Plan
Food souvenirs from Bali: what to pack for your own kitchen
Learn the list before you shop
IDR 350.000per guest, shared class
Palm sugar, dried spices, sweet soy, and a stone mortar: the Balinese food souvenirs you will actually use at home, where to buy them, and how to pack them.
By Chef Wayan Suryana, Warung Tumang BaliLast updated
The short answer
The Bali food souvenirs that get used at home are dark palm sugar, dried spices such as coriander seed, white pepper, and candlenut, kecap manis, sealed sambal, and roasted coffee. Buy sealed, labeled packs, keep bottles in checked luggage, and declare food on arrival where your country asks, as Australia does.
Buy what you will cook
The best food souvenir is one you open within a month. Pick the pantry items behind the dishes you liked: the palm sugar in dadar gulung, the spices in base genep, the sweet soy on tempe manis. If you took the cooking class, the printed recipe booklet from the Petulu kitchen doubles as the shopping list.
What travels well
Palm sugar, gula Bali: dark blocks or discs, less sweet and deeper than pale supermarket sugar. It is the flavor most home versions of Balinese sweets miss.
Dried spices: coriander seed, white peppercorns, candlenut, and dried chili travel well in sealed packs. Fresh roots such as galangal, turmeric, and kencur do not; look for them frozen once you are home.
Kecap manis and sambal: buy sealed bottles and jars, wrap them in clothes, and put them in checked luggage. Roasted coffee travels well too, sealed, from a shop that prints a roast date.
A stone mortar, if your luggage allows. It is heavy, but it is the one tool that makes base genep taste right at home.
Where to buy in Ubud
The Ubud morning market sells palm sugar and loose spices early in the day, at market prices. Supermarkets in Ubud carry sealed, labeled packs, which are easier to explain at customs. Many travelers buy a little of both.
Customs at home
Rules depend on where you fly home to. Australia asks travelers to declare all food on arrival, and inspectors decide what comes in. Check your own country's border rules before you buy, keep everything sealed and labeled, and declare it when in doubt.
Know the list before you shop
Spices are easier to buy when you know what they taste like fresh. The morning cooking class at Warung Tumang Bali walks the market where these ingredients are sold, then grinds them into the spice paste with Chef Wayan, so you shop with the right list and leave the rest.
Questions before the day
- What food can I bring home from Bali?
- Sealed, processed, labeled items travel best: dried spices, palm sugar, coffee, and bottled sauces. Fresh produce, seeds, and meat are the hardest. Check your own country's rules.
- Can I take spices from Bali to Australia?
- Declare them on arrival; Australia asks travelers to declare all food, and inspectors decide. Sealed, commercially packed dried spices are the easiest to clear.
- Where can I buy Balinese spices in Ubud?
- At the Ubud morning market early in the day for loose spices and palm sugar, or at supermarkets in Ubud for sealed, labeled packs.
Plan the rest of the day
- The Ubud morning market, before the heatWhen to walk a working Ubud morning market: just after dawn, chili and coconut still piled, then leave. How the Petulu class uses those stalls, not souvenirs.
- Where the spice table sits on a food dayHow to read a Balinese spice table: chili, shallot, garlic, turmeric and roots, coconut, lime leaf, banana leaf, and what changes when the menu is plant-based.
- A cooking class on your last day in BaliLate flight out of Bali? A 2:30pm Ubud cooking class ends at 5:30pm with dinner. Allow 1.5–2.5 hours to the airport; it suits flights from about 10:30pm.
Cook the dishes from this day
- Base genepHow to make base genep (bumbu Bali): pound shallot, garlic, roots, and candlenut, then fry 8–10 minutes until the raw smell is gone. From a Petulu kitchen.
- Dadar gulungHow to make dadar gulung: thin green pandan crepes rolled around grated coconut cooked with palm sugar. Eight rolls, 45 minutes, from a Petulu kitchen.
- Tempe manisHow to make tempe manis: tempeh fried crisp, then glazed with shallot, garlic, chili, palm sugar, and kecap manis. A vegan side, four servings, 25 minutes.
Where the kitchen is
Chef Wayan Suryana at Warung Tumang Bali, Banjar Laplapan, Petulu, Ubud, Gianyar, Bali 80571. The kitchen is about 10 minutes from central Ubud, depending on traffic. Pin -8.4945671, 115.2812928.