Cook in Bali
Balinese dishes to learn by hand, and which to cook at home
Learn the paste, the wrap, and the roll
IDR 530.000promo · per guest
Five Balinese dishes that are easier to learn at a stone mortar or a pan than from a page, and three that are better cooked slowly at home.
By Chef Wayan Suryana, Warung Tumang BaliLast updated
The short answer
Learn the techniques a written recipe cannot show: grinding base genep on a stone mortar, pressing sate lilit onto lemongrass, slicing sambal matah paper-thin, folding pepes in banana leaf, and rolling dadar gulung. Leave the long cooks, such as ayam betutu (about 3 hours) and tipat (about 2 hours), for home with a written recipe.
Learn these by hand
Base genep. The paste behind most savory Balinese dishes: shallot, garlic, galangal, turmeric, ginger, kencur, and candlenut. Grinding it on a stone mortar shows you the texture to aim for, and frying it shows you the moment the raw smell turns sweet. Once you know both, every other dish gets easier.
Sate lilit. Minced fish or chicken worked with the paste and coconut, then pressed around a lemongrass stalk. The skill is in your palms: a mince that holds, a layer thin enough to cook through, pressed firm so it does not slide off on the grill.
Sambal matah. Raw shallot, lemongrass, lime leaf, and chili, sliced paper-thin and dressed with hot coconut oil. The knife work is the whole recipe, and a slice is easier to copy than a sentence.
Pepes. Fish or tofu with the paste, tomato, chili, and basil, folded into banana leaf and steamed or grilled. A parcel that does not leak takes two or three tries with someone beside you.
Dadar gulung. Pandan crepes swirled thin and rolled around coconut cooked in palm sugar. How thin is thin enough is something you see in the pan, not on the page.
Cook these at home instead
Ayam betutu. A whole chicken rubbed in fried paste, wrapped in banana leaf, and steamed or baked for about 3 hours. The paste is the lesson; the long cook is a home job that does not fit a half-day class.
Tipat. Soaked rice packed into woven coconut-leaf pouches and steamed for about 2 hours until it sets. Follow the written method on a quiet afternoon at home.
Klepon. Pandan rice balls around palm sugar, boiled and rolled in grated coconut. Taste one from a market tray first; after that, the written recipe is enough.
What a hands-on class adds
Group size matters more than the number of dishes. At Warung Tumang Bali in Petulu, shared classes stop at eight guests, so each person grinds, wraps, and rolls instead of watching. The meal you cook becomes lunch after the 8:30am session or dinner after the 2:30pm session, and a printed recipe booklet goes home with you.
Vegetarian and vegan guests learn the same techniques with tofu and tempeh, and base genep made without shrimp paste.
Questions before you book
- Which Balinese dish is hardest to learn from a recipe?
- Base genep. A recipe lists the roots; it cannot show you the texture of the paste or the smell when the frying is done. One session at a mortar fixes that.
- Can I learn ayam betutu in a class?
- You can learn the paste. The bird needs about 3 hours of steaming or baking, which is longer than a half-day class, so the full dish is a home cook.
- What does the Petulu class cook?
- Base genep first, then savory dishes such as sate, sambal matah, and vegetables in coconut, with yellow rice and usually dadar gulung to finish. The board follows the market.
More on cooking in Bali
The recipes, written down
- Base genepHow to make base genep (bumbu Bali): pound shallot, garlic, roots, and candlenut, then fry 8–10 minutes until the raw smell is gone. From a Petulu kitchen.
- Sate lilitHow to make sate lilit: mix fish or chicken with fried base genep and coconut, wrap it around lemongrass, and grill. Twelve skewers from a Petulu kitchen.
- Sambal matahHow to make sambal matah: paper-thin shallot, chili, lemongrass, and lime leaf, dressed with hot coconut oil. Same-day raw sambal from Petulu, Ubud 80571.
- Pepes ikanHow to make Balinese pepes ikan: fish rubbed with base genep, tomato, chili, and basil, wrapped in banana leaf, then steamed or grilled. Four parcels, 45 min.
- Ayam betutuHow to make ayam betutu: a whole chicken stuffed with fried base genep, wrapped in banana leaf, and steamed or baked for about 3 hours until the meat gives.
Plan the day around it
- Where the spice table sits on a food dayHow to read a Balinese spice table: chili, shallot, garlic, turmeric and roots, coconut, lime leaf, banana leaf, and what changes when the menu is plant-based.
- Morning session or afternoon sessionChoose the 8:30am Petulu morning (market, rice walk, cooking, lunch) or the 2:30pm afternoon (rice walk, cooking, dinner). Same kitchen, pickup, and group size.
Where the kitchen is
Chef Wayan Suryana at Warung Tumang Bali, Banjar Laplapan, Petulu, Ubud, Gianyar, Bali 80571. The kitchen is about 10 minutes from central Ubud, depending on traffic. Pin -8.4945671, 115.2812928.