Ramadan 2010 is just around the corner, its first day starting on 11 August until 9 September. Ramadan is the ninth month of the Islamic calendar and marks the first revelation of the Quran, Islam’s holy scripture, to the Prophet Muhammad through the angel Gabriel.

From the first light until sunset, we fast by abstaining from food, drink and intimate relations. We also try to avoid anger and verbal conflicts, negative thoughts and sinful actions. Ramadan is a month of worship full of prosperity, spirituality and forgiveness.

We are honoured to invite you all to discuss here all traditional delicacies that are usually prepared during the auspicious month of Ramadan at Iftar, often called “buka puasa”, which means “to open the fast”.

The principle of breaking fast is very advisable that we eat food that is easily digested, so it does not upset our stomach that has been resting for so long. High calorific value and fluid food will help recover our stamina and substitute for a lot of wasted fluid from our body during the day.

Eating dates (“kurma”) and drinking a sip of water can be the first two things we can do when breaking fast. Besides the health benefit, both are able to immediately recover the weak condition of our body. Another old-time favourite food and drink that we all love is braised banana with palm sugar and coconut gravy (“kolak pisang”)

”Kolak pisang” is a local dessert that we should all be familiar with throughout Indonesia’s vast archipelago. Some hotels, cafes and restaurants put this sweet dessert on their everyday menu list. To make it ourselves, it only requires a few easy and simple steps. Will this be one of your favourites during this Ramadan season? What is your favourite Ramadan 2010 food?

To save your gas bills by reducing the consumption of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), we highly recommend the use of our innovative product called Cooking Mama Pot in cooking this recipe.

INGREDIENTS FOR CONTENTS:

• 250 grams mung beans / green beans, soaked in water for 2 hours
• 500 ml water
• 100 grams palm sugar
• 200 ml thick coconut milk
• White sugar
• 2 pandan leaves
• Kraft cheese, grated

HOW TO MAKE:

1. Pour water into Cooking Mama Pot – the Cooking Pot.
2. Add the mung beans.
3. Place Cooking Mama Pot – the Cooking Pot on the stove and cook over high heat for 10 minutes to boil. Add palm sugar, pandan and coconut milk. Stir evenly and add sugar if not sweet enough.
4. Turn off the stove and transfer Cooking Mama Pot – the Cooking Pot into Cooking Mama Pot – the Heating Pot, leave it lid-covered for 60 minutes.
5. Serve in bowls. Sprinkle some grated cheese at the top, ready for consumption.

We all love chocolate as much as kids do. Chocolate lovers will love this blog because the chart above depicts the fact that dark chocolate and cocoa contain more antioxidant capacity than any other fruits or nuts that we normally regard as healthy food, such as strawberries, apples, green tea and red wine. Antioxidants are natural compounds that scientists have discovered can protect your body, promote good health and alleviate signs of aging. Surprised that chocolate is good for health? Many people are. That’s because they forget that chocolate is actually a plant-based food.

What’s more good news is that research has found antioxidants like those found in dark chocolate and cocoa have also been linked to some of the hallmarks of good cardiovascular health such as enhanced blood flow, healthy cholesterol levels and, in some cases, reduced blood pressure. So what does this mean? This means not only eating chocolate makes us feel good, but it will also keep us healthy and reduce the risk of various diseases.

Let’s start eating dark chocolate for the sake of our health. For those who seldom eat chocolate, perhaps you should try from light to dark. Start with light milk chocolate (with the lowest percentage of cacao and usually less bitter), and end with the darkest one. This sets up your taste buds correctly to experience the more intense, more complex and more healthy chocolates. Happy chocolate-ing!

Wonder what “Dirty Duck” in Ubud Bali is? For tourists who are visiting the beautiful island of Indonesia, Bali, should not miss to eat “Dirty Duck”. “Dirty Duck” (famously known as “Bebek Bengil”) is actually a restaurant name in Ubud, Bali. It is very well-known for its crispy fried duck served with Indonesian vegetables and delicate sambal (chili). How does “Bebek Bengil” taste? Tasty, yummy, crispy, delicious and mouth-watering! Well at least that’s the comments from our people who recently visited Bali and tried the food.

Many said “Bebek Bengil” actually came from a secret family recipe, but they eventually shared it. The mystery behind the crispiness of the ducks is that they are marinated for 36 long hours in Indonesian herbs and spices including bay leaves, lime, ginger, galangal, coriander. Why take such long 36 hours? Well, that’s part of the secrets. Once marinated, they are steamed and then deep-fried in palm oil to get the crispy touch, then voila! The famous Bebek Bengil crispy duck is born.

Bebek Bengil restaurant offers the option to dine on balai-balai, which is the raised wooden sitting platforms available around the restaurant. Sitting and eating on one of these raised floor platforms is often called “lesehan” style. If you want to do this, you probably should reserve one of these platforms beforehand. Eating in one of these platforms/gazebos, surrounded by rice fields and a marvelous garden, will indeed elevate your appetite.

With shoes and sandals off, sitting on the platform lesehan style with pillows, just shooting the evening breeze while staring at the verdant rice paddies, the ambience and atmosphere are certainly hard to beat. Our plate of crispy fried duck and rice finally came, to be eaten with our fingers. Under the deliciously crispy duck skin was lean, but tender and full of flavours duck meat. This was served with some nice flavoured urap made with green beans. Perfect! When it comes to price, we have sort of expected it would be heftily priced by the Indonesian standards, but then again it is Bali and one always pays for the great food and ambience.

Bebek Bengil (Dirty Duck Diner)
Padang Tegal Road
Ubud 80571
Bali, Indonesia

Now is your turn to tell us about your Bali or “Bebek Bengil” experience? Please feel free to share and tell us your opinion and experience.