Living in Bali affords one many benefits. One of the best is being able to step outside and sample some of the local street food. This afternoon while walking down Jl. Legian I noticed there was a ceremony about start at Pura Desa Legian. Across the street in a parking area, local in Balinese costume were buying pork sate and soft drinks from vendors.
The smell of pork sate was a warning of how good it tasted. A large Balinese woman and man worked the low standing sate grill and moved sticks of sizzling meat around as they neared completion. My 10 sticks cost 5,000rp and were covered in a spicy sauce. Wrapped in a simple brown paper packet, a pinch of salt and a crushed orange chili were added for the ultimate pleasure. Walking along Jl. Legian enjoying this snack, the thought came to me that nowhere else does sate (satay) like this. Sure there are Madurese (people from Madura, Java) and others are banging out sate all over the place and the Thai’s know their stuff too, but the Balinese have really captured the taste. If you see a streetside sate vendor with a cart, he is going to cook the sate, then place it in a packet of peanut sauce, with sweet kecap (soy sauce) and chopped garlic. It tastes pretty good, but does not come close to the tangy, spicy flavour the Balinese sate vendors come up with.
In my opinion Balinese food deserves credit when put on a world scale. It has a unique style and flavour that takes a while to appreciate. The one outstanding item though, is the pork sate, which would impress any chef around the world.
Visitors to Bali, when you see a Balinese ceremony on the beach, or next to a temple, look out for a smoking grill just off of the ground. Ask the person “ada sate babi?” (you have pork sate?) If the answer is “Ada (have), buy yourself a portion and enjoy it slowly.
Sate babi (pork sate) is a true Bali treat.
