I am Bali
(Wati with her famous Ayam Bali and Soto: Singapore)
In Bali, my tastebuds were inundated with unfamiliar and sumptuous flavours – real Satay had eluded me until Bali, as has all manner of sour soups and crispy duck dishes. However, upon our return to Singapore, we were told (in no uncertain terms) that we had not tasted authentic food until we had tried the house dish. Wati is the maid* in the Tan household; thoughtful, efficient and above all, possesses a special kind of witty joviality that is admirable and very hard to find. Amongst her many talents, she is a superb cook and insisted on producing ‘Ayam Bali’ with accompanying ‘Soto’ soup. I confess, we didn’t put up much of a fight as we were assured in advance it was not to be missed. I hope she won’t mind me showing her picture here – at least it is in convoy with compliments!
The Soto is a little like Thai ‘Tom Yam’ soup; sour and tasty, with a surprising buttery appearance. In these images, she is assisting me to pile my food into a mountain; there was pressed rice (ketupat), noodles, chicken, spring onions, topped with a squeeze of lime and some home made chilli sauce. Then that entire combination was lavishly lashed with Soto for good measure. It was astonishingly tasty – truly like nothing I have ever eaten before, though we were on Bali previously. It was so good, Ying and I ate it for the following morning’s breakfast as well, now that is dedication. We discovered (and again Wati predicted correctly) that the Ayam Bali was even more flavoursome after one night, stewing it its own juices.
*Maids are common in Asia in a way that I have always found difficult to comprehend. I think that in every home I visited over Chinese New Year, save a couple of houses, there was at least one maid in situ, most of them from Indonesia or the Phillipines. Along the streets of Singapore, I occasionally spotted a sign for ‘Maid Agency’, where these girls must start their working life. One night when we were invited to a family meal at Ying’s second uncle (Er jiu jiu – uncle two on the mother’s side) the maids were in stitches in the kitchen, crying with laughter at the sing song antics of said uncle and his accompanists. At one stage, one lady was bent double, trying to catch her breath.
– Today Rosie is with her Gran in Glasgow, Scotland –
