As you may know, we love food! We don’t just love eating it we both really enjoy cooking as well. After a few weeks of travelling around and not cooking for ourselves we started to miss it. So the idea of going to a cooking class to learn more about Balinese food was high on our to do list. There are a few different cooking classes in Ubud to choose from. But after reading lots of blogs recommending this class we decided to book it. Here’s all the info and why we think Paon Bali is the best cooking class in Ubud!
Pricing and How to Book
Cost: 350,000 IDR per person which is around £20, you pay in cash once the class has finished.
Time: They offer two classes each day. One in the morning which includes a visit to the market, and one in the afternoon which is just the cooking part.
Morning- 08.30 AM
Afternoon- 03.30PM
Booking: You can book via Paon Bali’s website or contact them on Whatsapp +62 81 337 939095.
Location: The class is located just off the high street of Ubud, around 10 minutes from the art market. It is easily accessible by car or scooter.
They offer free pick up and drop off if you’re staying in the Ubud area and can pay to be picked up from anywhere else in Bali!
What to expect at Paon Bali cooking class
Prepare to embark on a culinary adventure from the minute you arrive! Run by a wonderful lady called Puspa who can only be described as a warm bundle of joy who will have you laughing your socks off while teaching you the classic Indonesian dishes. The classes take place in an extension to Puspa’s family home making it an even more special environment.
If you go to the morning class your journey will start at the market. However if like us you do the afternoon class, you begin with a refreshing welcome drink in the courtyard below a beautiful temple.
When you arrive in the kitchen all of the ingredients are neatly laid out on a long table. Puspa gave an overview on all of the ingredients as well as allowing us to try some of them. The class sizes are good, we had about 12 people from all over the world and there was plenty of space for us all.
The whole class ran like clock work. We were split up into different prep stations; chopping, slicing, dicing and mashing various ingredients. We all had the chance to have a go at various jobs and it was a team effort throughout the whole afternoon.
We made a yellow sauce locally known as Gede Bumbu Kuning in Bahsa Indonesian. This sauce was used in multiple dishes. Lots of spices were added to a pestle and mortar and bashed down to make a paste, this was a lot harder than they made it look as we all got to have a go!
After all the prep work was done we began to bring it all together and do some cooking! Yet again team work makes the dream work in Puspa’s kitchen as we all chipped in to cook the ingredients. Here’s Beth frying off some Tempeh which we used to make Tempeh Manis.
Then we split off into pairs and cooked a chicken curry using the yellow sauce we had made earlier.
Here’s Puspa showing us how the peanut sauce is finished off.
Next we made a tuna dish with various spices, some onion, lime and mixed it all up. We put them into a banana leaf and wrapped them up ready to be steamed in a bamboo basket. Here’s Tyler showing us how its done!
Lastly we made our chicken satè sticks by moulding the chicken mince around a piece of bamboo. These were then barbecued over coconut shell coal and fanned with a coconut tree leaf.
And Voila, just like that the banquet table was full of all our hard work! We didn’t wait too long before tucking in as you can imagine the amazing smells in the kitchen all afternoon had made us very hungry! We filled our plates and all sat round a big table enjoying the fruits of our labour! It was lovely to all eat together at the end and share our favourite parts.
After dinner we sat and chatted for a bit before watching Puspa cook the banana and coconut dessert. She showed us how to plate it up nicely so we could try for ourselves. Unfortunately we didn’t get a photo of the dessert as we both have a sweet tooth and ate it too quickly!
Our Conclusion
Eating the Indonesian food is exiting enough for us, but being able to learn about the ingredients that go into them and actually doing it ourselves was even more rewarding. It was an absolute highlight of our Bali travels and Puspa made the experience even more enjoyable with her infectious laugh and energy! Her family were also a great help getting things ready and cleaning up for us. At the end Puspa sent us all the recipes so that we could make them again if we wanted to. These are just a few reasons why we think this is the best cooking class in Ubud.
