Hot Lips and Cheap Eats

The Balinese love their spice. And I can appreciate. Nothing wakes you up quite like a set of hotly burning lips. Only problem with eating food with my hands is that often, at the end of the day, the chili oil has permeated my fingertips and causes extreme discomfort during contact lens removal. Ouch. And a half.

My favourite spot for dinner is at a night market near my house. There’s a rather inane old woman who sets up a stall (or warung) every night with her own assortment of beautiful cold dishes. For about $1.50 canadian, you get a plateful of, you guessed it, rice, and heaps of goodies on top. Plus hot vegetable soup. As well as freshly made mango juice (omigod to die for... made by her husband). The woman, whom I have decided to name Mami, makes this amazing dish of tempeh cacang, which is a wondrous fried mix of tempeh bits with these beautiful little Balinese peanuts held in a slightly sticky matrix by sweet soy sauce. The crunch with the yum. You must try.