exotic cuisines

The centerpiece of any Indonesian meal is steamed or boiled rice. Any dish with the word "nasi" in front of it means that it is prepared or served with rice. Nasi Campur is the common fare in Indonesia, which is actually a heap of steamed rice topped with vegetables, meat, pickles and krupuk (crackers). Krupuk is a large, crispy, tangy, oversized cracker made from crab meat, fish flakes, shrimp paste, or even fruit mixed with rice, flour or sago flour. It is first dried to resemble thin, colored plastic and then deep fried in oil.

A few years ago, the only chicken to be found was the skinny, sinewy kampung (village) variety, but nowadays there are juicy drumsticks, Javanese-style fried chicken, ayam suharti, ayam chichi, and ayam timbungan with curry. When in Denpasar, try the ayam taliwang, a superb chicken recipe from Lombok. Beef consumption is limited in Bali because cows and buffaloes are needed as draught animals in the paddy fields. Pork is, however, consumed avidly by Balinese, the urban Chinese and the non-Malay population. The favorite animal protein of Bali's Indian population is mutton. Other main sources of protein are fish, poultry, eggs and soybean. Soybean produces hearty organic foods such as tofu and tempeh (fermented soybean cake).