Elegant, ivory white and melt in the mouth, this sublime treat is a blend of coconut and pandan – Asia’s classic dessert duo – tinged with the seductive surprise of orange. There is just enough gelatine to make the pannacottas voluptuous and not too firm (but if you live in the tropics as I do, you might need to add more). I love these served with a drizzle of palm-sugar syrup, but I also sometimes serve them topped with a spoonful of Black Rice Pudding (page 208) for a dramatic colour contrast. Either way, it is a dessert you almost have to dress up for!

The pannacottas set overnight so you need to begin this recipe a day ahead.

1½ tablespoons white sugar
3 tablespoons water
310 ml coconut milk
2 pandan leaves, tied together in a loose knot
2 wide strips of orange zest
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 titanium-strength gelatine leaf
400 ml cream
Palm sugar syrup
250 g palm sugar, roughly chopped
250 ml water

Put the white sugar and water in a heavy-based saucepan and heat gently, stirring, until the sugar is dissolved. Add the coconut milk, pandan leaves, orange zest and vanilla and simmer over
low heat for 15 minutes to infuse the flavours into the milk.

Meanwhile, soften the gelatine in a bowl of cold water for 5 minutes. Squeeze the water from the gelatine and add to the hot coconut milk, stirring to dissolve the gelatine.

Pour the cream into a large bowl. Strain the coconut milk onto the cream, removing the pandan leaves and orange zest, and stir to combine.

Lightly oil 6 x 125 ml-capacity dariole moulds, ramekins or elegant glasses. Place them on a tray and fill with the cream mixture. Refrigerate overnight.

To make the palm sugar syrup, put the sugar and water in a heavy-based saucepan. Heat gently, stirring, until the sugar dissolves, then simmer without stirring for around 15 minutes, until roughly reduced by half. When small bubbles appear on the surface, remove from the heat immediately. Strain into a jug and leave to cool.

To serve the pannacottas, run a knife around the insides of the moulds and turn onto plates. (Or if using glasses you can serve them as they are.) Drizzle with a little palm sugar syrup.

> Makes 6

Coconut, grated In Bali, fresh coconut is always the starting point for recipes featuring coconut – whether it is grated or in the form of coconut milk. A coconut is split open and the flesh is priced out from the shell. The pieces are either left raw or roasted over a flame before being grated to add to salads or to use to make coconut milk. Away from the tropics, frozen pre-grated coconut is acceptable in recipes that call for grated coconut and can be found at Asian grocers. However, in recipes calling for fresh coconut to be roasted, it is best to seek out the real thing. Coconut milk Making coconut milk from grated coconut is a simple process that involves mixing the coconut with water and wringing it out to produce milk. See the recipe for Roasted Coconut Milk on page 40 for full instructions. The process is second nature in Bali, but coconut milk in a tin or carton is acceptable elsewhere of course. Kara is a good brand and is found in a carton. Or, as a better match to the texture of homemade coconut milk, you can buy light coconut milk if desired. Coconut oil Coconut oil is probably the most common cooking oil in Bali and is generally made at home. It has a mellow, sweet flavour and distinct aroma and is one of the keys to traditional roasted duck or suckling pig as well as many sambals. While it is comprised of mainly saturated fats, studies have shown that the particular saturated fats (namely lauric acid) are beneficial, boosting the immune system. Make sure you buy virgin coconut oil that is unprocessed and unhydrogenated, because hydrogenated oils have trans-fats that cause health problems. Coconut oil is also a luscious skin moisturiser and hair conditioner and is preferred by older Balinese women for keeping their hair glossy and lustrous.

Coconut Crepes with Warm Mango Filing (Dadar Mango)

These delicate crepes are one of my favourite desserts. Traditionally filled with warm banana or grated coconut (and I make savoury fillings too), I have taken the liberty to fill them with one of Bali’s favourite fruits – mango. Mango trees are a feature of most Balinese household compounds and are synonymous with the wet season. The fruit is eaten either slightly unripe with lashings of chilli and shrimp paste, or ripe and sliced into cheeks. If you wish to add the distinct flavour and aroma of pandan to the crepes (as well as colour them green), add a teaspoon of pandan essence. Crepes 150 g (1 cup) plain flour 1½ tablespoons white sugar ½ teaspoon sea salt 1 egg, lightly beaten 200 ml coconut milk ½ teaspoon vanilla extract 1 tablespoon lime juice (optional) vegetable oil, for frying Filling 3 large mangoes, sliced 3 tablespoons grated palm sugar 125 ml coconut milk 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 teaspoons grated lime zest Put the crepe ingredients other than the oil in a bowl and whisk together until smooth and free of lumps. Set aside while you make the filling. Put the filling ingredients in a saucepan and cook over low heat for 3 minutes, or until the mango is soft. Set aside. Heat a non-stick frying pan over low heat. Add a little oil and spread it across the base of the pan (I like to use a pastry brush), then add 1–2 tablespoons of the crepe batter and tilt the pan to spread the batter towards the edges, forming a thin crepe. When bubbles appear on the surface, flip the crepe over and cook briefly on the other side. Remove to a plate and continue cooking crepes with the remaining batter, adding a drop more oil when necessary. Top each crepe with 2–3 tablespoons of warm filling and fold in half. > Makes 8 crepes

I’m crazy about mie. Not mie as in me but mie as in Bakmi. I confess I am not an expert and I only like bakmi ayam, but, hey, that’s ok. I can think of worse addictions.

The secret is in the unctuous, full-flavoured, sweetly meaty, slow-brewed chicken stock . Then there is the quality of the noodles. Homemade are best and they should be not too fat, not too slender, somewhere between Hong Kong and Udon, and cooked al-soft-dente.  From what I have seen, most mie sellers have the stock on a constant roll so the flavour intensifies into golden, brothy, velvety heaven.

Bakmi Roxy, in Cikini Raya, is a favourite and with a punchy name like that, how can you go wrong? Bryan Ferry and “Let’s stick together “ always comes to mind. (Did you hear Jerry Hall is getting married again?) I love the simple charm of this food cart-meets-café noodle house, with its green-turquoise walls, soft orange pillars and plastic furniture. Established in 1991, they now have about five branches in Jakarta and serve my idea of chicken noodle perfection. But what I love most is the chunky, moist, coarsely chopped meat that sits on top of the noodles. It creates this thigh-rich journey that dark meat chicken lovers like me adore. I notice that white pepper and a few drops of chilli oil are first poured into the bowl, followed by noodles, Chinese greens and the all-important chopped chicken. Served with bakso ayam, chicken broth with chicken meatballs, and pangsit rebus, it is sheer perfection.

Bakmi Boy in Jakarta is legendary. I visit the branch in Mayestik that is comfortably squeezed between hundreds of fabric stores (good thinking BB!) We arrive early to beat the mother’s lunchtime frenzy. No painted walls, cute posters or fancy lights. Bakmi Boy is no-frills par excellence or maybe it’s minimalist.  The only careful branding is the sambal on every table that live in recycled coca-cola bottles but my noodles are sublime and I am not surpised! I detect a hint of ginger, cinnamon and that dazzling show stopper, Star Anise, in the prized stock. We opt for a plate of tostada-crisp pangsit, fried wontons, to complete the dish. Grandpa Bakmi Boy, or Bakmi Grandpa, is in the kitchen, leaning over a huge pot of boiling stock and supervising service. No photos I’m told. Grandma Bakmi Boy, or Bakmi Grandma, is the cashier. Maybe the secret of these long-running businesses is a lifelong commitment and I lament the thought of no early retirement from Casa Luna.

Bakmi GM is a noodle institution offering the usual suspects, as well as, some creative interpretations with snappy, efficient service. My favourite is Bakmi Spesial GM Pangsit Goreng but they have an interesting range to choose from. This is fast food noodle bliss with images to select and noodles served in boxes on trays. When I can’t get a flight to Bali on Garuda, and am forced to take another airline (sigh) I head straight for Bakmi GM. Might as well eat and be happy.

Warung Lele, or Wale, in Dago, Bandung, is another noodle nirvana and gets the coveted cute award. But then, this is Bandung, where art is a way of life. Located in a cosy joglo with a view of the rambling countryside, people come from near and far to sip and slurp on their specialties. I opt for the Yamin Baso, my regular of mie ayam with bakso ayam. Finely shredded chicken replaces the glossy chunks of meat with an elegant toss of sliced spring onion alongside the Chinese greens. I notice other dishes, such as, ayam rica-rica with noodles or mushrooms, but I’m a noodle “purist” and only like mine the old-fashioned way. I watch the staff swirling the chilli oil and white pepper through each bowl of noodles with chopsticks, before loading them up with Chinese greens, meat and spring onion. Fastidious attention obviously pays off, because the place is jam-packed. My noodles are glorious and the overall experience is one of the highlights of my recent trip to Bandung (that’s another story).

Bakmi, and bakso, is perhaps Indonesia’s all-time favourite comfort food. Essentially Chinese, it has been embraced by an entire nation and can be found in every corner of the archipelago. And it has wheels! Grobak and now, Go-jek, bring it straight to your door. But the name says it all. It is often branded with a youthful, playful, masculine spirit that suggests even rock stars love mi. So that’s it. I have decided to open my own Bakmi noodle house and call it Bakmi Bowie. Let’s Dance!

-originally published for Garuda’s magazine, March Edition.