Bali is a paradise for travellers. With over hundreds of temples and ever going festivities and celebrations, you ought to miss it when you return home. Its lip-smacking food is another reason you would long for this place. So here is a list of 10 top Balinese dishes to try on your Bali trip. So scroll down to check these fantastic dishes.

List of Balinese Food that you must try!

1. Sate

This Indonesian dish is often confused with the Malaysian dish Satay, but this savouring dish is very different from the Malaysian one. Sate is a combination of skewered, grilled, and marinated meat in spicy sauce. The meat is grilled in an open fire or on charcoal to give it a unique taste. People of Bali use all kinds of meat to prepare this dish, including chicken, goat, mutton, beef, pork, fish, or even turtle. The meat is minced and coated with grated coconut or coconut milk, and a rich mix of vegetables and spices are wrapped around a stick and grilled.

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2. Gado-gado

Photo Courtesy: Wikimedia

Among all the non-vegetarian cuisine offered in Bali, this vegetarian dish stands out. It is a great dish for all those vegan people who have been thinking there is nothing for them in Bali. This is a salad that is made of slightly boiled, blanched, or steamed vegetables with hard-boiled eggs, boiled potatoes, fried tofu and Lontong (rice wrapped in banana leaf). Gado-gado is usually preferred to be consumed cold, but many eat it warm, so you have to try yourself to know the type you prefer.

3. Nasi Goreng and Mee Goreng

Nasi and Mee Goreng are by far the most popular dishes in our list of 10 top Balinese dishes to try on your Bali packages. It is also the dish that has been the most exported. This dish is essentially the national dish of Indonesia, a lot like fried rice is to China. This amazing dish is served with pickles, peanut sauce, pickled vegetables and prawn crackers. Native people love to eat this dish any time of the day, whether it be lunch, dinner and breakfast. You can find this dish anywhere you go, whether it’s a roadside stall or a five-star hotel.

4. Jaje Laklak

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Jaje Laklak is a delicacy of Bali. This dish is prepared with rice flour. It is similar to a rice cake and is often consumed with a cup of coffee that complements its taste. This dish usually has a light green colour or white colour, and shredded coconut is added on top with brown sugar sauce to add to the flavour. It can also be served with other flavoured sauces like milk or other flavourings. Some places also serve this cake with black sticky rice.

5.  Babi Guling

Photo Courtesy: “Nasi Babi Guling” by kudumomo is licensed under CC BY 2.0

Balinese roasted pork or Bali Guling is one of the luxuries to try in Bali. This dish is originally a communal dish and is roasted as a whole while rolling over the fire. It is often consumed during cultural performances or ceremonies, and now Babi Guling can be relished in five-star restaurants. The fresh meat looks like the main course. The skin of the pig is crispy, while the inside is tender and juicy. This dish is prepared by stuffing pig with traditional spices and is rolled over the coal fire.

6. Lawar

Photo Courtesy: “Spicy Shredded Pork – Lawar Bali AUD30000” by avlxyz is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

This dish is certainly not for faint-hearted people; this dish is a combination of flavours and spices. It is often prepared using minced pork, dragonflies, turtles or offal, and the meat is mixed along with jackfruit, galangal, chillies, spices, and the scariest thing, which is fresh blood. The blood is added to give strength to the already distinctive flavour of the dish and impart Lawar its red colour. It is always prepared fresh because the blood that is used needs to be fresh; that’s also one reason why it can’t be stored for too long. You don’t need to worry if the thought of blood makes you squeamish; you can have the white version that doesn’t have blood.

7. Bebek Bengil

Photo Courtesy: “Bebek Bengil (Crispy Duck)” by naotakem is licensed under CC BY 2.0

This dish is a must-try, and you can’t say you visited Bali if you never tried this dish. Bebek Bengil is a half duck steamed in Indonesian spices and fried until crispy. Each serving of Bebek Bengil comes with a side dish of sauteed potatoes, salad, or rice and vegetables. If you don’t have any allergy to potatoes or you don’t hate it, then you can exchange your plate of rice for creamy mashed potatoes. Trust it as they taste the best with Bebek Bengil; the rest is up to you.

8. Tipat Cantok

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Tipat Cantok is something you should try on your next trip to Bali if you are a vegetarian. Vegan dishes are rare to find in Bali, so you would be glad to know this dish is easily available anywhere. It is made from peanut sauce, rice cake steamed in palm leaves, cabbage, baby bean sprouts; all of these are blended thoroughly and coated with sweet soy sauce. The flavour that comes out is a mix of sweet and salty, giving you the right mix. Peanut Sauce that is used in preparation is made from crushing roasted peanuts, garlic and chillies together on a mortar and pestle. The traditional methods used to make the dish is what gives them a unique flavour.

9. Ikan Bakar

Nobody wants to dine on the beach of Jimbaran without ordering simple yet lip-smacking grilled fish. The fish is marinated with spice before being wrapped in banana leaves, and then it is grilled. Banana leaves protect the fish from sticking to the grill and give it a herby aroma, along with locking the moisture in. This dish is made with freshly caught fish and served with sambal dipping sauce.

10. Bubur Sumsum

Photo Courtesy: Wikimedia

Bali has so many dishes that you can savour, even if you are visiting it for the hundredth time. Bubur Sumsum is a dessert in our list of 10 top Balinese dishes to try on your next trip to Bali. Although this dish is called a dessert, you can enjoy it any time you can savour it as a snack or breakfast. This dish is created with coconut milk, rice flour and is completed with palm sugar syrup. You can try to make dessert yourself because it is easy to prepare.

The food of a country or its culinary background tells important things about the tradition and culture of the country. Bali’s culinary diversity imbibes stories about its spices and ingredients. There is so much to savour in Bali that you would want to come back just for the food.

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