BALI RED RICE, KIMCHI & TEMPEH SUSHI

As you may have noticed, its been a little while now since I have done a blog. I write this now from Bali, where I have been for a little while now. Bali always feels like a second home, having visited many times over the past decade or so. It took me many visits before I was properly cast under Bali’s spell, yet when that moment happens, this land and its people are in your heart forever.

I kept thinking I would start creating recipes again when I returned back to Australia. Yet seeing as I am not entirely sure when that will be, I have decided to share some recipes that I create from here also. Please bear with me though! Here in Bali, I have a small kitchen, pretty much zero kitchen equipment in terms of appliances (no high-speed blender or food processor!) and different ingredients. Instead of using these factors as an excuse not to blog, I thought I would take them as a challenge!

Bali has come a long way in recent years in terms of availability. I am able to shop for fresh organic fruit and vegetables each week at a local farmers market. Here I can also buy freshly made tempeh, kombucha, coconut milk, herbs and spices, freshly made bread, and tofu. Down the road is also quite a good health food store which has a variety of products I would use back home such as tahini, miso, rice, noodles, quinoa, nuts and seeds, oils, and a range of homemade dips, krauts and nut butters. I feel very fortunate that between this store and the market, I can quite easily cook and eat at home as much as I please.

Of course, the greatest challenge when it comes to eating in, is that the food here that you can buy at the local eateries is SO good! There is an enormous array of vegan-friendly places to eat which is such a treat. Yet despite all these great places, I do eat in more often than not. I still love making food, being independent, and being creative with what I can find here.

So, this recipe is the first of my ‘Bali series!’ While these recipes will be Bali-inspired, I will do my best to ensure the ingredients can also be found where you happen to be reading this from. And of course, you can also get creative with what you have locally too – if you don’t have red rice, for example, you can always use brown rice or regular sushi rice too. I hope you enjoy this series and as I said, these recipes may be little more basic and not as beautifully photographed, but it is still important to me to be creative and to share these recipes for you to enjoy also, wherever you may be.

For my first recipe, I wanted to share this sushi roll that has a very ‘Bali’ feel to it! I love making sushi back home and I only very recently found nori sheets here! I was excited to try and make a roll that used local ingredients, so this one is filled with locally made tempeh, fresh kimchi, coriander, avocado and local Bali red rice. I also discovered homemade vegan mayonnaise in the health store last week and this really made these rolls extra special! It is certainly a unique combination but the result was incredibly delicious!