June 28, 2010 Close to Ubud, Bali: Street Food

On the way back to the hotel from our expedition, still pretty buzzed from the coffee, we stopped at a road side store so that Ben could purchase some Balinese beer and a package of clove cigarettes to bring back to a friend. Outside the store was a small food cart with a very cute young fellow hanging out, waiting for business. We ordered a king-sized omelet—without having the faintest idea what that might turn out to be. It cost 23,000 Indonesian rupieh or about $2.30. Basically I wanted (1) to give this young fellow some business (2) to eat some street food for which Bali is famous and (3) to see what he would produce and take pictures of the process. I was successful on all fronts.

First he mixed up some eggs and green onions in a metal cup.











Next he twirled the pastry until it was incredibly thin, slipped it into some hot oil, and poured the egg mixture into the middle.




















He skillfully folded the pastry around the egg, basting it with the hot fat until it was crispy and golden, drained off some of the oil, and cut it into small serving pieces.

Enough food for a party of 10 or 12. We took our box back to the hotel and the four of us ate the contents with glasses of beer. Probably not a wise thing to do just before going to dinner. But it was delicious--the perfect street food.