Rice, two ways: Nasi goreng and Nasi Kuning

One of the first things we prepare every morning is the rice. My mother in-law, Ibu Boni, still makes Nasi for the day the traditional way: soaked, steamed in a conical bamboo basket in an aluminium pot set over a wood fire, soaked again and steamed one last time.

This rice has a wonderful flavor, due to the firewood and the method of cooking, resulting in a delicious and perfect rice, fluffy with each grain separate; a lifetime of experience that I have yet to master.

We use an electric rice cooker and the results, if different, are quite good. Think a crusty sourdough Pain de Campagne versus a supermarket one!
When we have left over rice, Komang makes Nasi Goreng (his way) and when we have lots of time, I make Nasi Kuning (my way).

Nasi Goreng is simply fried rice, done the Indonesian way. Every family has their own recipe and way to prepare it.

Komang's Nasi Goreng

serve 2

2 cups of cooked rice, room temperature

6 oz of chicken, pork or shrimps chopped

1 cup finely sliced cabbage

1/2 carrot, chopped finely

2 pieces of bok choi, chopped

5 shallots, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tsp rice vinegar

1 Tbs kecap manis

1 tsp fish sauce

3 tsp kecap asin or light soy sauce

sea salt and pepper to taste

For the nasi goreng sauce:

1 large red chile, chopped

3 bird's eye chile, chopped

1 tomato, chopped

6 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tsp shrimp paste

1 Tbs coconut oil or mild oil

some water

In a pan, place all the ingredients for the nasi goreng sauce, except the water. Cook over a medium flame until fragrant, about 5/8 minutes, add some water if needed. Place in a blender and mix until smooth.

Place the rice in a bowl, add the nasi goreng sauce as well as the rice vinegar, fish sauce, kecap manis and soy sauce. Mix and set aside.

In a wok set over a medium flame, put 2 Tbs of oil and fry the meat for 2 or 3 minutes until golden, add the shallots and garlic. Then add the rice with the sauce and seasonings as well as the vegetables. Toss around until thoroughly mixed, add salt and pepper. Continue tossing with a spatula until the vegetables are wilted but still crunchy and the rice is piping hot. Serve with a garnish of fried shallots, peanuts, cucumber slices and fried egg if desired.


Nasi Kuning is rice cooked with spices, herbs and fresh coconut milk. It is, once cooked, mixed with sambal, more herbs, fried shallots, chilies and some lime juice. This dish is fragrant and delicious and my absolute favorite thing to serve with grilled fish, prawns and duck. It is truly heavenly and you should try it, at least once. 

Nasi Kuning

serve 4

To steam the rice:

3 cups of rice, washed and drained

2 1/2 cups of water

1 1/2 cup of fresh coconut milk or canned coconut milk

2 sticks of lemongrass, bruised with the flat side of a heavy knife

1 large knob of fresh turmeric, grated, juice expelled and added to the water

3 slices of fresh ginger, bruised

1 small stick of cinnamon

6 cardamom pods

3 daun salam (omit if unavailable)

1 pandan leaf (screwpine), tied in a knot (omit if unavailable)

1 leaf of turmeric (omit if unavailable)

1 large pinch of coarse sea salt

In an electric rice cooker, place all the ingredients and cook. Once cooked, un-plug the machine, open the lid and, with a rice paddle, fluff the rice. Close the lid again and wait 10 minutes.

Kasuna-Cekoh

2 Tbs turmeric, chopped (omit if unavailable and increase the kencur to 3 Tbs)

2 Tbs  kencur (cekoh) replace with galanga if unavailable

10 garlic cloves (kasuna)

3 candlenuts

In a mortar, grind all the ingredients to a paste, you could use a food processor if prefered.

In a frying pan, heat 3 Tbs of oil and fry the paste, stirring constantly until it becomes glossy and fragrant, about 4/5 minutes. Drain the oil and leave to cool.

To mix in the rice:

the prepared kasuna-cekoh

5 shallots, finely sliced, deep fried in oil until golden and drained

3 kaffir lime leaves finely, sliced

1 small bunch of lemon basil, leaves only, shredded

the juice of 2 calamondin limes or 1 regular lime

salt to taste

1 Tbs Sambal Goreng ( you could use 2 or 3 bird's eye chilies, very finely chopped)

2 Tbs Sambal Kecicang or 1 torch ginger flower, finely sliced (omit if unavailable)

Place the rice in a bowl, remove all the herbs and spices it was cooked with and add all the ingredients above. Taste, adjust if necessary and serve. Heaven!

Pasir Putih, the White Sands Beach

On Sundays mornings, Komang and I wake up with the sunrise and after a cup of coffee, head down to Pasir Putih, a short bike drive from our house.

At that time, we have the beach to ourselves, sand untouched,  turquoise water glistening in the morning sun. This is a place of serene beauty, unspoiled, peaceful, close to my heart and where I always want to return to.

Pasir Putih is a natural harbor, safely guarded by high cliffs of volcanic stone where many fishermen keep their boats. I love walking on the beach and looking at these beautiful little boats with their carved fish heads and brightly painted eyes to guide the fishermen through the night.

When we see the jukungs coming back towards the shore, we go to meet them and buy some of the fish they just caught.

Most of the time, it is awan (a kind of mackerel) 

but sometimes, we are in luck and they have caught snapper or umah umah, the most delicious fish for grilling.

Small warungs dot the beach, they are simple places where the freshest fish and seafood is served grilled and accompanied by the mandatory mie goreng (fried noodles) or nasi goreng (fried rice) with sambal and iced tea.

Mie Goreng with Prawns

Serves 2

4 raw prawns, peeled and chopped

1 carrot, julienned

1 1/2 cup of julienned cabbage

3 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped

2 shallots, peeled and chopped

2 bird's eye chlies finely sliced

1 tsp fish sauce

1 tsp kecap manis (sweet soy sauce) 

1 tsp kecap asin (light soy sauce)

1 tsp hot sauce (optional)

1/2 tsp toasted sesame oil

1 scallion, finely sliced for garnish

1 package of  ramen style noodles

Boil the noodles for 3 or 4 minutes, drain. Blanch the cabbage and carrot for 1 minute, drain. Heat the vegetable oil in a wok and sauté the shallots, garlic and prawns until fragrant, add the kecap manis, kecap asin, fish sauce and sesame oil. Add the noodles, hot sauce and chilies. garnish with the scallion and serve.

A very different landscape

I am staying in Erwinna, a small village in Pennsylvania by the Delaware River for another ten days before I return to Bali.

 This morning, I woke up to a landscape of snow. The roads have not yet been plowed and the world is silent, quiet and very beautiful in its white stillness. Just the soft hush of the snow falling. 

It feels so peaceful and cozy to be in a warm house, snowed in with nowhere to go when suddenly, it dawns on me that I did not buy any food before the storm. Besides eggs, milk and bread, there is barely anything to eat in the house and I have two hungry teenagers waking up, fortunately I let them sleep late!

Today we will make Rice Pudding and Pains Perdus, maybe a soup with an omelet for dinner, we will eat together by the fireplace and all will be peaceful, cozy and well!

Pains Perdus

When I was a child coming back from school in the late afternoon, these would, most of the time, be waiting for me in the kitchen and, as I devoured them, I often wished there were more bread leftovers. My mom used to turn day old bread into delightful sweet things: Pains perdus, Gâteau de Pain, the ultimate Bread Pudding, studded with raisins macerated in rum that she served with vanilla crème anglaise and in the Summer, Charlotte aux Fraises, my favorite!

1 loaf of day old French bread, sliced in medium slices

4 eggs

2 cups of milk

1 Tbs sugar

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tsp orange flower water (optional)

Beat the eggs, milk, sugar, vanilla and orange flower water together until well mixed. Soak the slices od bread for 5 to 10 mnts in the mix until soft but still holding shape.

In a frying pan, heat the oil and fry the bread until golden. Place on a plate, sprinkle sugar on top and serve.

Riz au Lait (Rice Pudding)

This is the simplest of rice pudding, another staple of my childhood, so comforting and so easy to make that I was allowed to prepare it without supervision at six years old and never stopped making it since then...  

1 1/2 cup of short grain rice, rinsed and drained

1 quart or so of whole milk

1 vanilla bean split in half

Zest from a lemon, left in ribbons

3/4 cup of sugar 

In a large sauce pan, place the rice, half of the milk, the vanilla and lemon zest, bring to a very gentle boil, it should barely look like it's bubbling. Mix with a wooden spoon from time to time, top with more milk (it should never be dry) until the rice looks cooked to your taste and you like the consistency (20/30mnts), I like my rice pudding soft and not dry. Add the sugar, mix it in and continue cooking for another 5mnts. Serve warm.

Life is sweet

Like water from the mountain

I am in the US right now and I miss very much my husband, Komang. I miss cooking with him, all the while chatting and eating in silence together, as most Balinese do.

I miss a lot of things about Komang, not only cooking but it's 7pm and I am hungry!
Komang is a quiet and passionate man. He is humble, confident and generous; with him, life always seems a little bit better, a little bit easier and, in his presence, you always feel like a better version of yourself.

For some reasons, Komang did not cook much before us being together but that certainly did change, a lot! Whenever he cooks, it is at the same time with an easy going attitude and a great focused intent; ya, that would pretty much describe him in a few words, hard and soft at the same time!

With any traditional recipe, be it in Bali or anywhere in the world, I have noticed that long discussions and debates (with the occasional heated argument) ensue for: 1) what exactly goes in the dish, 2) the proper manner to prepare it and most importantly, 3) the knowledge of the unique "truc", "tour de main" or "secret" ingredient which will end the quest for authenticity and elevate the most simple dish into perfection and Komang is a perfectionist at heart and I should add, highly individualistic as well.

He will listen to his mother's, sisters' or cousins' specific directions on how to execute something and starts by following the instructions carefully but ends up adjusting and tasting everything to make it his own. It will be reworked many times until the final verdict of "not bad!" has been reached. That's why his food, be it nasi goreng, chicken curry or jakut urab, is all so very delicious but unlike anyone else's.

So, I will just dream about the favorite dishes he makes for me until I return. In the meantime, I can always make

Bubur Injin

Bubur Injin is Black Rice Pudding served with Palm Sugar Syrup and  a jug of fresh Coconut Milk, it is easy to make and the perfect afternoon snack, comforting and always welcome, be it in the midst of a snow storm as it is today for me in the US or when the rain falls (with no end in sight, it seems) in Bali, turning everything into a new green world.

1 cup black rice, rinsed well

1/3 cup glutinous rice, rinsed well

1 vanilla bean, split in half lenghtwise

3/4 cup Palm Sugar Syrup or regular sugar syrup

Water

In a pot with a heavy bottom, place the 2 kinds of rice, add the vanilla and water to cover the rice by 2 inches, bring to a boil and lower the heat, mix from time to time and add water for the rice to be always covered, taste for doneness. When the rice is almost cooked, add the syrup, mix and continue to cook until the rice is tender and the consistency is soft porridge like. Serve with more syrup and coconut milk to pour on the servings.

Komang said to me once " I am like water falling from the mountain, wherever it goes, it's all good! Whatever comes!"

These words opened a window in my mind, I feel that way too and for this, I can only say "Saya cinta kamu, Suamiku" You are always in my heart!