Melbourne-born Chef Duncan McCance, Executive Chef at Copper Kitchen & Bar, Bisma Eight Ubud, shares his ricotta dumpling recipe for your guilty pleasure.

Recipe: Ricotta dumplings, cardamom parfait & pistachio
Serves 6

Ricotta dumplings
Ingredients:
350g ricotta, plus 120g to finish
60g Caprino goat’s cheese or other soft goat’s cheese
3 eggs
4 tbsp milk
1 ½ tbsp fresh mint, finely chopped
grated zest of 1 orange
160g plain flour, plus a bit more
1 ½ tsp baking powder
50g caster sugar
700 ml sunflower oil for frying
4 tbsp honey, warmed slightly for drizzling
2 tbsp icing sugar for dusting
cinnamon
salt

Orange syrup
Ingredients:
1 orange
100 gr caster sugar

Method:

Beat 350g of ricotta with the goat’s cheese and eggs until fairly smooth. Whisk in the milk, mint and orange zest and set aside.

In a separate bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, sugar and ¼ tsp salt. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients to form a batter, adding more flour if necessary, until you reach a dropping consistency. Set aside for 10 mins to rest.

Heat a small heavy-based saucepan with enough sunflower oil so it rises approximately 4 cm up the side of the pan. When the oil is medium-hot (180°C), gently drop heaped teaspoons of the batter into the oil and cook for 3 to 4 mins, turning occasionally until golden-brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and drain on kitchen paper. Continue with the remaining batter.

Pile the fritters on individual plates and drizzle with warmed honey or cinnamon sugar.

Optional: Serve dumplings with cardamom parfait and pistachio

Copper Kitchen & Bar
Bisma Eight
Jalan Bisma, Ubud
Bali, Indonesia
T: (+62) 361 479 2888
www.copperubud.com

Notes:
Read my gastronomic experience at Copper Kitchen & Bar: But First, Brunch.
This article was published in Foodies — May 2016. 
Photo courtesy of Copper Kitchen & Bar.

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Chef Will Meyrick lives, breathes and eats street food and there is no better chef to bring Indonesia’s diverse cultures together through cuisine. We begged The Street Food Chef for the recipe of his scrumptious squid ink rice from his latest culinary baby Hujan Locale.
 

Recipe: Portuguese squid ink rice with crispy calamari and gremolata aioli

Main ingredients:
2 cups Balinese rice
8 shallots, chopped
8 cloves of garlic, chopped
½ cup white cooking wine
2 bay leaves
1 sprig of thyme
3 tablespoons squid ink
1 litre chicken stock
2 tablespoons Tabasco sauce
¼ cup unsweetened condensed milk
1 small squid, cut into rings
 
Parsley mayonnaise
Ingredients:
½ bunch parsley
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
8 cloves garlic, grated
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 egg yolk
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup salad oil
2 tablespoons salt
1 tablespoon pepper
 
Gremolata
Ingredients:
Lemon zest, chopped*
Garlic, chopped*
Parsley, chopped*
(*equal parts)
 
Garnish:
Lemon wedges
 

Method:
To make the squid ink rice, sweat off the shallots and garlic until soft. Add in the rice and cook until translucent. Deglaze with white cooking wine, add thyme sprig and bay leaves and reduce. Add in chicken stock, squid ink and unsweetened condensed milk. Bring to a boil, cover with foil and steam until the rice is cooked. Stir-fry the black rice with extra garlic, shallots, Tabasco sauce and unsweetened condensed milk. Dust squid in flour seasoned with salt and pepper. Fry it until crispy.

To make the parsley mayonnaise, in a blender, blend egg yolk, mustard, grated garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper until combined. Slowly pour in the oils until a thick mayonnaise is formed. Add chopped parsley and blend until combined into mayonnaise. It should be green in colour. Check to season and adjust to taste.

To assemble the dish, place squid ink rice in the bottom of the bowl and the crispy squid on the top. Garnish with gremolata, lemon wedges and dollops of parsley mayonnaise.

Hujan Locale
Jalan Sri Wedari 5, Ubud
Bali, Indonesia
T: (+62) 361 849 3092
E: reservations@hujanlocale.com
www.hujanlocale.com

Notes:
Read my gastronomic experience at Hujan Locale: Come Rain or Shine.
Get to know Chef Will Meyrick: What’s Eating Will Meyrick.
This article was first published in Asia Dreams, March-April 2015.
Photos courtesy of Will Meyrick & Hujan Locale.

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Hujan Locale landed in Ubud like a welcome tropical rain: refreshing its farms and fields, nourishing our bodies with nature’s bounty and capturing our hearts and souls with its found-and-foraged culinary movement. Be adventurous and try out Chef Will Meyrick‘s pig’s ears recipe from Hujan Locale!

Recipe: Chili and fennel crispy pig’s ears served with roasted chili and garlic aioli

Main ingredients:
100 grams pig’s ears
Dried pork skin
Roasted chilli and garlic aioli
Parsley, chopped as garnish
Lemon cheek

Pig’s ears brine
Ingredients:
1 kg salt
5 litres water
2 litres vinegar
10 cloves garlic, crushed
1 knob ginger approx 3 cm, peeled and crushed
20 grams black peppercorn

Pig’s ears cooking liquor
Ingredients:
2 litres chicken stock
1 tablespoon peppercorns
1 tablespoon salt
1 carrot, big cut
1 onion, big cut
1 bulb garlic, big cut
2 sprigs thyme 

Pig’s ears crumb
Ingredients:
Wheat flour
Egg yolk
Bread crumb

Dried pork skin
Ingredients:
Pork skin
Spice mix
Salt  

Spice mix
Ingredients:
10 grams fennel
10 grams coriander seeds
1 teaspoon large chilli flakes
1 small dried chilli
5 black peppercorn
1 lime, zested

Roasted chilli and garlic aioli
Ingredients:
7 large red chilli
3 bulbs garlic
100 ml olives oil
100 ml salad oil
5 egg yolks
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
1 lemon, juiced

Method:
Soak the pig’s ears in the brine for 4–5 hours. Braise the pig’s ears for 2 hours in cooking liquor until soft. When soft, take out the pig’s ears and hang in the chiller uncovered overnight to dry.

Cut the pig’s ears into julienne strips and toss in the flour, then egg yolks, then breadcrumbs and then deep fry until crispy.

To make the dried pork skin, first wash the pork skin and place in the pot with enough water to cover it. Bring to the boil and cook until soft. Take out and chill on flat trays then remove the excess fat. Dehydrate until dry. Heat some cooking oil, make sure it’s really hot, and then fry the dried pork skin until crispy. Take out and place on the paper towel to dry the excess oil. Sprinkle with spice mix and salt.

To make the roasted chilli and garlic aioli, smoke large red chilli and garlic until cooked. Clean smoked chilli of seeds. Squeeze out the garlic from skins. Blend both smoked chilli and garlic into a paste. Mix egg yolk, mustard, lemon juice and chilli garlic paste. Slowly add olive oil and salad oil, mix until thick. Season with salt last.

To assemble the dish, place the crispy pig’s ears and crispy pork skin on the serving plate, sprinkle with chopped parsley. Served with roasted chilli and garlic aioli and a lime cheek on the side.


Notes:
Read our review of Hujan Locale: Come Rain or Shine.
This article was first published in Exquisite Taste, February-April 2015.
Photo and recipe courtesy of Will Meyrick & Hujan Locale.

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The Laneway at the luxury villa resort Peppers Seminyak is the latest dining experience in Seminyak, Bali’s trendiest address. Serving wholesome, locally sourced Asian-inspired food in a chic, relaxed atmosphere, dining at The Laneway is a real epicurean delight. The chef at The Laneway has shared his flavourful Balinese red duck curry recipe for your enjoyment!

Recipe: Balinese red duck curry

Curry paste recipe
Ingredients:
300 g large red chilli
100 g garlic
75 g ginger
500 g shallot
125 g galangal
100 g lesser galangal
75 g turmeric
2.5 tbsp shrimp paste
2.5 tbsp coriander seed
75 g candlenut
8 pieces cloves
150 ml coconut oil
1.5 tbsp black pepper
4 pieces nutmeg

Method:
Make a paste using a food processor. Sauté until fragrant and let it cool.

Marinade recipe
Ingredients:
5 cm galangal
1 piece lemongrass
50 g shallot
10 g garlic
Chicken stock
Coconut cream
Salam (bay) leaves
Salt
Black pepper

Duck curry recipe
Ingredients:
1 Peking duck leg
1 kaffir lime leaf
45 g curry paste
1 tbsp coconut cream
1 tbsp palm sugar
150 ml chicken stock
30 g long bean
30 g apple eggplant
30 g baby corn
4 cherry tomatoes
2 kaffir lime leaves
Fried lime leaves (garnish)
Fried red chilli (garnish)

Method:
Marinate the duck leg. Put in a sous vide bag and add some coconut water liquid, kaffir lime leaves and salam leaves. Then process on low heat (69°C) for approximately 2.5 hours, or until tender.

Sauté the paste with lime leaves then add the stock. Season with salt, pepper, palm sugar and coconut cream. Let it bubble for a while.

Put the duck leg in, simmer for three minutes and add the vegetables. Once the vegetables are cooked, serve and garnish with fried lime leaves and fried chilli on top.

Notes:
Read our review of The Laneway: Down the Memory Laneway.
This article was first published in Exquisite Taste, February-April 2015.
Photo and recipe courtesy of The Laneway.

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Inspired by the Arabic influences in the flavours and textures of East Javanese dishes, Chef Will Meyrick collected the traditional recipes, learned the cooking techniques, extracted the stories behind them and put his signature spin on them for Sarong, his award-winning restaurant in Bali. This time he’s sharing the recipe of one of my favourite East Javanese dishes: tahu tek or Surabaya tofu salad.

Recipe: Surabaya tofu salad

Main ingredients:
1 piece tofu, fried & cubed
1/2 tsp white pepper powder
1 tsp salt
2 eggs
Potato, boiled
Lontong (rice cake)
Short bean sprouts, blanched
Oil for frying

Peanut sauce
Ingredients:
1 tsp salt
5 tbsp peanuts, fried
Small red chilli, as desired
2 pieces red curly chilli
2 pieces garlic whole, fried
1 tbsp prawn petis
2 tbsp sweet soya
1 tbsp palm sugar, grated
Water

Lontong (rice cake):
Ingredients:
To make 7 – 8 lontong
2 cups uncooked rice, washed & drained
Banana leaves
Tooth picks

Garnish:
Fried shallots
Asian celery, finely sliced
Green shallots, finely sliced
Lime cheek
Prawn crackers
1 tbsp peanut, crushed

Method:
Whisk salt and white pepper powder into the eggs to make the omelette mix. To make the omelette, heat oil in the pan and when it is hot, add in the egg mixture and stir when the egg is starting to stick. Then fold it so it comes together like a roll.

To make the peanut sauce, blend all the ingredients together. If the paste is a little thick, add some water, this will help to get a smoother consistency.

To make the lontong, clean the banana leaves with a clean damp cloth before using. Cut 7-8 pieces of 25cm width. Warm them up a little bit on an open fire briefly. This is a very important step as it helps the banana leaves to stay soft and avoids cracking.

Roll each leaf (lengthwise with the green shiny side in, so your lontong will have a slightly greenish colour) into a cylinder with a diameter of about 15cm. Secure one of the ends with toothpicks.

Put rice into each roll. The amount of rice depends on the length of your rolls, you want to put in rice to less than half the length. If you have a 20cm long roll, put less than 10cm of rice in. This will make sure you don’t have tough lontong. You will be able to make about 7-8 rolls.

Prepare a big pot, tall enough to cover the lontong all the way to the top. This is also another important step, as the lontong must be cooked “standing” inside the pot.

Do not use plastic, as it will melt!

Cook for a minimum of three hours with the lid on. Let them cool for about one hour before opening and slicing them.

For the prawn crackers, heat the vegetable oil until hot. You can test by adding in bread or rice. If it sizzles then you know you are ready to add the dried crackers.

Put the omelette on the plate, arrange the tofu cubes and lontong cubes on top of the omelette and drizzle peanut sauce over the ingredients. Garnish with bean sprouts, Asian celery, green shallots and fried shallots. I like to finish it with crushed peanuts and add the prawn cracker on the side with a slice of lime.

Sarong Restaurant
Jalan Petitenget 19XX, Kuta Utara
Bali, Indonesia
T : +62 (0)812 3634 3386
sarongbali.com

Notes:
Read our review of Sarong Restaurant Bali: A Chef’s Tale: East Java.
This article was first published in Asia Dreams, January-February 2015.
Photo and recipe courtesy of Will Meyrick and Sarong Restaurant Bali.

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