If you ask foreigners in Bali what they know about Indonesian cuisine, most will mention nasi goreng, mie goreng, and the street soup bakso.
The more discerning ones might remember babi guling and gado-gado. But among the 6000 inhabited islands of Indonesia, there are a vast number of dishes that even those in Bali haven't heard of. A couple dozen of these were brought to the culinary show, which runs until October 5th in Kuta. And the Bali.Live correspondents were simply obliged to taste them.
"The Biggest Legendary Culinary Show," proclaimed the poster at the entrance of Discovery Mall. Inside, it was more modest. On a weekday morning, the pop-up food court had very few people. Sleepy vendors were lazily arranging ingredients, slicing foods, and heating oil in woks.
The first huge plus is that each stall has a large photo of what your food will look like and even a brief historical note: which island it's from, when it became popular. Everything is in English. Some vendors also try to speak English.
First in sight is a corner with familiar rice crackers, which replace bread for Indonesians. Two local women are already having breakfast. They try to explain what asinan Betawi is, which is being prepared here. It's a dish from West Java. It's like a salad with cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, and some fermented vegetable. Plus tofu. All of it is topped with a large rice cracker and drizzled with peanut sauce. It costs 40k rupiah. We try it. Listen, it's delicious! The vegetables with the sauce perfectly match the crispy cracker. The key is to eat it quickly before it turns into mush. The chili guy thoughtfully placed it separately. Definitely a thumbs up!
And here comes the queue. A man of years, together with his son, fries noodles in a large wok. Out of the four dishes he has on display, I only recognize nasi goreng. But we won't try that. We'll get kway teow goreng. It's wide rice noodles with vegetables, shrimp, and chicken. Very similar to Thai pad thai. The price is steep for those used to local food being cheap — 60k per portion. But it's worth it. The noodles are good, and the shrimp seem quite fresh. It's slightly greasy, but if you drizzle lemon juice over it, it's delicious. The chef is from Jakarta, the dish is Javanese.
On the next stall, the woman from Kalimantan offers something very spicy. That color of food can't lie. Let's leave it for next time, as we'll need our taste buds for other dishes today.
If you're trying this spicy dish, have it with grandma's compote. Here it is, by the way. Except instead of dried fruits, it's longan.
One variety of satay from Borneo is made of beef and includes pork fat.
There are five types of bakso here. Some look quite lavish, with a piece of meat on the bone.
Something entirely strange on offer, for instance, this pastry with an egg. Its dough is made of fish flour. Inside is the yolk. It's all fried in oil, cut into pieces, and topped with a spicy sauce and shrimp powder. Would you try something like this? If not, you're missing out! It's called kapal selam, and it turned out to be very tasty. The girl who makes it said it's from Sumatra and can't be found in Bali.
There's an entire stand with fried tofu. Here, it's served as a separate dish. The secret lies in the fillings, which are prepared before your eyes. The price per portion is 35k.
It's the perfect time to switch to desserts. There's plenty to choose from. First, there are pancakes made from rice flour, known as serabi solo.
The woman frying them speaks English quite well and offers a choice of filling — chocolate, cheese, or jackfruit.
We get an assortment. Unwrap the banana leaf binding each pancake, and... it's a maximally familiar taste of pancakes. However, thanks to the rice flour, they're fluffy and very delicate. The cook hasn't skimped on the fillings. Another dish to add to the collection. However, you'll need to travel to Jakarta to get them.
On the way to the durian corner, seen from afar, stands a stall with pork. Here, Balinese satay and a couple of other dishes are familiar. Surprisingly, they were brought from Kupang, in East Timor... but isn't Indonesia a Muslim country? A mystery...
The last thing we have room for is ice cream from Sulawesi. On the whole, nothing extraordinary. Three kinds of fruit ice — avocado, coconut, durian. Each portion is topped with chocolate chips, jelly balls that resemble red caviar, and sliced bread — classic.
However, with the durian option, they add actual durian. If not for the bread that went mushy while I was taking pictures, it could have been quite good. Although the rich taste of durian, slightly frozen from the ice, smoothed things over.
The gastro show runs at Discovery Mall until October 5th daily from 10:00 to 22:00 (it's best not to arrive right at opening time, as sellers take a long time to get set up, so you'll have to wait). You can pay in cash or use QIRIS.
You can add one right now!