LOBONG COOKING SCHOOL

Today we were off to Cooking School.  It promised to be an interesting day cooking traditional Balinese meal and then eating it for lunch.... or not!

We were met by our host, Made (maday) and he took us around the fresh (??) food market. He was so informative and interesting to listen to as he guided us around the market showing us all the interesting foods and the fresh spices we would be cooking with after our walk around all the vendors.  Asian and Indonesian markets are hot, crowded and often smelly places.  This was no exception.  We did not purchase anything here - the purchasing for our cooking class was done either much earlier at this market or at a similar market. Markets open at 3 in the morning and are finished by 10:00 in the morning.  You wouldn't want to be buying anything later in the morning as the heat has already taken its toll.

These are the deady chilies for me - and they put them in everything!  I did bite into a green one thinking it was a long bean.  Even the tiniest bit no bigger than a small ring of green onion - finished me for the salad. 😓

Here is the fresh turmeric.  There was ginger, turmeric and aromatic ginger that sort of look alike.  The turmeric as you can see in this picture has a distinct orange look. The two gingers look the same but the aromatic ginger isn't as hot as the regular ginger.   When I cook these dishes at home - and I will at least once, I will definitely 

use the fresh ingredients.

Rice looks the same in every country and every market.

We went Made's family compound where 21 family members reside.  It was such a beautiful spot.  In this patriarchal society, when the son marries, his wife comes to live in the husband's family compound and there they remain.  As their family grows, they are given more space or a new building for their home within the compound. Each family compound has it's own temple. Balinese life revolves around god and family in that order.  There are so many religious celebrations within their culture at least 1 very 6 weeks.  The Balinese calendar is 6 months, so they have 2 birthdays to our 1.  So many more things we have learned - but for another time or maybe not.

OK onto the cooking class!!  We began by making the peanut sauce for the sate.  Nothing was in a food processor or blender - everything was done the Balinese way.  Two different kinds of mortars and pestles. The one for crushing the peanuts was really large and flat and then the deep smaller one for the pepper and cardamom.  So technical. The rice was cooked in the black kitchen where there is a wood oven. The pot was huge and the rice would steam for 1 hour.  It was not submerged in water like we cook it.  Patience is needed for Balinese cooking.  

Time for chopping.  We all were hard at work slicing and then chopping fresh ginger, garlic, turmeric and aromatic ginger, small red chili and green chili...the problem veggies.  We all contributed our chopped vegetables to the same pot. It was a great way for us to learn the technique for chopping a portion. 

Next we had to coarsely chop fiddle heads, grate coconut and and thinly slice red chili pepper for the salad.  Then  there was chicken.  We made chicken sate with pounded mildly spiced chicken formed around a stick and then bbq'd.  It was very good - I could eat and enjoy it.  There was chicken cooked in one of the pots we had cooked something else is (my goodness that's a good description) anyway to deglaze the pan, coconut milk was added and chicken breast with the skin on was cooked and then finished off on the grill.  Then the best of all was the black rice pudding.  That I will make for sure.  I have black rice at home and paid attention to the cooking of that.  No chilies or anything hot - my kind of dish.

Balinese Sate Appetizer

Salad  ... notice the red stuff

Chicken Breast and rice with garnish under chicken -
yep green and red stuff

Black Rice Pudding with Coconut Milk

Then time to eat.  I had enough to hold me - but although I did try the food - there really wasn't much I could eat.  Our group was enjoying the fresh flavours and saying how good everything tasted.  I would love to cook these dishes for Pam, Sarah, Alessandro, Sandra and Clay.  Matthew, Mom Troje and I will have something different.  It would be fun to see them enjoy it.  First I have to find all the fresh ingredients!!  My fingers on my left hand are stained yellow from the fresh turmeric and my right hand still has traces of the dye from my silk painting.