Ingredients for Balinese Cooking
You can buy most of these ingredients - and their readily available substitutes - in a good supermarket. But for a culinary adventure, explore Asian, Indian, and Mexican food markets.
Galangal (isen): Fresh root, also known as laos or galingale. Resembles fresh ginger but has a thinner, translucent skin and more astringent flavor.
Lemon grass (sereh): Thick, rough, pale green stalks with a citrus scent and flavor.
Liquid tamarind concentrate: Tart brown fruit puree sold ready to use in Indian supermarkets (do not substitute the almost black, pastelike concentrate). You can make your own from tamarind pulp. Soak about % cup pulp in 1/2 cup hot water until pulp is soft, 3 to 4 minutes. With your hand, squeeze pulp off seeds, then rub mixture through a fine strainer into a bowl. Makes about 1/4 cup. Measure amount needed and chill or freeze remainder for other uses.
Palm sugar (guta bali): Ivory- to light-caramel-colored cakes of sugar with flavor extracted from coconut flower or palm; similar to brown sugar.
Shrimp-flavor crackers (krupuk): Dried crackers typically made from shrimp and various flours, such as tapioca. Ready-to-eat chips are sometimes sold alongside snack foods like potato chips. But for freshest flavor, fry uncooked crackers or chips. The Indonesian versions are large cream-colored rectangles or small wafers with a strong shrimp flavor. Milder-flavored Chinese chips are thin, translucent, white or pastel wafers.
Sweet rice (nasi ketan): Glutinous rice that cooks up sticky and sweet. The unhulled rice is black and turns purplish black when cooked. The hulled rice is white.
Sweet soy sauce (kecap manis): Sweetened, slightly thick soy sauce.
Thai chilies (hang prik): Fresh, explosive chilies 3 to 4 inches long, 1/2 to 3/4 inch wide.
Thai red curry paste: Ready-to-use paste made from chilies, lemon grass, garlic, and spices. Tends to be very hot.
