01 Nov An Adventure Begins

Back on board Katherina, Sea Treks’s elegant Phinisi boat, cruising the Komodo Islands for 6 days after the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival. Hard to believe!

Katherina

Day one was spent in Labuan Bajo, one of my absolute favourite places.Paradiso Bar was the venue for sunset drinks and we couldn’t have planned it better. Wewatched thee most breath-taking sunset while sipping Bintang beer. Such a great omen for our Komodo sojourn.

Sunset over Labuan Bajo

Then it was to KulinerWisata, the Labuan Bajo night market, for fresh grilled fish and sambal under the stars.

dinner at wisata Kuliner

Dinner of Fresh grilled fish

The next morning was spent at the Labuan Bajo market. I love itscosy, user-friendly size and water’s edge location. Fresh and dried fish, squid and loads of fresh greens and spices.

Breakfast at Labuan Bajo market

It was time for breakfast and I wanted something local so I tucked into deep-fried fish with steamed rice, sambal and sayurbening from one of the sellers. Perfect!

Fish lunch

Nasi seller

SayurBening

Spinach in clear broth

Here’s the recipe for SayurBening. It is impressively simple to make and deliciously nourishing. It’s perfect for when you feel like a boost of green goodness.

Ingredients:
1 bunch bayam or spinach, washed
½ sweet corn
¼ cup lemon basil
3/4 water or chicken stock
I tablespoon oil

Spices:
1/4 cup leek, finely sliced
3 garlic, finely sliced
1/2mild chilli, finely sliced
½ teaspoon white sugar
salt and white pepper to taste

Saute the leek, garlic and chilli for thirty seconds in the oil over a medium heat.
Add the chicken stock or water and bring to the boil. Simmer for two minutes.
Add the spinach, sweet corn, simmer for a further two minutes.
Then add the sugar, salt, white pepper and lemon basil.
Serve with slices of lime and steamed rice.