Hong Kong & Bali - Fragrant, spicy, floral & exotic

Tanah Lot

Honeymoon in Bali. The food of Bali.

Neil and I visited Hong Kong and Bali in August 1999. Our first time to Asia and a massive culture shock. Even the descent into the craziest airport that was ever built was exciting. The lush green mountains loomed ever closer, framed against the stormy sky as the pilot landed a violently shaking airplane onto a runway after literally flying right past the windows of sky scrapers, office workers inside continuing their work without flinching. A runway so scary and dangerous that only 10 pilots in the world were apparently licensed to land there. After that, everything was an adventure even though jet lag hit us like a brick for the first day of our time there.

Hong Kong

We managed to wake up for dinner in the evening and wandered the streets in a haze, unsure of what to do or where to eat. We sampled some fish balls from a street vendor after being warned never, ever to do this and lived to tell the tale. Simple white fish pureed and rolled into balls to be deep fried and served with a spicy sauce. 

Hong Kong

We ended up eating dinner at the hotel restaurant, watching a wedding ceremony, where the bride and groom, Amanda and Jeff, got progressively more hammered while being fed copious amounts of alcohol from their family. After a traditional Chinese meal of beef in oyster sauce and fried rice, we informed the server that we ourselves had just got married and he nearly fell through the floor. He had been rather cold with us.

Hong Kong

Young and completely un-worldly wise, we found the noise, chaos and frantic activity of the people intimidating. Restaurants seemed to be full of large, boisterous families, surly looking waiters, impatient and clanging down cutlery and not a smile to be seen. For lunch and dinner the next day, we forewent all the dim sum places we really wanted to visit and found a small, quiet restaurant where we were put in a corner and served pink chicken curry. Today, I'm sure we would embrace all the differences and relish finding the more interesting and cultural places. Then, the previous weeks activities of wedding organization and the big day itself had exhausted us to the point of just needing relaxation.

Bali

Sanur beach, Bali

When I think of Bali, I can smell the Frangipani flowers, sweet and heady, descending from the tree above the swimming pool, scattering over the surface of the water so it resembled a pool in a spa. The constant 'tinkling' of the typically Balinese instruments played all day and reverberated throughout the hotel.

Neil with Fanta loving giant fruit bat

What I remember most fondly about the food is not the expensive giant prawns or the suckling pig at our 5 star hotel, but the Nasi Goreng I ate for breakfast every morning in a cheap backpacker's hostel just up the street. A dish of rice perfumed with that delicate Jasmine fragrance, rich with slices of soft beef fillet, shrimp and vegetables, all fried with shredded omelet and coloured and flavoured with that tangy, sweet sauce, (sambal) and topped with Bawang goreng, (fried shallots) and saur, (fried coconut), adding crunch, texture and sweetness. What I really loved about it, though, was the huge prawn cracker that came on the top, to be broken into pieces and used as an edible spoon to scoop some of the rice up. If you ordered this dish in a more expensive restaurant, it came with a mini beef or pork satay stick with spicy peanut sauce, as if to remind you that you were in Indonesia.

Enjoying happy hour at hotel at Sanur, Bali

Most of the restaurants offered satay as a main course as well as an appetizer or an accompaniment. Several options were available, including beef, chicken, pork or shrimp, but I would always order the mixed platter to sample everything. Marinated in a mix of spices, such as lemongrass, ginger, garlic, sugar and vinegar, they always came char grilled, crispy on the outside and tender within and were served with the spicy peanut sauce found everywhere. The usual side dishes were rice and a salad of pickled vegetables such as cucumber, beansprouts, cilantro and carrot, (Acar). The first night at the hotel, tired and slightly tipsy, I ordered this in the empty restaurant and ate it while watching a frog and a beetle fight. I realised at that point that I was somewhere far from home, somewhere tropical.

Owner of 'Planet Sanur', Sanur, Bali

Nasi be Guling, (Balinese suckling pig) is a very popular dish at most restaurants, though not easily accessible as it generally feeds a crowd or large family and requires 24 hours notice. We got to eat this at a Balinese food evening in the hotel. A whole pig is stuffed with a mixture including shallots, garlic, ginger, candle nuts, chilies, lemongrass and shrimp paste, the skin brushed with a mixture of turmeric and water until it takes on a yellow hue. Then it is roasted on a spit until the skin is deep ochre and shatteringly crispy, while the flesh is pale, sweet, dripping with juice and flavoured and scented with the spices, fresh and bright from the citrus and lemongrass and salty and sweet from the shrimp paste and sugar. It is addictive, especially if you devour the skin so eagerly, as we did.

Kuta reptile park

There was a big, burly chef at our hotel, dapper to the extreme in his chef's whites and cap. You could often spot him wandering the streets, looking for inspiration among rival hotel's menus. He was Italian and expertly fused traditional Indonesian ingredients with pasta. Each lunchtime there would be a special pasta dish containing such items as shrimp, Prosciutto or Mozzarella, but also galangal, chilies, lemongrass and shallots. He also prepared exquisite tea time snacks for the weekly invitation only 'manager's tea' that guests such as Neil and I (being Honeymooners), could attend. 

The famous rice paddies, Bali

Mini spring rolls, full of prawn and pork were served with a chili sauce so hot, it made me cry for several minutes. The manager, who was chatting with us at the time, bordered on amusement and concern. He had warned me but I foolishly wanted to be brave, I wanted to show him that a British girl could handle spicy food. After barking an order in Balinese to a waiter, I was presented with a glass of milk, the best solution always and drunk it rather shamefacedly and red with both embarrassment and pain.

Active volcano, Bali

Neil got gastro-enteritis, his getting sick while on vacation a common occurrence, sigh. Although he didn't feel too ill, he was very incapacitated, let's say, and unable to wander too far from a washroom. One morning we had ventured out to get some stronger medication when the police picked us up and took us to a drugstore. Feeling very gracious in the company of such caring people, we were a little shocked when they asked us for some money, even though they spent 20 minutes insisting: "we are no taxi, OK".

A very easy Nasi Goreng

Nasi Goreng can be easily recreated at home with a packet mix. The brand I've used below can be found in most Asian supermarkets and comes in both spicy and normal varieties. If you want to try making your own version from scratch, click here to try this recipe. Neil and I had this for lunch after returning home to an empty fridge. It's basically a store cupboard recipe using a packet of rice. You can add whatever else you'd like depending on what you have available, although a traditional Nasi Goreng would include beef, egg, prawn and vegetables.

 I had one shallot still in fine nick in the fridge, which I sliced finely...

A handful of peeled, raw prawns from the freezer, defrosted and chopped small to make them stretch further.

I fried the shallot and about 1/4 cup frozen peas in 1 tbsp oil until the shallot softened...

 ..then added about 1/2 cup of cooked Thai rice and the prawns. These were stir fried together until the prawns were pink and cooked through and the rice beginning to crisp at the bottom.

The paste from the packet is then added and stirred through the rice and other ingredients until well mixed.

The traditional Indonesian accompaniment: Prawn crackers or Krupuk. They are meant to be deep fried in hot oil where they instantly puff up, but can also be cooked for 1 minute in the microwave.

They provide the most perfect example of an edible spoon, scooping up the rice and sauce.

Other options to add to your Nasi Goreng:

2 egg omelette, seasoned with a little sesame oil, shredded and added with the rice to be stir fried.


1 small piece of steak, sliced thinly and fried until cooked with the shallot at the beginning.


Some finely shredded cabbage, shredded greens, radishes or tomatoes, fried together at the end.


Sliced chicken or pork, fried at the beginning until cooked.


Serve with some small skewers of satay and / or acar.