The other day(*) I was at a very nice local restaurant and had a delicious Ikan Bumbu, which I understand is a dish that originates from Bali, Indonesia.

Both the fish and the coconut-and-lime sauce stuck with me, I completely loved them. Obviously my cooking skills are nowhere near the level needed to make this, but I did my research and had something in mind.

Today it happened that I was home alone and had a limited time to prepare something to eat. So I got creative and niki ragane(**)! The whole prep took me around 10 minutes.

Ingredients I used (for one person):

• Gnocchi, ~250 gr
• Coconut milk, 200 gr (I used Thai Kitchen)
• Juice from 1/4 lime
• Wine, ~100 gr (I used White Zinfandel rosé wine, but you can use anything that’s sweet or medium sweet)
• Sambal oelek, according to how spicy you want it; I used about half a teaspoon
• Butter, ~50 gr for frying; you can also use olive or sesame oil
• A pinch of salt
• A pinch of black pepper
• A pinch of garlic powder
• A pinch of ginger powder
• A pinch of cumin powder
• Some chopped parsley or coriander; I prefer parsley but TBH coriander is a better match

Procedure:

• Put the butter in a cold pan and heat it up on medium-high heat (my kitchen goes up to 6, and I used 5) until almost melted.
• Throw in the gnocchi, stir, pinch the garlic powder over them and fry until their colour turns to golden brown.
• Pour the wine, stir and wait until the liquid is reduced to around 1/3.
• Pour the coconut milk, stir and then pour the lime, sambal oelek, salt, pepper, ginger and cumin. Stir gently a few times per minute.
• When the sauce is reduced turn off the heat, throw in the parsley or coriander, stir a few times and it’s ready to serve.

I know it’s a cliché to say this but it blew my mind. And it’s so easy!

I didn’t take a photo because it didn’t occur to me and I was on a hurry 😊 but next time I definitely will.

Kali orexi!

(*) Valentine’s day
(**) “here you go” in Balinese -at least according to Google Translate