Beyond Bali with Lara Lee

There are more than 17,000 different islands

in the archipelago that makes up Indonesia.

And for hundreds of years, these islands,

fabled for their spices, have drawn explorers

from all over the world

in search of beauty and adventure.

I'm Lara Lee.

I'm an Australian Indonesian food writer and chef,

and I'm on a journey through my ancestral homeland.

That might be the best fish I've ever eaten.

There's something very deeply spiritual about this place.

Along the way, I'll discover new flavors.

It says eat me. It actually says eat me.

Connect with local communities.

She finds me funny .

And learn more about my heritage.

Just like Papaw used to make.

So join me as I travel through some of the world's most exotic islands

to taste and cook my way Beyond Bali.

I'm in the far eastern island of Flores,

my last stop before I reach my father's birthplace in West Timor.

So far, I've explored the islands World Heritage coastline,

home to the ancient Komodo dragon,

as well as some of the most diverse marine life on the planet.

Now I'm back in the port city of Labuan Bajo,

and I'm excited to discover what else Flores has to offer.

My first port of call is, of course, the local farmers market.

This weekend market is buzzing.

What I've noticed in Indonesian markets

is that the produce here is very seasonal,

and what they sell is what they grow in the local areas.

It totally makes sense, right.

This is so fresh here.

I love this.

Hello.

What is this?

This is cassava.

Oh, this is the white one.

Yes. How do you cook it Ibu?

Okay. Peel it, chop it,

and then fry it.

Super simple cassava and it turns into the crunchiest snacks ever.

Halfway between a potato and a sweet potato.

Yum.

I don't really know what this is,

but you can see in Flores that the produce here is really different.

We've got a lot of tubers, so we've got cassava.

Something that kind of looks like a maybe a potato or a turnip.

This looks like taro to me.

And over there we've got some pumpkin, squash

and some sweet potato.

Very much all about the starch.

I'm seeing a strong Melanesian influence

in the produce that's available here,

just like in Sumba.

This is banana heart. This is the heart of a banana tree.

And you can slice it into small pieces and then stir fry it.

It's so delicious.

Yum.

It's the size of my head.

I've also come to the market

because I've arranged to meet restaurateur Michael ,

the owner and executive chef of one of Labuan Bajos

newest and most exciting dining ventures.

-Michael. -Hi.

-Hello. -Lara, how are you?

Oh my goodness. It's so good to meet you here.

Do you come to this market all the time?

All the time.

The best thing if you are going to the traditional market in the morning.

Because sometimes you get very good price in the morning.

As a, I don't know, as a good luck,

we call it .

-Oh, I didn't know that. -Yeah.

If you are the first customer,

then you will have privilege.

It seems stallholders will sometimes give their first customer of the day

a special discount to entice them to buy

and to bring good fortune to their stall.

I think this is one of the best in Indonesia.

The banana. You can try.

Wow. I love bananas

and I always think that Indonesian bananas are sweeter.

It is sweeter and especially from Flores.

It's much sweeter than other parts.

It's so sweet.

It's like candy.

It is. It is.

Do you have time to having breakfast at my place?

-I would love to. I'm starving. -Come to my place.

So let's have some stocks.

I think...

Yeah. Uh, samar, what do you think with the mango.

Oh, I love mango so much.

-Okay, now we have banana and mango. -Yum.

I think I will make you pancake. Rice, rice, pancake.

I'm very happy. I would love that.

-Let's go. -Great.

Michael's latest restaurant venture is just a stone's throw from the market.

This new enterprise called The Kitchen Garden,

tucked away in the suburbs is his pride and joy.

Here we are. My place.

What a gorgeous garden.

The kitchen garden is Labuan Bajo's first paddock to plate organic restaurant.

I want to see more of this garden

because I think I saw some leaves I don't recognize.

Yeah.

This is from the sweet potatoes,

not really common for people in Flores to enjoy.

But I know that this this leaf is actually edible,

and it's really good.

That's it, it's like a salad, kind of salad.

Yeah, but with a little bit of sweetness and sourness.

-Sweetness, sourness. -Sweet and sour. Sweet potato leaves.

-Yeah. -I love that.

-This is really good. -Wow.

Is this quite a new garden? I mean, it looks so lush.

It is. It is a new garden. We just, grows everything, like, about

three to four months ago.

You can do all of this in three to four months?

Yeah.

Let me show you what we do.

Water is very, very rare here.

So if you see the bottle over there,

it's giving the water

tree by tree, it goes like that.

Very, very efficient for the water use.

Yeah. No wastage.

No wastage at all.

For example, this one,

this is actually how we grow our tomato

is to give the protection, you know.

Because if not, then the sun will dry up the, this little baby.

-Yeah. -Baby tomato.

Let's give her a chance to grow.

-Oh, I love that . -Thank you.

So what's the inspiration behind all of this?

First of all, it's a farm to table

concept for the restaurant.

And then the second, it is about farming.

And underpinning all this is Michael's desire

to introduce people to the unique,

spice rich flavors of Flores.

His kitchen garden combines contemporary design

with traditional cooking techniques.

This is such a pretty kitchen.

I love cooking outdoors.

This is a typical traditional kitchen with a wooden fire.

Here we go.

Pancake time.

Lara, do you know the Indonesian pancake?

I do know. Dadar gulung, which is the pandan pancake with coconut.

And I eat that all the time.

I think they grew more into crepes.

Oh, yeah. I guess it's the crepes. This is more of a pancake.

This is pancake. We call it surabi here.

-Yeah. -Surabi.

-Surabi. -Oh.

Coconut pancakes.

Yes.

So what we need is rice flour.

You know, I'm just like a grandma.

-Oh, yeah. It's all intuitive. -Because my measurements

are based on my feeling.

Okay, I'm going to call that about half a cup of flour .

This is gluten free, but we still put some gluten here.

-Oh, yeah. -Yeah, but just give it a little bit.

Yeah.

Adding a tablespoon or two of wheat flour

helps bind the batter and gives it a fluffy texture.

Just a little bit sugar.

Mhm.

No it's not a little bit. It's a lot.

Yeah.

To this dry mix Michael's adding a pinch of salt

a teaspoon of yeast and half a cup of coconut milk.

I'm guessing this is freshly made santan

which is like where you scrape the coconut and mix it with water

and you produce this cream. It's just incredible, isn't it.

You have to use the juicer.

Oh, that's a clever way of doing it.

Yeah. Then you can get the the extract of the coconut.

You're such a modern man.

I am with a traditional kitchen, right.

That's right.

Okay, let's put the water.

We're using about 250 millilitres of water

before giving the batter a good stir.

I think this is perfect.

Now we need about ten minutes to make the yeast active.

Dry yeast feeds off sugar.

And as it starts to activate,

you'll see a bubbling layer of foam.

We're leaving the batter to do its thing

while Michael prepares the homemade syrup that will go on our pancakes.

Starting with the key ingredient.

Using this palm sugar.

So this is traditional.

Ah, it's smoky and caramel and butterscotch.

Very, very delicious smelling.