Ayam Bumbu Bali (Chicken in Bali spices)

Bali is probably the most celebrated tourist destination in Indonesia. This rather small island offers quite diverse attraction to everyone. For the youngsters who love the crowd, Kuta and the surroundings is the place to go, the night life who start around 10 p.m. till morning, the long stretched Kuta Beach for those who wanted to watch the sunsets or learning surfing and the shops along Legian streets for bargain stuffs from t'shirt to sandals, silver jeweleries to sculpture and home decors arts.

If you prefer a more village atmosphere, Ubud probably the best place to stay. Here you can walk around the paddy fields, watching the monkey at Monkey Forests, Rafting at Ayung rivers, or just a visit to the palace and the market in the opposite, visiting the house of Blanco and see his paintings as well as other Balinese artists and enjoying the Balinese dance in the evening.

Some people who fancy hilly  areas, Bali region of Tabanan offers hiking activity and eco-tourism around Batukaru. This quite place by the foot of the mountain equipped with small villas and bungalow with direct access to your own small rivers and the birds singing at all time.

But if you are a lover of a quiet rather small beaches like me, then the travel to Bali is like an adventure, which is to find new places where most people did not go. One of the places which is not too crowded is the east coast of Bali. Yes, I am talking about Amed in Tulamben. This quite village stretched by the sea facing Lombok straits is one of my favorite place. Well it did not have that white sandy beach like Kuta but it's a nice place to go snorkeling and diving.

During a stay in Amed few years ago, I dined at Amed Cafe, one of the cafe in the areas where restaurants are quite limited. This cafe is part of the bigger Amed Hotel. I tried this ayam bumbu Bali. The pre-fried spicy chicken is served with white rice and bit of salads. It goes well with my cold lemon juice and the wind breeze over this restaurant by the beach. I was wondering how come this delicious Balinese style dish wasn't that famous like that of bebek betutu (Balinese dish made of duck). This dish has been my favorite ever since and for sure anytime I go to Bali I am looking forward to enjoy this spicy chicken again and again :)

So here is the recipe of ayam bumbu Bali. Btw, I did not pre-fried the chicken like most restaurant would do.

Ingredients:

5 pcs of chicken
1 cm galangal; sliced thinly
1 cm ginger; crushed
3 bay leaves
3 keffir lime leaves; take out the stem and sliced thinly
1 big tomatoes; sliced
3 tbs Indonesian sweet soy sauce
1 tbs sugar
vegetable oil

Ground Ingredients (processed in food processor):

3-4 thai chillies
4 shallot
3 onions
3 candle nuts
1 cm ginger
1-2 tbs trassi (shrimp paste)

Directions:

1. Clean the chicken add a bit salt and lime, set aside for 5-10 minutes (you can fry it a bit)
2. Heat the pan, then add 5-6 tbs vegetable oil when it is heated add the ground ingredients till fragrant, add the leaves, galangal, ginger, tomatoes, and sweet soy sauce.
3. Add the chicken in and stir for few minutes till it is well cooked.
4. Serve with rice and sambal matah ala Bali