Ubud Cooking Class The Best Way To Taste Bali Culture

To immerse myself in Bali culture, I took an Ubud cooking class during our last trip to Bali. Also, since I know nothing about cooking, I thought it would be a great exercise to step outside my comfort zone while eating my way through Bali.

Ubud

Our Ubud cooking class took place in a village north of Bali, an hour’s car ride from Seminyak, where we stayed. I was thrilled to attend the cooking class because I would learn to cook my favourite local Indonesian food. Also, this was the first cooking class I had ever participated in.

We reached the village and were escorted to a local family’s house. The host, the head of the family, brought us to the open courtyard, where we were served homemade sweet potato cakes. It was so good! We chatted about Bali culture and the foreigners’ interest in the local food hence the Ubud cooking class.

Our host family conducted the cooking class in the open pavilion, an extension of their traditional Balinese house in the middle of the rice field. It did the whole cooking and eating the local food experience delightful.

Ubud Cooking Class

On that day, we cooked authentic Balinese home-cooked meals using the wood-fired oven. The kind host lady introduced us to all the ingredients used during the cooking. There were fish, chicken, banana and pandan leaves, spinach, turmeric, ginger, chilli, tamarind, garlic cloves, shallots, coriander seed, cumin seed, and some other things which I wasn’t familiar with.

Nasi Tumpeng (Yellow Rice)

First, we made rice. Yellow rice is usually made and eaten during special events in Bali culture. For example, as the rice looks like a pile of gold, it is often served at parties and opening ceremonies as a symbol of good luck and a part of the festival and traditions.

It was pretty easy to cook. We needed to add turmeric and pandan leaves soaked in coconut milk to the half-cooked rice, then steam it a little more to make it yellowish. It smelt nicer and enhanced the taste.

Satay (Barbequed Chicken Skewers)

We then made chicken skewers. Indonesian local food is famous for skewers, called Satay, which is mostly sold as street food. The seekers usually barbecued on the spot and served with various sauces, peanut sauce being the most common. I love Indonesian Satay. Especially the lamb skewers. Remember: Satay is a must-try when visiting Bali or other parts of Indonesia.

The chicken skewers were easy to make as well. I chopped the meat into cubes and mixed it with chopped and ground-up ingredients like tamarind, garlic cloves, shallots, coriander seed, cumin seed, and salt, in addition to a bit of oil and water. It was my task to grind and grind I did. I made an extra effort because people were looking. I might have shed a pound from all the grinding. What can I say? I like getting a gold star in class.

We then let it marinate for 10 minutes before sticking it into the bamboo rod. It was then ready to be barbecued.

Satay Sauce

I also made the sauce. This time it was my favourite Satay sauce, the spicy soya. I chopped chilis, shallots, and a little tomato and mixed it all with sweet soya sauce, and voila, it was done.

Tom (Grilled Fish In Banana Leaf)

We also roasted tuna wrapped in a banana leaf. As a local food, it’s called Tom here in Bali and Pepes in other parts of Indonesia.

First, I pounded some ginger, garlic, chillies, lemongrass, salt, and onion into a paste. Then, I mixed the shredded tuna with the paste, put a small portion on a banana leaf, and wrapped it. After preparing a few of those, we finally steamed it on a traditional stove. The smell of it was mouth-wateringly good.

Tumis Kangkung (Water Spinach Stir-Fry)

The last dish was water spinach, an Indonesian and Malaysian food staple. First, I cleaned the spinach, then stirred the fried onion, shallots, shrimp paste, salt, extra chopped chilis, and lastly, the water spinach for a couple of minutes.

Bali Local Food Lunch

Our host family and we sat in the courtyard to enjoy the home-cooked Indonesian food and continue our earlier conversation about village living and Bali culture. Overall, Ubud’s cooking class was a great cultural experience. We learned more about Bali culture, cooked, and ate delicious local food.

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