Delicious Culinary Indonesia: Balinese Street Food

Like much of Indonesia, eating street-food (or warung food) in Bali is an adventure in itself. 

While tucking into Indonesian favorites (i.e. bakso, martabak, gado-gado) will delight any street-food connoiseurs, we think that when in Bali, you should take the time to sample a few dishes that are actually from Bali.

After all, Indonesia's diversity doesn't just apply to traditional costumes, religion, and urban myths. It also applies to our food (some people will even say that it's our greatest source of pride). 

Every region in Bali has its own speciality dish that can be found across warungs or sold in street stalls. Our favorites (which hail from all over the island) are as follows:

1. Sate lilit

 
We Indonesians love our meat on skewers, so much that almost every region in Indonesia has its own sate.  
 
Bali is not different. In fact Bali has many sate variations. Choosing a favorite was tough, but we settled on good old sate lilit, a minced meat, grated coconut, coconut milk, lemon juice, shallots and chilli pepper combo wound around a bamboo, sugar cane or lemongrass stick, all grilled on charcoal. It can be a spicy one, but oh so delish.
 
Authentic Balinese sate lilits are generally made out of pork and fish but you can find chicken or beef ones on the island from time to time. 

 

2. Babi guling

The suckling pig is definitely a dish unique to Bali, with Indonesia's majority being Muslim and therefore non-pig eaters. You probably won't find much pig-meat based dishes in most parts of the country. 

In Hindu Bali, however, babi guling is the local dish. In Balinese traditions, babi guling is normally served as an offering during religious ceremonies (like this one here) but its popularity amongst pig-loving tourists who literally drool over this dish has lead to its widespread availability throughout the island.  

Babi guling is roasted whole over fire, stuffed with onions, garlic, ginger, galangal, turmeric, lemongrass, shallots, chillies and whatever other goodness the babi guling warung chef decides would render his or her dish delicious. 

 

A lady peeling meat of the freshly roasted suckling pig/how suckling pig is usually eaten in Bali, with rice and condiments

3. Lawar

 
Usually served with steamed rice and babi guling, lawar is a mix of vegetables, coconut and minced meat drowned in rich herbs and spices (including shrimp paste, ground pepper, green beans and jackfruit), sometimes added with blood to intensify the taste. It's a very common dish that you will find across most warungs in Bali.
 
You'll find all sorts of lawar in Bali. Pork lawar and jackfruit lawar are pretty common, or if you are into trying exotic things, dragonfly lawar can also be found. These aren't as readily available though, as they take a long time to prepare due to the amount of dragonflies needed to make it (which probably also means lengthy capturing time).
 

Lawar babi (pork lawar) 
 

4. Nasi campur

If there is one thing that Indonesians can't live without, it's nasi.

So technically nasi campur is not from Bali, because much like sate, every region in Indonesia claims to have its own version, including Bali.

We do love the Bali version though, and it's an easy thing to order when we can't make a decision because you get multiple goodness of Balinese food inside a banana leaf. And then there's the surprise factor—you don't know exactly what you're going to get (unless you're doing a serve yourself sort of deal). It could be grilled tuna, tofu, fried tempeh, spinach, sate lilit, who knows?

We did find one thing in common across most Balinese nasi campurs. When you order it from local eateries, the sambal they put on the side (or on top) tends to be ridicolously spicy. Beware and enjoy.

This one's vegetarian