Breakfast favorites

Coconut yogurt with cereals and fresh blueberries

Oatmeal with coconut milk and fresh fruits @ Hungry Bird in Bali

Yogurt, dragonfruit, coconut milk, cereals and nuts @ betelnut in Bali

Smoothie with yogurt, blackberries, blueberries, lime and mint

Mushrooms on toast with aioli @ cratecafe Bali

Cortado at Hungry bird in Bali

Ubud rice paddy

Rice paddy in Ubud, Bali.

Pork & Cabbage Dumplings

For 4 Person (ca. 60 dumplings)

1kg   ground pork
640g flour
400-500ml water
1    large white cabbage
8    cloves of garlic
1    large egg
3    tablespoon soy sauce
1    teaspoon sesame oil
1    teaspoon salt
1    teaspoon pepper
1    teaspoon corn starch

1. For the dough combine flour and water in a bowl. You have to knead the dough around 5 minutes until it’s very smooth and free of air bubbles. Roll into a ball and set aside.

2. Clean white cabbage under running water and cut in pieces, then use a food processor to get it very fine. Set aside in a bowl. Chop garlic very finely and give it into a bowl with the ground pork.

3. Press all the liquid out of the chopped cabbage (you can use your hands or a cheese fabric). It has to be as dry as possible; otherwise the dumplings get too soft. Mix it together with the ground pork and garlic and add salt, pepper, egg, soy sauce, sesame oil and corn starch until well combined and set aside in the fridge.

4. Now to the fun part: Roll the dumpling skins! Cut a piece out from the dough and roll I into a finger thick roll. Cut the roll into small pieces (0,5cm x1cm). Then roll the pieces into small balls and flatten them with a bottle or pastry roller. They should be thin like a paper sheet and about the size of your palm.

5. When you’re done with the skins gibe a tablespoon of the pork filling in the middle and fold the skin end on end. Start with the folding from one side, in one direction. The dumpling will get the fort of a half moon or U.

6. Give dumplings into a large saucepan with hot oil and roast until the bottom is browned well. Then add one cup water or chicken broth and let it simmer with closed lid until the liquid is boiled away.

7. Serve hot with dumpling sauce*. Enjoy!

• For 1 portion mix 3 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sweet soy sauce, 1 teaspoon freshly chopped chili, 1 teaspoon black vinegar (or rice vinegar) and ½ teaspoon chopped fresh garlic. Add a few drops sesame oil!

Magical tree

Holy old tree in Ubud, Bali, Indonesia.

One pot linguine – Phat Thai style

The one pot technique is a method i recently tried for the first time, and now absolutely adore! It’s so simple and quick and the pasta is full of flavors. And you only need to clean one pot afterwards! I love phat thai noodles, so I mixed typical ingredients of this dish in the pasta pot.

For 2 portions

250g linguine (the cooking time for rice noodles is too short for the veggies)
80g peanuts (roasted and salted; I used a sort with chili and salt)
1carrot
1onion or 3 spring onions
1 red capsicum
2 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 piece of ginger
3 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon sweet soy sauce
1 teaspoon red chili flakes
4 limes (from 2 only the juice)
3 cups vegetable broth
2 tablespoon peanut butter
Peanuts, chili and lime for the decoration, optional fresh coriander

1. Clean carrot and capsicum and cut in thin stripes. Peel ginger and garlic and chop finely; peel onion, cut in half and slice finely. Clean 2 limes and cut in half.
2. Place all ingredients in a large pot (except sesame oil, juice of 2 lemons and peanuts).

Close the lit and bring to a boil, then let it simmer for 11 minutes until the pasta is aldente and the liquid reduced to a creamy sauce. Stir every 2 minutes to avoid that the pasta gets sticky, add peanuts after 5 minutes cooking time.

3. Season to taste with salt and pepper and add sesame oil; arrange on plates and garnish with lime juice, peanuts and chili. Enjoy!

Mulberry Mango smoothie

For 2 glasses

1        large ripe mango
50g    mulberries
400ml water
3-4     ice cubes

Optional 1 Tablespoon honey, a pinch of vanilla

1. Peel mango and cut in pieces around the hard inner part; clean the mulberries under running water and put asinde. Give mango pieces in a blender with 300ml water and blend for 1-2 minutes until creamy. Fill in glasses and clean the blender shortly under running water.

2. Add the mulberries in the blender with the remaining water, ice cubes and optional honey and valilla (sometimes they are a bit sour…). Blend for 1-2 minutes until it looks smooth, then slowly add in your smoothie glasses with the mango part. To get a few swirls of mulberry in your smoothie use a fork or eating stick and mix carefully.

The colors in that drink look so amazing, it’s like sunset in a glass; also a great smoothie for Kids.

Ladies time @ Petitenget, Seminyak

Fish & chips

Petitenget is a nice place to go if you want to have high quality, light meals in decent colonial atmosphere. The bar at the entrance is very elegant and classy, a good place to wait for a table, in case you don’t have a reservation (it’s wise to make one if you are 4 people or more).
They offer a great selection of healthy and light meals and wines from France, New Zealand, Italy and Australia. We went there for a ladies lunch in hot weather and all craved for something fresh, aromatic and light (except for the dessert of course…). We ordered Fish & Chips, Snapper Fillet, Salad with BBQ Tiger Prawns, The Wagyu beef burger and the poached chicken salad for main course.

The prices are a pit above the average, but once in a while it’s ok…and the quality of the food is very high. We paid 74,000rp (5,00€) for the Prawn salad and snapper fillet, 86,000rp (5,70€) for the burger and 70,000rp (4,60€) for the fish and chips. The taste of all dishes was amazing; I especially liked the Prawn salad with a combination of Tiger prawns, coconut, mint, pomelo and coriander.
For dessert we ordered Lemon panna cotta, tiramisu and chocolate tart, for 40.000rp (2,60€) each. My favorite was the panna cotta with lemon, poppy seeds and fresh fruits.

Lucky cow

Lucky cow in the jungle close to Ubud, Bali.

Mango Smoothie

For 2 glasses

1-2  ripe mangos

300ml water

3-4 icecubes

1    pinch of vanilla

1. Peel mangos and cut the flesh in pieces; give them into the blender together with the other ingredients. Blend for 2 minutes until the consistence is creamy and smooth.
2. Enjoy!

It is maybe one of the simplest smoothie recipes in the world, but also one of my favorites. A ripe mango just has an amazing flavor, and it makes me truly happy that the season in Bali just started again…

Steamed Chinese Chicken Buns

For 8-10 pcs

Dough:

380g  flour
1 1/2 tsp yeast (regular one or super GS for Bak Pau)
1      tsp baking powder
85g   powder sugar
150ml water
20g   white margarine
1/2    tsp salt

Filling:

160g  chicken (breast or tights)
1        onion
4        cloves of garlic
1        Tbs Oyster sauce
1        Tbs Sweet soy sauce
1        Tsp salt
2        Tsp white pepper
1        Tsp sesame oil
1        Tsp corn starch (with 2 Tsp water)

1. Mix 200g flour, 10g powder sugar and 1,5 tsp yeast in a bowl, then add 110 water (best is room temperature); mix everything well and knead for 5 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Cover the bowl with a wet kitchen towel and put aside at a warm place. The dough hast to sit 1 hour to rise.

2. Bring a pot with 500 ml water to a boil and add the chicken; let it simmer for about 15 minutes (you need the broth for the filling). Chop onions and garlic finely and put aside separately. When the chicken is cooked, remove it from the broth and cut into small cubes.

3. Heat up a pan with 1 tablespoon oil and add onion cubes; roast for about 2 minutes before adding garlic and chicken. Roast for another 1-2 minutes, then add soy sauce, oyster sauce, pepper, salt and 100ml chicken broth; turn down the heat and let it simmer for about five minutes. Add the water-cornstarch mixture and stir very well, the sauce will thicken a little so it’s not too liquid as bun filling. When the consistence is a bit jelly, turn off the heat and add sesame oil (you add it last because it gets bitter very easy over too much heat).

4. When the dough was sitting for one hour, it should have doubled in size. Now remove it from the bowl and put aside on a plate. Add 180g flour, baking powder, 175g powder sugar, margarine, salt and 40ml water in the bowl. Mix it together with the dough you already made. Knead very well for several minutes until the dough is very smooth, elastic and even.

5. Now you can make your first bun. Remove a piece of the dough and flatten it on the table (sprinkle with a little bit flour before). It should be 3-4mm thick and cover the size of your hand. Add one tbs filling in the middle and close the bun (if you practice a bit you can close it with folds, but in the beginning just close it like a little sack).

6. Cut out a piece of baking paper in the size of the bun and put the bun on top of it (I put the bund upside down, to have an even surface. It looks nicer if you are not able to close the buns using the folding method.

7. Repeat for 8-10 buns until the dough is finished. Then heat up a steaming pot and add the buns; steam for 10 minutes. Remove from the pot and let them cool down for 5-10 minutes before serving. Enjoy!