My Gluten Free Bali Adventures: Part 2 – Ubud

Our beautiful pool at the Alila resort!

Bali was never on my travel wish list, well not until recently that is. It wasn’t until my sisters raved on about how amazing it was that I decided I had to check it out. Okay so maybe the book (and now movie), ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ had something to do with it too!

And boy, were they right! Bali was absolutely amazing! Our first stop was Nusa Dua (read all about it here), next it was Ubud!

Ubud is situated in the middle of the island and is surrounded by lush rice fields and mountains, and is the heart of the fine arts and culture of Bali. WOW what a place! It is picturesque and peaceful, a breath of fresh air from city living, a place to really unwind and escape.

We started our Ubud experience at the gorgeous Alila resort, which overlooks the lush mountains and villages of Ubud, and has been voted as one of the top 50 most beautiful swimming pools in the world. During sunset the monkeys entertained us by coming down from the trees to play. The Alila was very accommodating to my gluten free needs, by supplying bread and even hosting a traditional Balinese banquet dinner on our first night all made gluten free!

Our traditional Balinese banquet dinner made gluten free just for me!

If you are headed to Ubud town, Café Wayan is a great spot for lunch as the tables are outside and surrounded by luscious green gardens. They were very helpful with my gluten free requests, but I’m glad I had my translation card with me as they came in handy. Once the chef had read it, they were very helpful and I ate a beautiful chicken and potato curry served with brown rice.

GF Chicken and potato curry at Café Wayan, in Ubud town

However it wasn’t all smooth sailing! On a couple of occasions when clearly the language barrier was a challenge, the translation card was pulled out. And on two occasions I was told that I couldn’t have a dish because it was high in cholesterol. Lost in translation I guess, but please don’t be discouraged or give up! I did manage to get around this and was fed a nice meal in the end :o)

The fresh juice combinations we had in Bali were delicious. It’s very rare you will find just the standard apple or orange juice. Here you will find gorgeous juices, such as paypaya, mango, watermelon, rockmelon, and then exotic mixes of juices.

Fruit shops along the side of the road

When in Ubud, be sure to do the touristy things like visiting the volcano and many rice fields. Trust me, the next time you pile up a big serve of rice in your plate, you will appreciate it more! You can also visit the plantations where they grow and make tea and coffee. You may even be given the opportunity to sample these (and of course buy some) however be careful of the Kopi Luwak coffee! This is a special and very expensive coffee. A little animal, called an Asian Palm Civet, is bred to eat coffee berries. The animal then passes these berries and this is processed to make coffee. Yep… coffee made from the animals pooh! I think I’ll pass!!!

Kopi Luwak coffee is made from this little guys pooh!

The majority of the Balinese population are Hindu. They honour the gods and ancestors and pray many times a day. You will see these offerings on the streets of Bali. These are gifts to the gods, and are a way to present their gratitude. Palm leaf trays are prepared, containing flowers and some form of offering as a token of thanks. Some of these offerings include rice, fruit, meat, or as witnessed by myself, cigarettes. Be careful not to step on these, as this is considered very disrespectful to the Balinese people.

Fresh coconut picked straight from the tree!

The highlight of my Ubud trip was a 3-hour walking tour. It started off very calm and easy, walking through the villages and meeting locals, seeing where people live and how and where they work. I even had a village man climb a coconut tree for me and bring me down a coconut. He then cracked it open and I drank the juice and ate the flesh. Now you can’t get much fresher than that! 

Then the walk turned into more of a mountain trek, as we journeyed through the rice fields, I prayed to god that I would return home that day! My heart was beating so fast and I honestly thought this was it! The trek we took wasn’t a man made path. Yes there was steps made in the dirt but this was from where other people had walked. Walking down paths, which didn’t even resemble a path until the instructor pushed aside the shrubs. However, we were in good hands and our instructor was very patient with my slow steps! We climbed rocks and walked down steep slippery tracks, our shoes (and bodies!) covered in mud by the end of the trek. 

Had I known what this trek involved I probably would not have done it. But I am so proud of myself for getting through it! I really pushed my limits and although my muscles ached for days, it just goes to show that you can do anything you put your mind to!

Yummy omelette served with GF bread

When asking the locals which restaurant were the best in Ubud, you will more than likely hear them talking about Indus restaurant. We decided to test this one out and we were not disappointed. You will be amazed from the very minute you enter the restaurant. The setting is beautiful, the service fantastic and the food absolutely delicious! And most importantly I mentioned gluten free and they knew exactly what I was talking about! 

Almost everything could be made gluten free, but be sure to ask your waitperson on the night. For entrée I ordered seared scallops on a bed of mash potatoes and rocket salad, main was a Balinese style paella, and dessert coconut crème caramel. All the food was delicious and the service was 5 star quality! The stand out dish of the night would have to be the Balinese paella. The flavours were just amazing… I can’t even begin to describe them! All of this and two cocktails set us back about $50 including tip! For those who are used to $5 meals in Bali this may seem expensive, but when you are looking at the quality of dining, this is peanuts, in comparison to what you would pay in Australia!

The amazing 3 course dinner eaten at Indus restaurant!

Here’s a list of places I recommend when visiting Ubud, Bali. 

Café Wayan
Monkey Forest Rd Ubud

Plantation Restaurant

Alila Resort Ubud

Indus restaurant (This is a must! Delicious, delicious, delicious!!!)
Jalan Raya, Sanggingan, Ubud

Kué Bakery and Café
(I didn’t get a chance to eat here but they offer GF bread and sweet treats)
Jl. Raya Ubud

Well that’s the end of my Ubud blog. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing about my travels. Ubud is truly beautiful and possibly my highlight of Bali. Next week, we will journey to my third and final stop, Seminyak!

Ubud is famous for its suckling pig

 

My Gluten Free Bali Adventures: Part 1 – Nusa Dua

GF rice noodles from the Westin Resort, Nusa Dua

It’s raining outside while I sit here flicking through my Bali photos, listening to my Balinese tunes (which I picked up for $1/CD!). The heater is turned up full blast, my uggies are on my poor little cold feet and I am sipping a hot tea. Yep reality sucks!

I’m back from beautiful Bali and had the most amazing time! It was sunny and relaxing… just what the doctor ordered. We ate some amazing food (which I can’t wait to tell you about), saw plenty of gorgeous sunsets, sipped lots of cocktails and shopped till we dropped!

Travelling and being coeliac can be a little tricky, especially if you don’t know how to speak the language. So before leaving for any holiday, I always get in contact with the Coeliac society to obtain their handy translation cards and information pack.

Even though the Balinese people are so friendly and always willing to help, I highly recommend you take the translation cards along with you on your next trip – they saved me so much time and effort in explaining what gluten free means because it’s all translated for you!

We started our Bali adventure in Nusa Dua, where the food was absolutely delicious! The flavours were incredible and for the majority of the time, gluten free wasn’t an issue. Luckily enough all 3 of the hotels we were staying in supplied gluten free bread! 

GF bread served at breakfast

We landed late on our first night in Nusa Dua, with our stomachs grumbling. As there were no restaurants open we had to opt for room service which is when we had our first Nasi Goreng. Surprisingly, for room service, it was actually quite delicious!

GF Nasi Goreng

Nasi Goreng was the stand out dish of the holiday and we ate a lot of it! It’s a traditional local rice dish, which is similar to fried rice, served with an egg on top and usually chicken skewers, a side of vegetables, and no doubt a big hit of chilli! We ate many variations of this and each time it was delicious. Just make sure to ask them about the sauces they use. Soy sauce is commonly used in Nasi Goreng so avoid this by asking them to replace it with fish sauce.

In our room on arrival we had a lovely welcome fruit plate, with some exotic Balinese fruit we had never seen before. The Snake fruit (clearly the one with the brown snake like skin) was crunchy and was a bit like an apple. The Mangosteen, the centre fruit with the reddy-brown shell, I had never tried before but it soon become our favourite fruit of the holiday. Inside the thick skin is a juicy, white flesh. It is similar to lychees but has a sweeter and more floral taste.

Exotic Balinese fruits

Nusa Dua is primarily a resort village and there is not much else to do but relax and unwind, which wasn’t a bad start to our holiday at all. However if you feel like doing a little bit more while staying here, you can hire a taxi to take you out and see the sites for the day. It will cost you approximately $50 for the entire day and the taxi driver will act as your tour guide. On our day trip we saw a batik and silver factory, temples and beautiful beach lookouts.

Breathtaking views from Uluwatu temple

The highlight of the day was the Uluwatu Temple. This temple was truly beautiful and I highly recommend it. The temple is perched on a cliff and the views are amazing! You are given a sarong to cover your legs on arrival, and be careful of the monkeys at the entrance. They will not harm you but be sure to put your sunglasses away and cameras around your wrist or the cheeky monkeys may steal them!

Cheeky monkey happily munching away on potatoes

During our day trip, we also stopped off at Jimbaran Bay for lunch. This place is famous for fresh seafood served right on the beach. Personally I think this is over-rated and probably wouldn’t go back. Our 1kg fish we hand picked seemed to have shrunk dramatically while cooking! Also there was a pack of wild dogs running around on the beach. Probably harmless, but nonetheless I couldn’t quite settle and enjoy myself!

Jimbaran Bay lunch

If sight seeing is not your thing, head to Bali Collection. This is a shopping centre in Nusa Dua filled with shops, restaurants, bars and lots of massage places. You can get a free shuttle to and from most hotels.

My first fresh coconut of the holiday!

When travelling to Nusa Dua, The Rock Bar, at the AYANA Resort is a must. Try to get there for sunset, as the views are amazing. Although we had to wait 45 minutes (Sunday is their busiest night so get in early) the views were still breath taking and I highly recommend visiting for at least a drink or two. They serve bar food here with not many gluten free options. So for dinner we headed to one of the AYANA Resort restaurants, which were very accommodating for gluten free food. We were given beetroot chips for starters, and then for main I had a traditional Indonesian Beef Rendang Curry, which was absolutely delicious!

GF Beetroot Chips

GF Beef Rendang Curry

I have so much more to tell you about my gluten free Bali adventures, that I couldn’t possibly fit it all into one blog. This is just the beginning. Join me as we travel to beautiful Ubud in my next blog!
 

GF papaya salad from the Westin Resort, Nusa Dua

 

Gluten Free Chinese Chicken Noodle Soup

After posting a pic of store bought Chinese chicken noodle soup last week on facebook, a few people asked us if we would have a similar recipe we could share.

So here it is, our version of Chinese chicken noodle soup. It’s very easy to make and is perfect for a quick mid-week winter meal that the whole family will enjoy!

{Gluten Free Recipe} CHINESE CHICKEN NOODLE SOUP
200g rice noodles

1 litre good quality gluten free chicken stock

1/2 chicken breast, thinly sliced
10g piece of ginger, sliced into thin strips (julienne)
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
8 baby corn, halved lengthways
1 1/2 tablespoons gluten free soy sauce
2 bok choi, roughly chopped
4 button mushrooms, thinly sliced

GARNISH
Shallots, sliced diagonally
Bean sprouts
Coriander
Chillies (optional)

1. Cook the noodles according to the packet instructions and set aside.

2. Simmer the stock with chicken, ginger strips, garlic, baby corn and soy sauce for 3-5 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.

3. Add the bok choi and simmer for a further minute or until just tender.

4. Divide the noodles and mushrooms between 4 bowls and ladle the stock, chicken and vegetables over the top.

5. Garnish with bean sprouts, shallots, coriander and chilli. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Tip: This soup can also be made with beef, just substitute the chicken stock for beef stock, and the chicken breast for beef strips.

 

Gluten Free Fennel And Sausage Pasta

When we were kids, our mum would always cook with fennel during winter. Whether it was in a pasta dish or hidden in amongst a salad, my sisters and I were not fans of the strong liquorice/aniseed like taste.

Being a very common Mediterranean dish, fennel is one of Italy's most popular vegetable. The seeds are commonly used in Italian sausages, which my sisters and I would pick out each time we ate them! But as my taste buds matured, I didn’t mind the flavour.

Now that I know the health benefits of fennel, I understand why our mum fed this to us growing up. Fennel is packed with nutrients. It's a good source of fibre, vitamin C, folate, niacin and potassium. One cup contains almost 20 percent of your recommended daily value of vitamin C – which is why you should stock your fridges with fennel this winter!

The entire fennel vegetable can be eaten, including the bulb, stalk and leaves. Fennel seeds don’t actually come from the bulb but instead from the wild fennel variety. The vegetable can be eaten raw, braised, sautéed, roasted, or grilled. When choosing fresh fennel, look for firm, greenish-white fennel bulbs with no soft or brown spots. The leaves should be bright green with no signs of wilting.

One of my favourite ways to eat fennel is finely sliced, mixed with orange segments, and combined with a lemon vinaigrette, or mixed through creamy, soft polenta. But if you are after a more hearty winter meal, try our ‘Fennel and Sausage Pasta’ recipe below. Buon appetito!

{Gluten Free Recipe} FENNEL AND SAUSAGE PASTA

400g gluten free pasta (we used Rigatoni)
1 tablespoons olive oil
4 Italian pork sausages (hot or mild depending on taste)
1/2 medium brown onion, finely diced
2 medium fennels, thinly sliced (whole including the leaves)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons pecorino* cheese, grated
Salt to taste

1. Split open the sausages, discard the casings and roughly chop the meat.
 

2. Cook the pasta in a saucepan of salted boiling water, following packet directions, until tender. Drain pasta, keeping approximately 1 cup of the water (this may not all be used). Set both aside until required.

3. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a frypan over medium-low heat and fry the sausages until meat is browned. Add the onion and fennel and cook until the onion starts to soften. Season with salt (remember the sausages may already be salty, so be careful and don’t over salt). Stir through the tomato paste.
 

4. At this stage the mixture will be quite dry. Add the reserved pasta water, a little at a time to the frypan and simmer, allowing the mixture to cook further until the sauce is thick.

5. Add the drained pasta to the frypan, along with the pecorino cheese, and toss until the sauce coats the pasta. Turn off heat and serve hot. Serves 4.

*Pecorino is a strong flavoured, salty sheep’s milk cheese. This is often found grated and can be used as a substitute to Parmesan cheese. Pecorino is available at good Italian delicatessens.

 

Gluten Free Lemon Yoghurt Cake

Winter is definitely here, there’s no escaping the cold chill in the air. So it’s a good idea to start boosting your immune system to avoid the nasty cold & flu season!

Make lemons your best friend this winter because they are an excellent source of vitamin C, high in antioxidants and help fight against infections.

There are so many ways to use the humble lemon but during winter we like to use it in tea.  Brew green tea with ginger, lemon wedges, pomegranate seeds, and honey. Let tea steep for 3 to 5 minutes before drinking.

We also love baking with lemons and the cake below is delicious! Enjoy it with a nice warm cup of tea, while you are rugged up on your lounge this winter. Keep warm and enjoy!

{Gluten Free Recipe} LEMON YOGHURT CAKE

 
2 eggs
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup caster sugar
4 teaspoons of lemon juice
Grated rind of 2 lemons
2 cups gluten free self raising flour, sifted
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup natural yoghurt 

1.  Preheat oven to 180◦c. Butter a round cake tin and set aside.

2. In a bowl mix the eggs, oil, caster sugar, lemon juice and rind with a fork.

3. In a separate bowl, add the gluten free self raising flour, xanthan gum, salt and yoghurt. Add the egg mixture and mix well to combine.

4. Pour into the prepared cake tin and bake for 40 mins.

Handy lemon hints: Choose plump, bright lemons that are heavy for their size. To get more juice out of your lemon, roll it on the bench before cutting and squeezing.