Best of Indonesia

Bali’s four chefs share their insights of the post-coronavirus dining landscape as well as favourite easy recipes to try at home.

Top Bali chefs share recipes for comfort meals

“There is no better time to grow your own food than now. Use local and seasonal produce in your cooking because by doing so, you are helping your local community. Make sure that you nourish your body with the essential nutrition through what you eat.”

DEAN NOR

Executive Chef, Tanah Gajah, a Resort by Hadiprana

The chef has been long known for championing local produce and sustainability. The Singapore-native has created an organic garden on the lush ground of the resort in Ubud. Vegetables, herbs and spices grow abundantly – providing lucky guests with freshly picked produce in their salad bowls or morning smoothies.

“I think the F&B industry will never be the same. Restaurants will see fewer guests than usual and physical distancing will be the norm. One of the biggest challenges is how to gain the customer’s trust, in terms of hygiene and food preparation. But, this will be a good opportunity for the F&B industry to level up and make sure that their restaurants are up to the food safety standard,” says Nor. The resort’s intimate dining offers can be a model of what a future dining experience would possibly be like. Be it the couple’s Farm-to-table experience or the small group Picnic Lunch, intimate dining will be de rigueur in the postcoronavirus landscape. Tuna Nori Serves 2 Prep time 20 minutes Cook time 20 minutes

Ingredients

• 200g sashimi grade tuna fillet • 15g dried Japanese seaweed (nori) • 100g shallots • 200ml red wine, preferably Shiraz

Purple potato puree

• 1kg purple potatoes • 200g unsalted butter • 30ml cooking cream > Boil the potato until it is cooked through. Drain and peel it while still warm. Put it in the food processor, add the unsalted butter, cooking cream, salt, and pepper to taste.

Garnishes

• Cherry tomatoes • Cucumber, sliced • Fennel, soaked in iced water

Cooking method

1. Season tuna with salt and pepper. 2. Using a plastic film, roll the tuna into a cylindrical shape and let it rest in the refrigerator for one hour 3. Blend the dried seaweed into powder and put aside. 4. Sauté the shallots, add Shiraz and reduce until the shallots are caramelised. Add salt and pepper to taste. 5. After one hour, remove the plastic film from the tuna and pan-sear it on a non-stick pan for two to three minutes on each side. 6. Roll the tuna over seaweed powder. 7. Ready to be plated with purple potato puree, caramelised shallots, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and fennel.