Lawar Barak: The Real Bali Food They Never Tell You

-

Do you know Bali well enough that you've tried this food before? The food that I am talking about here is called lawar. It is made of mixture of spices and sliced and minced pork. But there is another special ingredient that is going to blow your mind; it is raw pig blood.


Lawar is a special food for Balinese. People make lawar on special occasion like holy day or temple festival. (There is a Holy Day coming next week called Galungan, I will write about it in a few days). It can also be found at wedding feast, or tooth filling ceremony. You can buy lawar at food stall all over Bali, especially those selling suckling pig.


Is it really raw blood?


Before we go on to that discussion, let see what are the ingredients needed to make lawar. First, we need a complete combination of spices (called Basa genep). The Basa Genep consists of onion, garlic, pepper, turmeric, chili, salt, ketumbar (I'll have to check the English translation later), fried onion, shrimp paste, and ginger. What do we do with all those? Well, we will grind it with mortar and pester until it turns soft. On the mean time, the pork is boiled in hot water.


Okay here is the complete walk through (?)



  • Grind the basa genep, and fry it half cooked in coconut oil.

  • Boil the pork ( preferably the skin part), when it is well cooked, put it out, slice it and mince it.

  • Prepare coconut, and grate it. Use the Bali grater, please.

  • Put the raw blood on the bowl and pour it with coconut oil, and mixed it. (the oil first must be fried until half cooked, it must not be hot.)

  • Mix the grated coconut with the raw blood and the basa genep.

  • Mix the all these; grated coconut, raw blood, and the minced pork together.

  • Put the fried onion, and bay leaf.

  • Well, that's it. Your lawar is ready to be served.


If you suspect you can have Bali belly, don't try it. Please consult your doctor before doing this. Do not this try at home without any supervision of any adult member of family. I don't personally consume lawar barak, Kentucky Fried Chicken is more appealing to me. But there are many, many, many people in Bali that will feel more than happy to eat the special meal we call lawar barak.


Tags: , , ,

Comments

  1. Anonymous12:16 AM

    I enjoy reading your blog-Very good sense of humour and very lively.

    Anyway Ketumbar in English is Coriander

    Good Day to you!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Swastika symbol in Bali?

-
Swastika sign can be seen in Bali, especially in Balinese Hindu temple. I must say almost all the Hindu Balinese are familiar to this symbol. Besides temple, one can also see it in houses, or community building. Even the 'Swastika' word is used as a person name, for example, Ketut Swastika. But why and what does Swastika mean? It simply means balance in relationship. The Balinese Hindu see the life is ideal when they live a balanced life indicated by three good relationship. The first is good relationship between human and the Almighty God. All the festivals, offering in temples, praying activity that you witness in Bali are examples that the Balinese really long for a great relationship with Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa, The Almighty God. Next, the harmonious relationship among the human race. The Balinese values good relationship between themselves. Many activities in villages in Bali involve community of villagers . When one family in a certain village hold a ceremony such as cr
Read more

The Journey to the North Bali

-
Image
Going on a tour to North Bali can be exciting if you enjoy watching the lush area of Bali with the view of hills and lakes. There are many places to visit to enjoy the scenery and breath fresh air along the road. Your first stop is at Pacung village where you can see beautiful scenery of rice field and vegetables plantation. The farmers of this village plant many kind of vegetables like cabbages, potatoes, carrots, and radish. Along the way you will also find various kind of flowers grown in the farmers field like marigold, or roses. There is also special flowers they grow for making religious offerings. They sell their crops in markets in Denpasar and in Bedugul which is your next stop. Bedugul is a local market where you can find spices, flowers, and vegetables. Well, I don't think you will be doing any cooking on your vacation in Bali, so there is no need to haggle for vegetables. But, it is a very colourful pasar (pasar is the word for market in Indonesian or Balinese). As
Read more

Bali Shanti Shanti Shanti; The Brand New Bali

-
Image
For centuries, the number three is very important in Bali'nese Hindu in Bali island. For example, the number 3 can be clearly seen in the brand new logo of Bali introduced in June 2007. First, the shape is a triangle. The triangle actually means stability and harmony. Besides, it also represent the three manifestation of God, Brahma (the creator), Wisnu (the preserver) and Siva (the sin destroyer). The Balinese belief in the existence of 3 worlds, called Bhur, Bwah, and Swah which is also indicated by the triangel. There is three stages of life, birth, life and death. Next, the popular concept of Tri Hita Karana (three that causes happiness) does underlie the idea of the new logo of Bali. It is the THK that actually is believed to be responsible to the peaceful feeling and harmony the visitors feel when they step their foot on the Bali island. What are those three creating happiness? The three things that causes happiness are Parahyangan : the harmonious relationship between men an
Read more