A Taste of Bali: Sambal and Sate

Last week we journeyed to Wyoming. So naturally, the next stop on this culinary tour is Bali. The food we had at Soori Bali and from local vendors around the island during our October 2019 shoot was some of the most incredible cuisine I have ever tasted. If you love spice, head to Bali. Looking for some Indonesian inspiration for breakfast, lunch or dinner this week? I suggest whipping up some Sambal (put it on eggs, chicken, pasta it works with everything) and Sate Maranggi.

Sate Maranggi: If only I were in Bali, eating sate for lunch between photo shoot sessions while overlooking a black sand beach and gazing at palm trees like I was a few short months ago. I ate some kind of sate every single day while in Bali after stumbling upon it on the menu at Soori Bali’s Cotta Restaurant. Sate Maranggi is beef marinated in lots of soy sauce, garlic, chiles and shallots placed on a bamboo skewer and grilled. (My mouth is watering.) This recipe from Indonesian Eats is a more authentic recipe with Indonesian spices and lots of ingredients but is worth the effort. If you can't source these, try this recipe with ingredients you most definitely have at your local grocery store, or even in your pantry. An easy sub for Galangal is ginger and if you can’t find bird’s eye chili or bamboo skewers, sub in red chiles and your typical wooden or metal skewer. Here on the East Coast the weather is slowly warming up, so it's about time to fire up those grills and cook yourself the most delicious meal. You can pretend you're sitting under the shade of a palm tree while you’re dining.

Photo courtesy of Alyssa Conroy

Sambal Oelek: If I could eat one hot sauce for the rest of my life, it would be Sambal. I was introduced to it during my first breakfast in Bali as the crew who arrived the day prior began pouring it over their eggs. As a hot sauce lover, I naturally did the same. Sambal is mainly used as a base in cooking to add depth of flavor, but spooning it on top of my eggs was just divine. I tried to take some home but failed miserably trying to locate it in the airport on our return home. Undeterred, I decided to learn to make it and have been incorporating it into meals ever since. It really is essentially a chili paste; every culture has their own variation but for some reason this just stands out. It is essentially three ingredients: red chiles, rice vinegar and salt (I also add some garlic to my version). Follow this recipe and you will have the most incredible hot sauce to add to any meal in no time. Marinate chicken in it, bake eggs in it, add some soy sauce to it and mix with noodles for the most perfect sauce. I would literally eat this on EVERYTHING. One recipe that I'm dying to try is Bon Appetit’s Spicy-Sweet Sambal Pork Noodles (if you don’t eat pork, sub in chicken or tofu). Whip up this recipe and transport yourself to the beaches of Bali.

Photo courtesy of Bon Appetit