Ode to a Pig

One of our favorite experiences so far has been feasting on a local Balinese favorite - Babi Guleng or suckling pig. The best place to get it in all of Bali is in the center of Ubud at a place called Ibu Oka. Call it the 'Yuca's' of Ubud. Small place, always crowded, and fantastic food that many have tried and few can replicate. That's all they make. According to a local guy from our hotel, "I know I make it exactly the same way at home...exactly, but never as good". Expectations of this meal were pretty high. We had seen the place profiled on "Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations", a culinary adventure/travel show we all love. We had planned to get there when they opened at 11am, but ended up there around noon, and the place was swarming - tourists, locals, and dogs awaiting any scrap that would fall. We took off our sandals and sat down at the low community style tables with a group of Japanese tourists. We ordered the Spesial and waited with extreme anticipation for the plates to arrive...I have read that they serve 400 plates a day and go through 4 pigs to comply with demand. We were literally steps away from where the pig had been carried in from its secret cooking location to the open-air restaurant and was being sliced by little Indonesian women wielding super sharp knives (I saw her cut thru the rib bones like butter). Our patience was rewarded and our plates arrived with steaming strips of white meat pork, ribs, blood sausage, fried cracklings, and rice - all doused in their special sauce of chiles, mandarin oranges, onions, greens, and who knows what else. It was a greasy pork-fat delight! The blood sausage was suprisingly spicy and delicious with a texture slightly softer than its meatier Jimmy Dean counterpart. It was actually quite good and I could see myself getting used to it if it were regularly offered. The white meat and ribs were fantastic, each bite balancing the taste of sweet mandarin orange with the pounds of chile per square inch. The cracklings were salty and fried deliciousness--you could deep-fry a napkin in pork fat and I will devour it. We all left completely full and totally satisfied. We loved it so much that we went back the next day. Jon ate there again today (3rd time) and was told best time to get there is when they open at 11am to get the first cuts of the freshly roasted pig. Tomorrow we'll be outside waiting for them to open.
Thanks to Kat for being the only vegetarian I know who would be willing to sit with us while we feasted like pigs ourselves.