Despite being part of Indonesia, Bali has its own distinctive Balinese cuisine and it draws on influences from the rest of the nation as well as from China and India. 🌏🍴
Given that Bali is a Hindu enclave it won't come as a big surprise to learn that pork features more prominently in Balinese dishes than it does on menus elsewhere on the mainly Muslim archipelago.
The staple starch with most meals is rice and pork, chicken or duck, fruit, vegetables, coconut milk, grated coconut, seafood, chili peppers, etc. are widely used in local cooking.
However, beef is somewhat rare in traditional Balinese dishes as you'd expect given that the majority of the people on the island are Hindi.
Our simple guide with introduce you to Balinese cuisine and the 15 best Balinese dishes, in our opinion, that everyone should try when they take a holiday on the island. 🙌
Our 15 Must Try Dishes In Balinese Cuisine
Ayam Pelalah
This traditional Balinese dish requires just harvested herbs and spices that are then blended with shredded chicken and tossed in a fiery paste of turmeric, chili peppers, garlic and shallots.
They are then fried in a pan with daun salam (a local leaf), shrimp paste, lime leaves and lemongrass sticks. Sugar or salt is added to season the dish and then a squirt of lime juice gives the whole thing a citrusy tang.
Betutu
They say that betutu is a royal dish and we believe it. It takes a lot of work to bring this traditional Balinese food to life.
You start with a whole chicken or duck and then add a blend of traditional spices (chili, peanuts, garlic, ginger, shallots, etc.) and then you slow cook them for over 8 hours! If you want a burst of complex flavour in every bite, betutu is the way forward.
Sate Lilit
This is a Balinese take on sate or satay. With Sate Lilit you take minced meat, usually tuna but it can be chicken, and then you wrap it around a bamboo skewer.
This differs from the usual sate in that with Sate Lilit the spiced minced meat gains its flavour as it cooks rather than coming from a peanut sauce.
Nasi Tepeng
Many Balinese dishes incorporate steamed rice and this is always called "nasi".
However, Nasi Tepeng is a breakfast dish that uses rice porridge with chicken broth and elements of shredded chicken, lemongrass, chilli, galangal, coriander, kecap manis and fried shallots to deliver a wonderful warming flavour.
Lawar
This is a fabulous dish that uses chopped meat combined with some grated coconut and green vegetables. You will find beef, chicken, duck, and pork lawar are commonly available here.
The "red lawar" takes its colour from the animal blood used in its preparation and "white lawar" is usually vegan (containing jackfruit). Lawar is often served as one of the delicious dishes at a Balinese feast, it's not usually seen on street food carts.
Babi Guling
Of all the local Balinese dishes, perhaps the most famous, is Babi Guling. This is a roast suckling pig.
It's normally served alongside rice, pork sausages and urab (a Balinese sal) and it achieves its taste through a long cooking process which involves a spice rub.
Nasi Campur Bali
Nasi Campur is a "using up what you've got to hand" kind of dish and while nasi ayam (minced chicken rice) is often the most popular version, you put almost anything in this dish.
Traditional spices (as with many traditional Balinese dishes), soy sauce, shrimp paste, garlic, etc.) and cucumber, bean sprouts and spicy sambal. Then serve it with some prawn crackers. Yum.
Sambal Matah
This is a spicy (and raw) shallot based salsa that is an absolute staple of the traditional cuisine on the island.
Every restaurant on the island has its own take on sambal matah and you can find an endless list of possible ingredients including nutmeg, cardamom, melted palm sugar, brown sugar, galangal, tamarind puree, candlenut, tourch ginger, lemongrass, coconut oil, shrimp paste, and more.
Soto Bakso
Bakso are meatballs and this is a soup/casserole based on bakso. It uses a strong beef broth flavoured with dense spices and is dotted with minced beef, tapioca flour, egg and shallot meatballs.
It's served with rice noodles, shallots, coriander, chili peppers and lime.
Be Pasih
This Balinese fish curry is absolutely amazing and while it can be served with ordinary white rice, we like it best with mixed rice.
The spices give this a unique flavour that's quite far removed from Indian curries or even Malay rendangs.
Urab
There are many vegetable dishes in Bali and this is a vegetable salad that is a staple of day-to-day life in Bali.
It involves a big mix of local vegetables and then a coconut-based dressing with spices and herbs. Finally, there's a hit of chili, ginger, shallots, garlic and lime that livens the whole thing up.
Pepes Ikan
This Balinese fish dish is served at most traditional restaurants on the islad and it's absolutely delicious.
The fish is fried with spices and served with chili peppers on the side along with rice and sambal. The type of fish will always be local but may vary from warung to warung.
Bubur Mangguh
This traditional rice porridge uses peanuts, chicken, chili, coconut milk, coconut oil, bay leaves, salt, shallots, pepper, and more to create a heady mix that will set everyone up for the day.
Breakfast doesn't get much better than this.
Nasi Jinggo
Famous for its small serving size, nasi jinggo is a rice dish served in a banana leaf with veggies, a side and condiments.
It's small, however, because it's cheap. You can buy nasi jinggo for as little as 5,000 IDR (that's $0.35 USD or $0.50 AUD) anywhere on the island.
Nasi Goreng
Nasi Goreng is, perhaps, the most famous rice dish in Bali and it can be foudn almost everywhere from upmarket restaurants to humble street vendors.
"Goreng" means fried and nasi goreng is Indonesia's fried rice and whatever is mixed into the rice, it always tastes wonderful.
FAQs
What Is The Famous Food Of Bali?
The most famous food in Bali is Babi Guling. Roasted-suckling pig which is cooked for hours on a slow spit and served with rice, sausage and vegetables.
What Is The National Food Of Bali?
There is no official "national dish" of Bali as Bali is not a nation, it's an island that forms part of Indonesia.
However, nasi goreng, an Indonesian fried rice, could be considered a "national dish" for the archipelago.
If we were nominating Bali's national food, though, we'd opt for Balinese sambal which is one of the most dominant dishes on the island.
What Is A Traditional Balinese Breakfast?
Red rice porridge is a very common breakfast. Think mixed vegetables, rice and shredded or minced meat mixed together in a light broth to deliver a tasty and healthy start to the day.
What Is The Difference Between Balinese And Indonesian Food?
Indonesia is a very big place and because it's made up of thousands of islands, there's a lot of culinary variation across the archipelago.
If we were to define "Java" as the main part of Indonesia, however, then the big difference would be that Balinese cuisine tends to be savoury relying on Balinese spices to flavour the dishes, often served on a banana leaf, whereas Javanese cuisine tends to rely more on palm sugar and sweet soy sauce.
What Is A Typical Balinese Dessert?
Dadar Guling is very popular as a dessert it uses rice flour combined with coconut milk to create a tasty pancake. This is then topped with grated coconut and sugar.
What Is Bali's Most Popular Food?
There are no official figures as to which dish is the most popular in Bali.
However, based on our experience nasi goreng, Balinese nasi campur, mie goreng, all of which come from Indonesian cuisine and use traditional cooking methods are all very popular traditional dishes.
What Is "Sea Turtle" Satay In Bali?
Turtle Satay is a generic name for satay nowadays in Bali. While they did, once, use turtle meat in satay (from the green turtle). Today, this is against the law and turtle has been replaced with other random meats but the name has stuck.
Mostly, you will find that sea turtle satay in Bali uses pork, now. But any meat may be present including goat, rabbit, beef, chicken, or even seafood depending on the vendor.
Final Thoughts On The Best Balinese Food
If you love food, you will love the local cuisine in Bali. From grilled meats and rice dishes wrapped in banana leaves to a delicious dish of fresh vegetables and finely chopped meat, there's something for everyone here.
We'd also note that if you enjoy good coffee beans, then Bali has great coffee too to wash your food down with.