After breakfast, I set off in search of the Babi Guling roasting house. Yesterday, Agun had pointed to a sign about 100m down the road from the restaurant, whereupon I was to turn right. I located the spot and made my way in. Typical of Balinese housing there were a string of buildings surrounding a central courtyard. Designed to accommodate a number of families, this compound was also designed to house noisy chickens and carpenters. I was directed to the far left corner of the compound. Eventually I spotted the pigs on open spits. My first reaction as I approached was “yum”! The second was shock at the almost intolerable searing heat, like a hot burn against my face. How some of the men roasting managed barefoot I knew not. Agun wasn’t there but with typical Balinese hospitality, I was made to feel welcome, even being permitted to turn the handle on the pigs as well as indulge in some taste testing, hot off the spit! Fresh and sizzling, it tasted even better than yesterday; the meat succulent and juicy, the crackling so crisp it could easily have snapped in two. Here are some memories that I’d like to share.

And some videos that I have posted on YouTube:

Roasting the suckling pig at Babi Guling
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=VKk6TVmLpR8

Removing the spit from the roast suckling pig
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=Us4jb7nXnKI

Pork Crackling for me
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=U_UQOiN6NrE

Piggy off to market
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=RjJAV8An4q8

Another Related Story

Babi guling Ibu Oka

After doing the boat crossing from Java to Bali late yesterday afternoon, I headed straight for the heart of its cultural pulse, a town called Ubud. I liked it immediately. I slept in a quaintly decorated Balinese room with a four-poster bed (under the mandatory mosquito net) and showered in an open air bathroom with the sun streaming on my face. I was then served breakfast on my own little front porch by a man in traditional dress. What was there not to like?

Despite having had breakfast, by 11.30 I was hungry again. Must be all the fresh air, and although it was still hot, the temperatures were tempered by a nice cool breeze. I placated my grumbling stomach with a short-term fix of an ice-cream cone and headed off in the direction of the markets to look for lunch, whereupon I stumbled upon Babi Guling Ibu Oka. Babi guling translates as roast suckling pig, a Balinese specialty, which from my reading of Bali was a must try. This and the fact that it was barely 11.45 and the place was virtually packed with a throng of people queuing to be served told me I was onto a winner. I spotted a seat and settled in. It was a simple place; communal seating, plastic chairs, cutlery in “serve yourself” plastic containers, but buzzy with the hum of the crowd.

Inside Babi Guling Ibu Oka

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