The Best Vegetarian Date + Culture Culinary Class
As much as Bali is a great honeymoon destination, this place can be quite a nightmare if you are looking for the whole experience of a date. Come on you are not going to find great vegetarian food inspired from Balinese cuisine in the paddy fields! Well, you just may.
My husband and I love to explore the local. flavours and spices while we are travelling and it isn't always easy to do that if the culture is meat centric. Thank fully Ubud had a treat for us at the Dirty Duck Diner close to the Monkey Forest in Ubud. We double guessed quite a bit given the name of the restaurant but don't let that keep you away.
We were ushered in by beautiful traditionally dressed hosts to our 'table'. After a walk through small gargoyles spurting out water into the connected waterways and walking through paddy fields we were seated. It was a low table with mattress' on either side. These were open cottages with teak roofs, balinese art and landscapes painted on the walls as if the expanded coconuts trees and paddy fields wasn't enough. There was a cool breeze with a welcome respite from the heat of the streets and bustling tourists.
There was a tiny calling button on our tables with options to Call, Order, Ask for Bill so that we needn't be disturbed unless we needed help. This was such a well thought and commissioned feature, I would suggest it to every far spaced seating restaurant. We started off by ordering a ginger based drink based on Arak the local liquor. Spicy on the throat but just what you are looking for if you have tummy troubles having to adjust to the local food.
Our first order was a fresh mushroom soup, a thick rich broth and a huge portion.
Next we order the Nasi Goreng and Nasi Campur. For those of you who are wondering what the difference is join the club. While both are Malay/ Indonesian based dishes, Goreng is a stir fried rice with pre cooked meat and vegetables in soy sauce, tamarind paste and shallots. Caramelising this mix onto the rice imparts a warm, charred and tangy taste. Meanwhile The Nasi Campur translates to "white rice with a side of Chinese styled meats " or in our case vegetables. We also stir fried Tempeh
on a stick to mimick the chicken satay in traditional meals. One could call it Tofu put with a earthy, nutty flavour. Tempeh is an Indonesian fermented soy product from the 12th century. The Rhizopous Oligosporous is used as a starter agent on boiled soy beans and allowed to ferment in acidic conditions for upto 48 hours. Natively, they would use the leaves of the Hibiscus Tiliaceus as the hair on the bottom side of this plant would have the mould rhizopous would cling to in the wild. The markets of Bali have street vendors with tempeh wrapped in banana leaf, the trick is pick the perfect brown coloured cake.
These sticks came with a peanut paste made from peanuts, coconut milk and galangal as chief ingredients. A lot of people think Galangal is similar to Ginger because they almost look the same. Both are rhizomes and grow underground but the galangal has a harder skin and is much paler. It imparts a citrus flavour with a pine aftertaste that is sharp whereas ginger is spicy and pungent.
Satisfied with our culinary adventure, we ordered a Carrot cake Ala Bebek Bengil. I don't know why but Bali offered me some of the best desserts I've had. The cream cheese frosting was perfect with generous amounts of finely diced pistachios over the quickly devoured cake.
As we walked out of the restaurant, we passed by a cute owl chilling by the side. Which reminds me to do a quick post on the animals I encountered during my holiday there.
My husband and I love to explore the local. flavours and spices while we are travelling and it isn't always easy to do that if the culture is meat centric. Thank fully Ubud had a treat for us at the Dirty Duck Diner close to the Monkey Forest in Ubud. We double guessed quite a bit given the name of the restaurant but don't let that keep you away.
We were ushered in by beautiful traditionally dressed hosts to our 'table'. After a walk through small gargoyles spurting out water into the connected waterways and walking through paddy fields we were seated. It was a low table with mattress' on either side. These were open cottages with teak roofs, balinese art and landscapes painted on the walls as if the expanded coconuts trees and paddy fields wasn't enough. There was a cool breeze with a welcome respite from the heat of the streets and bustling tourists.
There was a tiny calling button on our tables with options to Call, Order, Ask for Bill so that we needn't be disturbed unless we needed help. This was such a well thought and commissioned feature, I would suggest it to every far spaced seating restaurant. We started off by ordering a ginger based drink based on Arak the local liquor. Spicy on the throat but just what you are looking for if you have tummy troubles having to adjust to the local food.
Our first order was a fresh mushroom soup, a thick rich broth and a huge portion.
Next we order the Nasi Goreng and Nasi Campur. For those of you who are wondering what the difference is join the club. While both are Malay/ Indonesian based dishes, Goreng is a stir fried rice with pre cooked meat and vegetables in soy sauce, tamarind paste and shallots. Caramelising this mix onto the rice imparts a warm, charred and tangy taste. Meanwhile The Nasi Campur translates to "white rice with a side of Chinese styled meats " or in our case vegetables. We also stir fried Tempeh
on a stick to mimick the chicken satay in traditional meals. One could call it Tofu put with a earthy, nutty flavour. Tempeh is an Indonesian fermented soy product from the 12th century. The Rhizopous Oligosporous is used as a starter agent on boiled soy beans and allowed to ferment in acidic conditions for upto 48 hours. Natively, they would use the leaves of the Hibiscus Tiliaceus as the hair on the bottom side of this plant would have the mould rhizopous would cling to in the wild. The markets of Bali have street vendors with tempeh wrapped in banana leaf, the trick is pick the perfect brown coloured cake.
These sticks came with a peanut paste made from peanuts, coconut milk and galangal as chief ingredients. A lot of people think Galangal is similar to Ginger because they almost look the same. Both are rhizomes and grow underground but the galangal has a harder skin and is much paler. It imparts a citrus flavour with a pine aftertaste that is sharp whereas ginger is spicy and pungent.
Satisfied with our culinary adventure, we ordered a Carrot cake Ala Bebek Bengil. I don't know why but Bali offered me some of the best desserts I've had. The cream cheese frosting was perfect with generous amounts of finely diced pistachios over the quickly devoured cake.
As we walked out of the restaurant, we passed by a cute owl chilling by the side. Which reminds me to do a quick post on the animals I encountered during my holiday there.
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