Nasi this-a-way, nasi that-a-way

I'm trying to get my head around Indonesian cuisine. The country is rich with so many culinary influences from its neighbours but is also so large in its own right that there is a wide variety of styles and dishes just within its own borders: Sumatran, Javanese, Sundanese cuisine all contribute their own styles and foods. In North Sulawesi, they even eat bats.

Bali also has its own style. While Indonesia is officially secular, with a majority Muslim population, I would expect to see 'halal' signs in restaurant windows, as we did in Malaysia. In actual fact, Balinese cuisine is heavy on pork and their speciality is roast suckling pig (babi guling).

Appetising

In contrast, beef is not part of traditional Balinese dishes, as the cow is a holy animal to Hindus. However, while beef rendang is an import from neighbouring Sumatra, it and other beef dishes are still popular menu items.

There is little in the way of official recognition of vegetarianism. The animal sacrifices, known as cura and required as part of celebrations - including cock fighting, roasting suckling pig, decapitation of chicks and, oddly, slaughtering of a cow - would make a vegetarian diet hypocritical and untenable. In the tourist zones there are a few vegan cafés with an emphasis on healthy food, but Buddhists and their 'pure vegetarian' diet are few and far between in Bali.

However, there are some Indonesian dishes that are quite naturally vegetarian. My favourite of these so far is gudeg, a jackfruit curry from Yogyakarta. Closely following these in my affections are two similar dishes from Java, pecel and gado-gado, both of which involve blanched vegetables and a spicy peanut sauce.

Many of the above dishes are often  served with rice, in which case the word nasi is prepended - nasi pecel, nasi gudeg. As in many SE Asian countries, the Indonesians are fond of rice plus a selection of side dishes. Nasi campur, meaning 'mixed rice' is the general term for this where the rice is simply steamed. There are other variations, in which the rice is cooked with coconut milk and pandan leaves, nasi uduk, or cooked with turmeric and formed into a flamboyant yellow cone surrounded by its accompaniments (nasi tumpeng).

Given Indonesian's love of tofu and tempeh, many of the side dishes are vegetarian and so judicious selection can yield an excellent and varied meal. Nasi padang looked like a good bet and is instantly recognisable from its pretty window display of stacked plates.

Masakan Padang stacked plates

I was put off when I discovered that the accompanying dishes seem to be have been prepared from the cow's fifth (and possibly sixth) quarter. In Padang cuisine, the individual gulai (curries) that one can find involve cow foot tendons, tripe, cow intestines filled with eggs and tofu, cow spleen, cow liver, cow brain, cow bone marrow, and cow fat. Suddenly, I wasn't so hungry, so I took a walk along the Badung River.

Three fishermen, all in a row

Despite running through the capital city before emptying into the sea in the south, people still fish in the river.

Casting the net

It was a pleasant stroll along the riverbank, watching the activity in the small 'communes' that form the residential areas here. There was even a tiny bit less traffic on the towpath.

Having worked up an appetite, I set to making our own version of nasi campur - rice and stuff.

Nasi campur

In this case, the 'stuff' was soft-cooked aubergine in sambal, mushrooms in oyster sauce, garlicky kangkung, and tofu in soy sauce. Served with a peanut rempeyek cracker and, naturally, rice.