Do you like chocolate or panna cotta? Forget about it when you travel to Asia because any asian sweets will absolutely blow your mind. Aсid colors, salty taste, stringy texture. Balinese sweets can become a big discovery for you. Maybe not the tastiest one but definitely very interesting and unforgettable.
One day I took all my courage with me and went to a local shop in Bali to buy some new sweets to try. What can I say. Me and my 3 roommates couldn’t finish those sweets during 2 weeks I think. But at least I have colorful photos now.
Roti kukus – bali style steamed cupcakes made from eggs, icing sugar, flour, coconut milk, Sprite and natural food colorings: cocoa powder, strawberry and green pandan leaves. They are actually pretty good and remind me colorful edible clouds.
Reta – super green, dry and crunchy things made from pandan leaves and melted icing sugar.
Getuk lindri – made from cassava (type of root, something like potato), sugar, salt, vanilla, food colorings and desiccated coconut. Mixed ingredients are passed through a mincer, shaped into an oval, cut into 5cm strips and sprinkled with coconut.
Timus singkong – deep fried pastry made from sweet potato.
Onde Onde – sweet rice flour dough with nuts inside and sesame seeds outside.
Lupis Gula Merah – salty jelly made from brown sugar, vanillin, salt, flour and gelatin.
Sari muka – two layered dessert. The lower layer is made from coconut milk, salt and rice. Rice should be pre-soaked for 4 hours and dried. Top layer is a mixture of egg, icing sugar, pandan leaves, water, coconut milk, flour, tapioca, and salt.
Tiwul – cassava + desiccated coconut. Reminds me crumbled soft cookies.
Dodol – sticky, thick and sweet thing which is something like toffee. It’s made from coconut milk, palm sugar and rice flour. The mixture is boiled in a wok style cauldron during 9 hours. Throughout the time dodol should be stirred constantly, in case of pause the taste and dessert aroma will be spoiled. Dodol wrapped in coconut leaves, corn ears or in small plastic bags.
Kue jagung – rice pudding with natural food colorings.
Lupis – rice dessert which is cooked during 4 hours in banana leaves. It’s served with coconut and melted palm sugar.
Ongol Gula Merah – brown sugar and rice flour soft jelly-like with tapioca inside. Tastes like something between a creme brulee and caramel.
Klepon – sweet rice flour things with melted brown sugar inside. Green color comes probably from pandan leaves like pretty much every green stuff in Asia.
Jelly desserts: Red Kue Ku, black strip of Dodol with sesame seeds, bananas in pink and white jelly, black jelly with desiccated coconut.