Selamat Hari Raya Galungan dan Kuningan! (Happy Galungan and Kuningan)

Well, this past week and a half has been very interesting for the folks in Bali. Last Wednesday was the beginning of one of their holiest feasts, called Galungan. It's basically a period when people reflect upon the victory of dharma (one's destined duty) over adharma (not following one's duty). The story about this victory is quite interesting, and has a quasi-historical basis, but I will not repeat that story here right now. The 10-day period (which always starts on a Wednesday and ends on a Saturday, which is called Kuningan) takes place once every 210 days. I have fond memories of Galungan - eating lawar (a ceremonial meat hash which the Balinese absolutely love but most foreigners (not me) either often despise or find too hot for their tastes) and paku, the local fiddlehead ferns growing wild somewhere within the nearby dense bamboo groves.

However, this Galungan period was no ordinary one: another significant religious day took place in that period - the day called Hari Nyepi (from sepi 'silent, calm'), when no one is allowed to light fires (or use electricity nowadays) or even go out of their houses. (BTW, this is strictly enforced.) The purpose for this, as I've understood it, is either an island-wide purification or another opportunity to reaffirm the Balinese faith.

Since it's way past the beginning of Galungan and Hari Nyepi, I thought that I would give this recipe for a vegetarian version of lawar (almost an oxymoron for many Balinese - for them, this must contain meat of some kind). Think of it as a spicy salad that accompanies a simple bowl of steamed rice. One of the essential elements of lawar is the tebteban, an ingredient that provides a crunchy and resilient texture to the dish. The word is apparently from tebteb, an onomatopoeic word describing chopping through resilient matter such as meat, skin, or cartilage. Now that I've put that delightful image of sliced cartilage into your fragile minds ;), let me give you my recipe for vegetarian lawar.

1 1/2 lbs. yard-long beans
1 seedless cucumber
1-2 T salt
1-2 T peanut or vegetable oil

Spice mixture:
10-15 green bird-eye chiles, thinly sliced crosswise (be sure to not ub your eyes or nose during this procedure and to wash your hands thoroughly afterwards)
5-10 fresh kaffir lime leaves, thinly sliced
1/2-1 t shrimp paste (blacan), toasted
1" piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
6-8 cloves garlic, peeled and finely chopped
2-3 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced
1/3 C unsweetened shredded coconut
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1) Boil some water in a fairly large stockpot. Once the water boils, put in the beans and cook until just tender, around 5-7 minutes or so. Drain off water and briefly rinse with cold water to refresh the beans. When cool enough to handle, drain again and slice beans about 1/8" thick crosswise.
2) Shred cucumber and sprinkle slivers with salt. Let stand for at least 10 mins. Wrap slivers in either a piece of cheesecloth or sturdy paper towels and squeeze as much water as possible. Set aside.
3) Heat oil in wok over med-high heat. When heated, put in shrimp paste and cook until fragrant. Put in coconut and fry until fragrant.
Put in garlic, ginger, and shallots; fry until fragrant, taking care not to burn them.
Then put in sliced chiles and kaffir lime leaves; cook until fragrant.
Put in sliced beans; heat until beans are warm. Season with salt and pepper and take off heat. Cool for about 5 minutes. Add shredded cucumber and mix thoroughly. Serve with hot steamed rice.

Well, that's all there is to it. It's pretty easy, but at the same time, it takes a rather long time to prepare - all that slicing!