Learn to cook Balinese style.

Learn how to recreate the flavours of Bali at the Villa Kropak Cooking School. Our villa chef, Wayan Puja will guide you through the preparation, cooking and presentation of authentic Balinese and Indonesian recipes. The ingredients list includes herbs and spices from our villa gardens as well as fresh, local produce. And, when the lesson is over, you get to eat your meal!

The Cooking School is held on the terrace of the main villa on the lower level of the property. It begins with an optional shopping trip to the nearby morning markets followed by two hours of hands-on instruction. Puja and his staff will assemble everything you need from the raw ingredients to preparation tools and cooking pots then guide you through how to cook five delicious authentic recipes.

The key to Indonesian cooking is preparation, from chopping the herbs and spices which give the food its distinctive flavour base to combining the fresh ingredients and cooking them using the time-honoured techniques.

Our cooking school is open to all villa guests and children over the age of 10 years are welcome too. Cost $AUD 40.00 per adult, children $AUD 35.00, which includes the early morning market visit; purchase of all ingredients, a two-hour lesson and your five-course meal afterwards.

Serves 2

Preparation of the Flavour Base

The key to Indonesian cooking is preparation. The following combination of fresh spices, vegetables and herbs provides the flavour base for the recipes you will learn to cook.
Garlic, shallots (French shallots or eschallots), ginger, white turmeric (for flavour), yellow turmeric (for colour and flavour), long red chilli, gulan (galangal). These are all chopped very finely and assembled on a large plate (as shown).

Ingredients

• Prepared flavour base
• 200 grams tuna filets
• Shrimp paste
• ½ tsp coriander seeds
• 1 bay leaf
• Additional finely chopped red chilli (if desired)
• 8 -10 medium sized tomatoes
• 2-3 fresh banana leaves
• Toothpicks for securing
• Steamed white rice, to serve

• Add four tablespoons of the prepared flavour base to a mortar and pestle, plus one teaspoon of shrimp paste and salt to taste. Blend until a smooth paste has been created (as shown)

• Cut the tomatoes into wedges

• Cut the banana leaves into even square shapes, allow three or four per serve

• Roll the tuna strips and tomato wedges in the paste, coating evenly (as shown)

• Place all wrapped parcels onto the tray of a steamer. Make sure water is boiling gently and steam until the mixture is cooked through, approx. 15 minutes.

• Serve with white rice and garnish with tomato wedges