Market
The Ubud morning market, before the heat
Check dates: market morning, then the class
IDR 450.000per guest, shared class
When to walk a working Ubud morning market: just after dawn, while chili and coconut are still piled high. What to notice, and what to do if you are not in a class.
By Chef Wayan Suryana, Warung Tumang BaliLast updated First published
The short answer
The Ubud morning market is best just after dawn, while the chili and greens are still piled high. It is a working household market, not a food court: shallots, garlic, bird’s eye chili, turmeric, grated coconut, tempeh, and banana leaves. The morning class shops these stalls, then cooks at Warung Tumang Bali.
Go early
The useful hour at the market is just after dawn. By mid-morning the chilies and greens have been picked over. A class morning leaves central Ubud in time for the piles still high.
You are looking at a working market, not a food court. Vendors sell to households: shallots, garlic, bird’s eye chili, turmeric root, grated coconut, tempeh, and banana leaves. Taste what is offered. Do not treat every stall as a restaurant.
What to notice
Chili is sold by the heap, not the gram. Roots — turmeric, galangal, ginger — still have dirt on them. Coconut is often already grated for the day’s urap and lawar-style dishes. Banana leaves are folded in stacks for pepes ikan.
If a guide in a blue apron is shopping with a small group, that is the morning half of the Petulu class. The same ingredients go back to Warung Tumang Bali and onto the spice table.
If you are not in a class
Walk, buy a bunch of lemongrass or a knob of turmeric, and leave before you are in the way of people filling baskets. Breakfast can be a simple plate from a stall at the edge: rice, a little sambal, coffee. Save a longer meal for later.
The kitchen itself is in Petulu, about 10 minutes from central Ubud, depending on traffic. The market stop is the start of a morning, not the whole day. An afternoon booking skips the stalls. The morning session is the one that begins here.
Questions before the day
- What time should I go to the Ubud morning market?
- Just after dawn. By mid-morning the chilies and greens have been picked over and the lanes are hotter.
- Is this a souvenir market?
- Not at dawn. This page is the working stalls: chili, roots, coconut, banana leaf. Linger later and you are in the way of people filling baskets.
- Can I eat breakfast at the market?
- A simple plate from a stall at the edge is enough: rice, a little sambal, and coffee. Save a longer meal for later in the day.
- Does the Petulu class visit the market?
- The morning session, 8:30am to about 12:30pm, starts at the market before the rice-field walk and the kitchen in Banjar Laplapan, Petulu, Bali 80571. The afternoon session skips the market.
Plan the rest of the day
- Morning session or afternoon sessionChoose the 8:30am Petulu morning (market, rice walk, cooking, lunch) or the 2:30pm afternoon (rice walk, cooking, dinner). Same kitchen, pickup, and group size.
- Petulu rice fields on a food dayA short walk through working rice paddies in Petulu near Ubud: about half an hour on the bunds, 10 minutes from central Ubud, then the kitchen at Bali 80571.
- Things to do in Ubud if you travel for foodFive things to do in Ubud if you travel for food: the dawn market, a Petulu cooking class, a warung lunch, the herons at dusk, and a quiet evening plate.
Cook the dishes from this day
- Sambal matahHow to make sambal matah: paper-thin shallot, chili, lemongrass, and lime leaf, dressed with hot coconut oil. Same-day raw sambal from Petulu, Ubud 80571.
- Pepes ikanHow to make Balinese pepes ikan: fish rubbed with base genep, tomato, chili, and basil, wrapped in banana leaf, then steamed or grilled. Four parcels, 45 min.