Bali and Babi Guling

TOP of my list of dishes to tuck into in Bali was babi guling or roast suckling pig. Babi = pig. Not sure whether we could make it to Ibu Oka in Ubud, made famous by Anthony Bourdain, we ordered babi guling at a warung (a warung is a typically family-run cafe, restaurant or business) on the road from Mengwi to Bedugul. The babi guling came in a shallow woven basket which was double-lined with grease-proof paper and banana leaf. There was a mound of red rice, over which were tender, succulent shreds of meat with thick gravy, some crisp, shiny brown crackling and crisp, deep fried slices of innards like liver and God-knows-what-else on the side, a piece of sausage, some water spinach and a chicken satay.

We also got a coconut shell bowlful of spicy broth, of the peppery kind that drives away a cold. None of us were suffering from a cold, but it did serve to whet our appetites! The suckling pig is stuffed with tapioca leaves (pardon my ignorance, but it was the first time I heard that tapioca leaves were edible! I thought it was only the root!) and vegetables mixed with a variety of local spices and spit-roasted over a fire of dried coconut shells, the last bit explained by Wayan Agus, our tour driver & guide. I detected the taste of yellow curry paste or base gede in it. The dish was good for a change but given a choice though, I prefer pork as a baffat, sorpotel or indad any day, to be mopped up with soft, spongy sannas.

In Ubud, we stepped into Ibu Oka, despite gorging on a sumptuous meal complete with a soup and a dessert that we cooked along with 12 other foreign tourists in a Balinese home cooking class. It was my niece who wanted to try a plate of babi guling here. Her verdict? Really good! I sampled a spoonful, but my taste-buds were too saturated from the heavy lunch to record any impression. I sipped on sweet, tender coconut water instead...