writing for self-discovery

Purple-blue turns pale. A palm in silhouette salutes the sunrise as awakening creatures spill their joy in raucous sound. It’s Bali, and it’s morning!

The morning view from my pillow

There is nothing quite as delicious as waking up with the sun. My circadian rhythms are synced with dawn. I can’t help it. Once the sky lightens, further effort to sleep is futile.

I love breakfast almost as much as I love morning. The two are inseparable. And the only thing that could improve upon breakfast is having it prepared FOR me and served TO me. (But not in bed. I’m not a fan of breakfast in bed.) So when Belos peeks his head around the corner at about 8:30 a.m. and asks if I want makan pagi, life is very good indeed.

There is always a bowl of fresh pineapple, banana, and papaya. But the main dish is a new treat every day. Here are some photos of what’s been on the menu lately.

Toast packet with banana filling

Everything tastes wonderful when it’s served on the balcony. And there are no flies. Those nasties ruined more than one picnic in Minnesota!

Over-easy egg on toast

The egg is perfectly round. Belos cooks. I’ll have to ask him how he does that!

Banana Pancake

There’s nothing that says Bali better than a banana pancake! It’s crepe-like and stuffed with bananas that have been lightly sautéed in palm sugar. There’s a mound of fresh shaved coconut on top and a palm sugar syrup that beats maple all hollow! I feel porky just looking at it! This dish is guaranteed to put meat on your bones!

Green Omelette

Here’s another scrumptious favorite!  Water spinach, leeks and green chilies are added to the eggs. If I had prepared this, it would look more like the state of Alaska than a golden half-moon!

Balinese Kue

But Balinese Kue is my favorite and it’s always different. Sometimes it arrives wrapped in steamed banana leaf packets held tight with slivers of bamboo. Inside is glutinous rice with various fillings, coconut, peanut, palm sugar, and mung bean to name a few.  Another variety of kue is made with agar-agar, a gelatinous seaweed extract. The end result resembles jello jigglers. Yet another type shows up in stripes, typically green and brown or pink and brown. Maybe it’s bean paste. Maybe not. Then there are sesame balls stuffed with something delicious that shall remain a mystery! But this morning kue was a fried coconut patty and two fluffy confections called Kue Mangkok. And because I just know you are dying to make this yourself, here’s the recipe! Sorry about the metric measurements! Google conversion charts and you’ll be fine.

KUE MONGKOK

INGREDIENTS:

350 grams rice flour
some water
150 grams all purpose flour
400 grams sugar
200 cc warm water
2 Tsp baking soda
250 cc club soda
200 grams fermented cassava / tapioca (tape singkong)
1 Tsp vanilla
food coloring (your choice of 3 or 4 colors)
salt to taste

PREPARATION:

Add enough water to the rice flour so that its weight increases to 500
grams. Add the all purpose flour to the rice flour mixture and stir
well. Add the fermented tapioca and sugar. Mix well. Add the warm water
and work the dough for about 10 minutes.-Add the baking soda, the club
soda and vanilla. Mix until everything is evenly distributed. Finally,
add the food coloring and blend until smooth. Warm the cup molds for
about 5 minutes and fill it for about 4/5 full. Put in a steamer with
the water already at a rolling boil. Steam for about 20 minutes.

I’m told these can be made in a rice cooker. It will never happen in mine! I failed to get the domestic goddess gene. My sister has it, as do my three daughters. Even my brother can do cartwheels around me in the kitchen. They love to cook. But me? I love anyone who will cook for me!