Babi Guling

Babi Guling, or pig roasted on a spit is a favourite and you will often find roadside restaurants that specialize in this dish, particularly on the road to Gianyar. The roasted meat is usually served with rice and boiled jackfruit and the locals will also enjoy cooked pig blood and sausage made from pig intestines.
Spices are essential to the Balinese cooking and eating experience and there is a standard spice paste used in many dishes known as 'Basa Genep'. It commonly includes chili, garlic, small red onions, ginger, lime, turmeric, coriander, lesser galangal, laos, tamarind, candlenuts, coarse sea salt, pepper and sugar. On the sweet side, dessert snacks such as brightly colored sticky rice cakes, coconut milk mixes and pancakes all have more than their fair share of sugar thrown in.

Babi Guling recipe
Ingredients:
- 1 suckling pig, weighing about 6-8kg 
- 1½ tbsp salt 
- 200 shallots, peeled and sliced 
- 100 gr cloves garlic, peeled and sliced 
- 50 gr ginger, peeled & chopped 
- 300 gr candlenuts, chopped 
- 350 gr fresh turmeric, peeled &chopped 
- 3 tbsp coriander seeds, crushed 
- 80 gr laos, finely chopped 
- 120 gr bird's-eye chilies, sliced 
- 10 stalks lemon grass, finely sliced 
- 1 tbsp black peppercorns, crushed 
- 1 tsp dried shrimp paste, roasted 
- 5 fragrant lime leaves, finely shredded 
- 2 salam leaves 
- 2½ tbsp oil 
- 4 tbsp turmeric water

Directions:
PREPARATION: 
Ensure inside of suckling pig is completely cleaned out. Season inside and outside with salt. Combine all other ingredients, except turmeric water, and mix thoroughly. Fill inside of suckling with mixture, close belly with string or thin satay skewer. Rub the outside of the pig with turmeric water until the skin is shiny yellow.

Place suckling pig on roasting rack and roast in hot oven (220°C / 425°F) for approximately 1 hour. Rest for 10 minutes in warm place before serving. When serving, first remove the crisp skin with a strong carving knife, then loosen meat from the bones and cut into even dice or slices. Place a heaped tablespoon of stuffing on each serving plate, and then top with meat and skin. Traditionally this dish is eaten with Jukut Nangka Mekuah and steamed rice.

Helpful hint: If you have a large barbeque with rotisserie or constantly turning spit, you can cook the pig over charcoal for an authentic Balinese flavor.

Chicken / Duck Betutu

A part from exotic sights and sounds, Bali offers the pleasure of taste with a medley of food that is simply astonishing in variety.
The influence of different cultures has resulted in different cooking techniques, ingredients and spices.
Characterized by strong flavor, the cuisine is usually very spicy, quite salty and/or sweet with creative preparations and multifarious cooking style.
The staple food in Bali is white, polished rice, which provides the perfect base for many Balinese dishes. Large pots of rice are cooked first thing in the morning and gradually consumed by all members of the extended family for each of the three meals throughout the day.
Meats used in Balinese cooking are pork, chicken, duck and fish. Babi Guling, or pig roasted on a spit is a favourite and you will often find roadside resturants which specialize in the dish.
Chicken is commonly fried or served with a spicy sauce, but duck is more of a Balinese specialty. “Betutu bebek” is particularly popular, a dish made from stuffed duck cooked in hot ashes or steamed in banana leaves. Fish is also often wrapped in banana leaves with spice mix and char grilled over smoky coconut husks a la Jimbaran beach cafe style.
Spice are integral to the Balinese cooking and eating experience, and there is a standard spice used in many dishes known as “Basa Genep”. It commonly includes chillis, garlic, small red onions, ginger, lime, turmeric, coriander, lesser galangal, laos, tamarind, candlenuts, coarse sea salt, pepper and sugar. On the sweet side, desert snacks, such as brightly colored sticky rice cakes, coconut milk mixes, and pancakes all have more than their fair share of sugar thrown in.
Here’s Chicken / Duck Betutu Recipe:
Ingredients :
- 5 tablespoons Oil
- 100 g Young cassava leaves, boiled until tender, cut into serving pieces
- 1.5 kg Chicken / Duck
- Banana leaves or aluminum foil for wrapping Spices (ground)
- 7 Red chilies
- 5 Bird’s eye chilies
- 5 Candlenuts, roasted
- 10 Shallots
- 1 teaspoon Dried shrimp paste
- 5 cloves Garlic
- 1 tablespoon Coriander, roasted
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Sliced lemon grass
- 2 teaspoons Peppercorns
- tablespoon Chopped galangal
- 1/2 teaspoon Powdered nutmeg
- 2 teaspoons Chopped turmeric
- 4 Kaffir lime leaves
- 2 teaspoons Chopped ginger
- 2 teaspoons Chopped lesser galangal
- Salt and sugar

Instructions :

Heat oil and sauté the ground spices until fragrant and dry.Set aside and allow to cool.
Divide into 2 parts.Combine 1 part with cassava leaves.Stuff the mixture into the chicken and secure with toothpicks.
Rub the chicken with the remaining ground spices.Wrap the chicken with banana leaves and tie with a string.
Grill in the oven at medium heat (180oC) for 2-3 hours or until cooked.Remove from heat and cut before serving.
Note : Another way to cook the chicken is to steam it for about 45 minutes before grilling in the oven for 1 hour.
Betutu is a special dish from Bali. Usually the Balinese use duck wrapped in banana leaves, and wrapped again with stalks of palm leaves.
The duck is then buried in the ground and covered with hot charcoal for 6-7 hours until cooked.