Friday, April 24, 2009

Ayam Betutu Gilimanuk (Balinese Spicy Braised Chicken)


This was the meal which conquered us. We surrendered and bowed to the king of spicyness....while wiping our sweat and showering our mouth with glasses upon glasses of sweet iced tea.

We totally didn't see it coming. We've been told that Balinese dishes are ssssspicy. However, the tailor-made-for-tourists-watered-down versions we've tried were everything but spicy. So, we were kinda cocky and deemed Balinese food not spicy at all.

We couldn't be more wrong.

Ayam Betutu Gilimanuk (Balinese Spicy Braised Chicken)

We wanted to order the duck, but it wasn't available, so we settled with the chicken. This famous chicken was downright delicious. It was mild at first, the meat was ridiculously tender from the long braising, and the sauce...perfect poured over rice. It involves so many ingredients (shallot, garlic, ginger, turmeric, galangal, lemongrass, pepper, shrimp paste, small green chilli, kaffir lime leaves, salam leaves) which married together so well.

I started to feel the heat half way through my rice. I didn't know that the heat was coming from the chicken, as it looked innocently yellow. I suspected the red chilli paste served on the vegetable, and stopped eating it. I eventually discovered that the culprit was the chicken, but could we stop eating it? Nonono, we continue to get down until the last piece of meat was gone. Yay to us! Even our local Balinese driver, Mr. Made, who recommended this place to us, gave up half way and dashed out for a smoke. That's how hot it was.


The Ares Kuwir (Spicy soup) was great too, but it was kind of shadowed by the greatness of the chicken.


The lawar kuwir (shredded chicken) and gorengan (fried chicken gizzards), gave the meal more texture. I kinda love a bit of oiliness from this dish. Again, perfect with rice.


The intimidating plecing kangkung with sambal terasi (water spinach salad with shrimp paste chilli paste) and sambal matah (I saw shallot, chilli, and garlic in there) turned out just perfect, not too spicy for my tamed tongue...and even if you hate veggie, add all these tasty concoctions, and you'll be converted.


What stopped us from ordering everything from the menu? Ehm, most of them, including the sate lilit which I was dying to try were SOLD OUT!


Watch out for this sign at Jl.Merdeka, Renon, Denpasar and stop by some great cheap (fixed priced, yeehaw! no haggling necessary) souvenir shops after your meal.


The remnants of our hot hot HOT adventure....when we couldn't handle it any longer...

13 comments:

Su-Lin said...

I have no idea what my heat tolerance level is compared to yours but I just want to eat everything up! It all looks so savoury and luscious.

Florence said...

I simply love your new header.
So porcelain and so Tang Dynastyish!

sparklingcosmic said...

I adore your writing and your photos! Your love for warm tone settings makes the photos alive and tastes even spicier...thumbs up!

Screamin' Mama said...

Looks delicious! I like spicy but cannot handle "burn your tongue 'til you can't taste anything" hot. Good for you!

Dragon said...

You are brave girl!

My Asian Kitchen said...

I love Bali and wish to go there again soon!! spicy is no problem for me but the last time I was there the food they serve is not spicy at all,quite dissapointed..

Noob Cook said...

all the plates are clean! :D I luv spicy food, wish I could be there heheheh

baliwwwdotnet said...

love this betutu

Ade Putri Paramadita said...

My most favorites in this place are the ayam betutu, lawar ayam & ares kuwir. They're just too delicious to be true! :D

By the way, FYI, they have opened one in Jakarta, in Jalan Wolter Monginsidi Kebayoran (Pasar Santa area). Same good food, but a bit different price.

I'm still eager for one in Gilimanuk terminal named Men Tempeh. They say that Men Tempeh makes the spiciest, and hottest one. But, hey, Gilimanuk is just too far away. Oh, maybe next time.

Last but not least, I just browsed around for Warung Pregina and found yer blog. Very nice one!

witchz said...

Hi Can I ask what's the name of this warung?

Unknown said...

the name is ayam betutu gilimanuk

Bayu Amus said...

Nice review, I was passing this place several times but wasn't quite sure what to expect. Now I know :)

Princess Cheryl said...

I've tried this too! Indeed super spicy~