Cooking up a feast at Paon Bali in Ubud, Indonesia

I've been going to Bali pretty much every year since I was 4 years old. When we go, we normally keep our holiday plans to pretty much a minimum so that we can spend as much time as possible between our place and the beach. OK, except one time when M and I decided to get married in Bali. The only time I actually set foot on the beach during that trip was seriously only during our wedding ceremony! But that's another story ;)

Anyway, every so often we venture out and try to discover new touristy things. Last December, we found the Paon Bali and absolutely loved it. It's a cooking class located in serene Ubud in the north of Bali, run by a husband and wife team, the funny Ibu Puspa and Pak Wayan.

The class costs Rp350,000 per person and it includes a trip to a traditional market (Pasar) in Ubud, a visit to the rice paddy and see how the rice co-operation works in the village, and finally a 4-hour cooking class followed by a feasting session. When I first suggested it to my parents and my sisters, I was met with a choir of groans. Traditional markets in Indonesia are normally only open during the morning, so by 11am all the sellers would have gone home. So this meant leaving home at 6am so we get to Ubud in time for the market visit!

Anyway, after dragging everyone out of bed we finally made it to Ubud. We were greeted by Ibu Puspa's assistant before being whisked away inside the markets, trudging between a maze of fruit, vegetables and meat sellers proudly displaying their products (no refrigerators here!). We were taken to different stalls to see the spices, tropical fruit and veggies that are common to Balinese cooking. At one point I was almost sobbing when I saw a massive bag of saffron being sold for Rp40,000 (that's about A$4, in Switzerland a pinch of saffron costs A$8). How I miss Indonesia!

The tour was clearly created for amateur foodies in mind. Everyone in our group came equipped with massive SLRs and at every stall following every explanation our tour guide would say "OK, now take a picture?". I had to be content with my iPhone :)

On the way back from the market we made a quick stop at the rice paddies, where Pak Wayan greeted us and showed us how the rice co-operation works in the villages. Who determines the prices, how much is produced each year, etc. One thing I only found out is that when the farmers plant their seeds, they only know what type of rice (brown, white, red) will be produced at the time of harvest.

We finally arrived at Ibu Puspa and Pak Wayan's house at mid-morning for the cooking class. The plan for the day is to cook about 8 dishes in about 4 hours! This morning it was a massive class of 12 people and we quickly got cracking.

First we made the Balinese spice paste (Base Gede) which is so versatile and used in many dishes. This involved mashing about a half a kilo of spices in a giant mortar and pestle (about 1 metre tall), which truly took ages! Traditionally the spice paste is made in large portions and used every day bit by bit for different dishes. Using this spice paste we then made a coconut curry (kare ayam), minced fish satays (sate lilit), and steamed fish in banana leaves (pepes ikan). We also used the spice paste as a dressing for a coconut and long beans salad (jukut urab).

While waiting for the curries to cook and satays to be grilled we also made a simple mushroom soup (kuah wong) for our appetizers. The last dish we cooked was a simple banana and coconut cream dessert (kolak biu), which was made from the fresh coconut milk that has been cooking for a few hours. This was definitely my favourite of the day.


Of course like any Balinese tourist places, a fridge full of Bintang beers is available so you don't need to worry about missing your hourly dose of booze while hard working in the kitchen ;) 

So all in all, this has to be one of the funnest family-friendly touristy experience I've had in Bali. I'd definitely recommend it to anyone looking to do something different in Ubud (there's only so much yoga and arts you can see before you finally cave in for some indulgence!)

Paon Bali Cooking Class

www.paon-bali.com

+62 81 337 939 095 or +62 81 337 000 303

Here is a recipe for Kolak Biu. Don't worry if you live somewhere where these ingredients may not be locally available. I've listed some possible substitutes you can use, but would welcome any other suggestions :)

Selamat Makan! (Bon appetit!)

Kolak Biu

Kolak Biu (Banana in Coconut Cream and Palm Sugar Syrup)

Adapted from Paon Bali Cooking Class cookbook

Serves 2

Ingredients

2 ripe bananas

2 tablespoons palm sugar or brown sugar. For a more subtle taste try raw sugar

2 tablespoons coconut cream

5 pieces of jackfruit, you can use canned jackfruit. Papayas or other soft fruits with mild flavours also work

1 pandan leaf or half teaspoon pandan extract, alternatively use vanilla extract

1 tablespoon corn flour

2 cups of water

Topping, optional

2 tablespoon of palm sugar

Method

Cut up the bananas and jackfruit into thin slices. If you're using palm sugar, grate it finely.

Boil water in a medium sized pan. Add pandan leaf (or extract), bananas, jackfruits, grated palm sugar (or brown sugar) and coconut cream. Leave to simmer for a couple minutes

In a separate bowl, mix the corn flour with a couple tablespoons of water. Add the cornflour mix into the banana mixture and continue stirring for another minute. Take off heat and plate in individual bowls.

For the topping, heat up the palm sugar with 1-2 tablespoon of water in a small pan, over low heat. Stir until the sugar dissolves and you get a gooey syrup. Pour over the banana mixture and serve.