaweed) and fish broth. Fresh seaweed cooked in boiling water, served in a plate with spicy kuah pindang and shredded coconut springkled over the dish. Kuah pindang is where all the flavors come from, easy to make and delicious.
Bakso
Bakso or baso is an Indonesian meatball, or a meat paste made from beef surimi. Its texture is similar to the Chinese beef ball, fish ball, or pork ball. The word bakso may refer to a single meatball or the complete dish of meatball soup.
Terang Bulan
Terang Bulan, sometimes known as Martabak Manis (Sweet Martabak). It is a thick pancake style desert cooked in a deep dish, often topped with various combinations of sugar, sweetened condensed milk, chocolate, peanut butter, cheese, and or butter. To learn some Indonesian words related to food and cooking see here.
Babi Guling
Babi guling, or suckling pig, is one of Bali's most famed dishes. The pig is stuffed and infused with a spicy concoction typically involving turmeric, coriander seeds, lemongrass, black pepper and garlic, and traditionally spit-roasted.
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Bali