Balinese Coconut Pork

Ha! I'm such a genius! May I say, Julie & Julia are no match to my talent in Asian cooking!

cough* there's no need to compare my French cooking with then... Please don't expose the obvious.

I have never been to Bali. In fact, I have never been to any countries in the Southeast Asia. Nonetheless, if you know me, you should know that Thailand is THE destination for my "never-happening-money-lacking-vacation-nonexistent" dream vacation. I have yearned for years, decades... life time... to visit Thailand; so desperate that I could smell the exotic scent of Thailand in my dream... but still haven't had a chance to go.

Anyway, Bali is definitely one of the best spot to travel. And let's not get too American here thinking of the politic unrest happening around the Southeast Asia. Just dream about the relaxation, the coconut flavors, the scent of sweaty hot humid sea breeze.... ahhhhhhhhhh... My co-worker, who is definitely much better at money management than I am, showed me one of the high-end hotel he stayed during his vacation in Bali:

The Ubud Hanging Garden in Bali.

No joke huh. Look at that. It really is a "hanging garden". Surrounded by miles of forest, with a spa pool "hanging" out from your suit, overlooking the entire Bali forest... The ultimate experience with nature. (we are not talking about skinny dipping-swimming in the lake naked..., that's completely off-class!)

Oh man... Since Bali or Thailand isn't anywhere close to reality, I could only try to comfort myself with the taste of Bali...

And of course, I have never had any kind of Balinese cuisine. I had absolutely no clue what that recipe will turn out to be... I fetched it off some shady website, not sure how to pull it off, but desperately need to use up my coconut milk and pork before they go bad... So, I made this:

Balinese Coconut Pork: SUCCESS!!!

And with a little plating (?) I added some fresh cilantro.

Definitely very exotic tasting. Strong coconut milk flavor, with the turmeric and coriander spices, bay leaves, pork and vegetables, I could totally drink the sauce. Oh, then that's 3000 calories?! I decided to let it boil for another 15 minutes, pork was still very tender and soaked up even more flavor. Definitely a success. Surprise and success.

Balinese Coconut Pork

Lean pork x 2.5 lb

Eggplant x 1

Green pepper x 1

Mushroom x 1 box

Medium Onion x 1 (you know how I feel about onion... you can choose a Large one if you really like it...)

Ginger x 6 slices

Garlic x 6 cloves

Coconut milk x 16 fl oz

Bay leaves x 2

Turmeric powder x 2 tsp

Coriander powder x 2 tbp

Salt x 1 1/2 tbp

Thai chili peppers x 4 (cause I like it smoking hot!)

Oil the pan and saute the ginger, onion and garlic till brown. Add in the spices (turmeric and coriander, salt, chili) and make sure they don't stick to the pan. Add in the pork, cook thoroughly. Add in the vegetables, stir fry for 5 minutes. Pour in the coconut milk, bay leaves and bring to boil. Reduce the heat and let it simmer for 15 minutes.

Volia! Sprinkle some fresh cilantro!