If you feel like being traditional, or if you have a restaurant in Bali and want to attract the tourists, then by all means use banana leaves.
If you want to be more practical, cook this in the oven as a large parcel wrapped in aluminium foil. The effect is the same: the pork cooks in its own steam, inside the wrapping. I explain both methods here.
In Bali, people use pig's blood as one of the ingredients, and as an alternative to this I recommend pig's liver or black pudding. I love to eat this dish as a starter, with the Avocado, Orange and Beetroot Salad.听
Serves 6-8 people as a starter
170-225 gm / 6-8 oz loin of pork, cubed, then chopped finely with a cleaver, or minced
115 gm / 4 oz pig's liver, chopped, or black pudding, the skin discarded, chopped
115 gm / 4 oz fresh shiitake mushrooms, chopped
10-cm / 4-inch stem of rhubarb, chopped
3 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
陆 tsp salt
1 tsp chopped palm sugar, or brown sugar听
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for the spice mixture:
3 shallots, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
2 large green chillies, deseeded and chopped
2 tsp chopped fresh turmeric root
2 tsp chopped ginger
1 tsp chopped galangal
1 tsp chopped krachai (optional)
1 tsp grilled and crumbled shrimp paste
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp groundnut oil听
Method
Blend all the ingredients for the spice mixture until smooth. Transfer the mix to a saucepan and simmer, stirring often, for 5-6 minutes. Remove from the heat, and leave to cool.
Put all the other ingredients in a bowl and, when the spice mixture is cold, mix this thoroughly with the ingredients in the bowl, preferably by hand, or else by stirring vigorously with a wooden spoon.
If you are using banana leaf squares to cook in, first soften the leaf as described on page 000 and cut about ... squares measuring about ... by ... . Then put 2 or 3 tablespoonfuls of the mix you have just made in the centre of each square, and fold two opposite edges of the square upwards. Fold the two uppermost corners down at an angle of 45潞C, as if you were making a paper boat. You now have a more or less triangular packet. Secure the closure at the top with a wooden cocktail stick. Go on until all the mix has been wrapped in this way.
Alternatively, roll the mix on a piece of foil to make a large, firm sausage. Unroll the foil and put the sausage, now unwrapped, in the centre of a larger piece of foil. Lift opposite edges of this to make a closed packet, and crimp the edges of the packet to seal it. There should be plenty of space inside for the steam to circulate and cook the sausage.
Cooking time for the sausage in its foil parcel will be about 50 minutes in an oven at 180潞C / 350潞F / Gas 4.
The small banana leaf packets can be steamed in a steamer for 40-45 minutes. Serve hot or warm, as suggested above.
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