Bali’s culinary experience is as exciting as its beach landscape. Its food is full of colorful taste, traditional customs, and amazing stories behind. There are many high-end restaurants in Bali worth visiting, but they won’t give you full Balinese experience as much as when you try the affordable but rich street food.
However, many Balinese food contain pork so that many Moslem tourists should be really careful before deciding to taste the food. However, don’t worry, there are still many street food stalls in Bali which are Moslem-friendly, but still give an extraordinary taste. Also check these halal foods in Bali.
Here they are, the 6 mouth-watering street food in Bali you must try. If you’re vegetarian, don’t worry, you can check the list of traditional vegetarian food in Bali.
- Sate Lilit
Sate lilit or satay, is basically pieces of grilled meat on skewers. It is one of the famous Indonesian dishes as it can be found in both fine dining restaurants and local street food vendors. Almost every region in Indonesia has their own satay variant with its distinctive taste.
Sate lilit is satay dish coming from Bali. It can be made of pork, chicken, or fish, which is minced, soaked with grated coconut, coconut milk and other spices. Then, it is wrapped around the sticks before being grilled.
Most satay dishes in Indonesia are served with various condiments, however, additional sauce is optional for sate lilit. It is because the satay has a delicious combination of taste, including spicy, savory and sweet.
- Nasi Jinggo
Indonesian people love eating rice, including Balinese people. Nasi Jinggo is a rice dish served with vegetables and condiments. It is packed inside a banana leaf. Tourists can only find Nasi Jinggo in small portions, so one portion is never enough. There’s a saying that you can fit the dish a whole one in the palm of your hand, making it perfect as on-the-go meal. It is affordable too!
Nasi Jinggo can be mostly found in every main street in Bali, both sold on food street kiosks or motorcycles. There are some options for side dish you can choose, such as fish, beef, chicken, seafood and eggs.
- Pisang Rai
Bali is located in an equatorial paradise, so finding tropical fruits, such as banana and coconut is easy. When you combine coconut and banana, then you will get Pisang Rai, a must-try dish when you visit Bali.
This dish is made from banana which is wrapped in rice flour, tapioca flour, and coconut milk. Then, as the final touch, it is sprinkled with grated coconut on top of it. The texture of this dish is really soft and the taste is the mixture of sweet and savory.
Many street vendors offer an additional sauce made of brown sugar and pineapple pieces so that the tropical feel is much stronger.
- Laklak
What is laklak? Laklak is a traditional Balinese cake made from rice flour and coconut milk. It has green color which is obtained from suji and pandan leaves. This snack is often served with grated coconut or a brown sugar sauce with jackfruit. This mixture gives a distinctive fresh, sweet and savory taste.
You can enjoy laklak as the companion of your morning coffee or tea, or as a sweet dessert.
- Rujak Kuah Pindang
Rujak is an Indonesian fruit salad with traditional dressing. In Indonesia, there are many types of rujak. Bali has rujak kuah pindang, which is rather quirky compared to others.
Most rujak dressings are made of brown sugar or peanut sauce, however, the Balinese use their abundant seafood products to enhance the flavor. Tuna and other spices are used to create the the dressing of rujak kuah pindang.
There are some fruits you can find in rujak kuah pindang, such as snake fruit, guava, pineapple, mango, apples and others. I bet you’d never thought that fruit salads never get along with seafood and you will change your mind once you try rujak kuah pindang!
- Nasi Tepeng
Besides Nasi Jinggo, Bali also has Nasi Tepeng. This is a common breakfast dish in Bali, especially in Gianyar area. When you’re in Gianyar, make sure to put these things to do in Gianyar Bali on your list! Many street vendors sell this dish in the morning by using their cart.
The locals love the solid-but-soft texture of the rice, which is somewhere between porridge and rice. There are also some toppings you can add to nasi tepeng, such as fried chicken, eggs, beans, eggplant and jackfruit. All of them are served on banana leaves.
Some other areas in Indonesia also have recommended street food to try just like street food spots in Jakarta and street foods in Bogor. When you visit those areas, make sure to taste their street food too!