Join Wayan for a 1-hour hands-on Balinese cooking class in Ubud, where you'll learn to prepare 2-3 traditional dishes from scratch. Grind fresh spices and aromatics to create flavorful pastes, wrap ingredients in banana leaves, and master the art of steaming rice in a woven basket over a fire. Cooking over Wayan's wood stove, you'll experience authentic cooking methods while learning about the health benefits of the herbs, roots, and spices used in Balinese cuisine.
After cooking, enjoy the meal you've prepared, featuring seasonal produce and fragrant spice pastes. Dishes include satay ayam or ikan (grilled chicken or fish skewers) or ayam betutu (spiced chicken slow-cooked over a coconut husk fire) or pepes tofu (tofu wrapped in banana leaves and grilled), urab (vegetables with fresh coconut), tempeh manis (fermented soybeans with palm sugar and cashews), and red heritage rice. For dessert, indulge in traditional Balinese sweets made with palm sugar, rice flour, and coconut. This immersive cooking class in Ubud offers a true taste of Bali’s culinary heritage!
Wayan's cooking clases are only offered on Sunday evenings. Prices include round-trip transport from within 2 miles of Ubud. Please be sure to include your hotel name on the reservation form so your host can arrange for your pick-up.
If you are staying outside of Ubud there will be an additional charge for transportation. Please contact us at reservations@travelingspoon.com for details.
This is just a sample menu to give you an idea of the types of dishes the host cooks. Your menu will vary according to seasonal availability.
Satay ayam or ikan (skewers of grilled, marinated chicken or fish) or ayam betutu (chicken stuffed with spices and roasted slowly over a coconut husk fire) or pepes tofu (tofu and vegetables wrapped in a banana leaf and grilled)Urab (a traditional vegetable dish of long beans, local spinach, and bean sprouts flavored with fresh coconut)Tempeh manis (a cake of fermented soy beans cooked with red palm sugar and cashews) Red heritage riceTraditional sweets made with palm sugar, rice flour and coconut.Wayan Manis, affectionately known as "Sweet Wayan," is a compassionate and generous soul who carries the rich culinary heritage of Bali in every dish she prepares. Growing up in a traditional Balinese family where all meals were made from scratch using locally sourced ingredients, Wayan learned the art of Balinese cooking from a young age. She specializes in authentic dishes, using traditional cooking methods such as steaming, grilling, and braising over a wood-fired stove to create flavors that are both deep and complex despite the simplicity of the ingredients. Living just ten minutes from Ubud with her husband, parents-in-law, two grown children and rescued dogs, Wayan shares her passion for food and culture with others, inviting guests into her home to experience real Balinese cooking at its best.
"Wayan and her family warmly welcomed me into their traditional home. After having lived in Indonesia for 16 years and eating a multitude of different regional cuisines, I found Wayan’s dishes to be distinct, simple and delicious. It was a wonderful way to have more of local experience in Bali, spending the afternoon learning how to cook and indulging in traditional Balinese food. Very few homes in Bali still cook food the traditional way, using an open flame wood-burning oven. It was fascinating to watch her cook all the dishes over the open hot flame, which then added so much extra flavor to each dish! Every bite was incredible, and I love how all the ingredients she used were so simple yet combined created such powerful flavors. After the meal, Wayan gave me a mini tour of her property and showed me where they raise their own pigs, so I got to see two large pigs and several piglets. Since Bali is a Hindu province in Indonesia, the roasted suckling pig (Babi Guling) is an extremely popular and enjoyable dish in the region."
"Wayan’s cooking lesson and home meal were incredible! She went to so much effort with all the food and it was so fun to cook with traditional Balinese methods. We learnt how to use banana leaves for cooking and used lots of fresh simple
Ingredients to make yummy dishes. We’d highly recommend trying a cooking class and meal with Wayan. Thank you so much! -Ella and Rob"
"Amazing Experience! This was such an amazing experience! Wayan's husband picked us up from out resort in Ubud. When we arrived, we were given fresh coconuts with hand-made bamboo straws. We observed the cooking from muddling spices, to steaming rice, making tempeh, and everything in-between. We then joined the family for dinner in a very nice open dining area. Of course, there was way too much food and they offered to send us back with leftovers. Unfortunately, we had no way to reheat the food at our resort, so they sent us with a ton of fresh fruit, and souvenirs that were hand made by the family business (bamboo straws and sea salt). All of the food was excellent and the family was so kind. Certainly an experience I will never forget! I highly recommend this!"
"it was a wonderful experience in my honeymoon.
At Ubud, Wayan picked me up in front of hotel, Kamandalu ubu, and went to his house.
He and his wife welcome to me and we cooked traditional food together.
It was very delicious and wonderful to me.
I hope to visit there again."
