Barefoot at the cooking class

After having a delicious breakfast this morning, we decided to take a Balinese cooking class.

Said and done. We sent a message to Kadek, and he promptly told us that he (of course) knows a very good chef who lives nearby. He wanted to ask her and then get back to us. It didn't take long before he wrote back to me that we could take the cooking class in the afternoon. The chef Susi (typical Balinese name) would pick us up at the hotel at 3:45 PM. In the meantime, it was time to chill again. When we were in Bali for the first time, we cooked with Aina in our house. Among other things, she showed us how to make spring rolls. We were very excited to see what we would experience today.

At 3:45 PM sharp, Susi arrived with her small car and picked us up. We didn't drive for 5 minutes when we arrived at our destination. She had a small restaurant with rooms attached. There were only 4 rooms, she told us, but they were super spacious and clean. A 35 m2 bedroom and a really great bathroom. Her rooms cost 24€ including breakfast. Definitely something to remember.

So, back to the cooking class now.

Susi asked us if we would rather make fish or chicken. We decided on fish. She handed us 3 pieces of paper with the individual ingredients for the different dishes. In front of us was a large bamboo bowl with various ingredients. Rainer and I cut many things very small, and Rainer was allowed to crush everything with the mortar, using his manly strength. There is a certain technique that you should apply to achieve the desired result. Susi was quite surprised that Rainer knew how to do it immediately. What she didn't know was that we had already tried it back then and that we have a mortar at home. However, it has only been used once so far 🤣. In the meantime, we each got a pot of ginger tea. It was delicious, and it didn't matter that it was warm. So, I continued chopping, and Rainer continued grinding. I was also the one who had to cut the turmeric. For those who don't know turmeric: it stains like crazy. Twice I tried to get the color off while washing my hands. In vain. But it didn't matter, the most important thing was that we had fun, and we did. After Rainer had ground everything into small pieces 🤣, he mixed everything together, including the fish and turmeric, and packed it into a banana leaf, following Susi's instructions. The whole thing was then closed with a piece of bamboo. He made 3 banana packets, which were placed in a pan coated from the top and bottom. They were allowed to stay there for 20 minutes until they were ready. In the meantime, I cooked the beans and carrots, which were then mixed with soy sprouts and grated coconut. The coconut was roasted by the daughter in the next room before it was grated. Rainer was very excited about the grater. We don't have such a fine grater. At first, I was supposed to grate the coconut, but since it was too hot for me, Rainer took over. I took care of the tofu that Rainer had cut into small pieces. It was first toasted golden in coconut oil and then mixed with a sweet sauce. It was delicious. The best thing about cooking is always stealing from the pan. You are simply a child 🤣. In the meantime, Susi turned the banana leaves from time to time, so they turned brown from all sides. After about 20-25 minutes, our self-prepared meal was ready. What can I say: it was great. Really delicious and typical Balinese. Susi brought us rice from the kitchen and we were allowed to start emptying the bowls. Of course, that didn't work. There was just too much food. However, she packed the rest for us later so that we had a midnight snack.

It was great to take a typical Balinese cooking class and to have the opportunity to get to know Susi as a person. 👩‍🍳👨‍🍳🇮🇩