Indonesian Recipes (Bali, Java) - Balinese Sucking Pig (Babi Guling) Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 sucking pig, 25-35 kg/55-75 lb

For the stuffing:

• 3 ginger roots

• 3 galangal roots

• kencur root, about 8 cm/3 in long

• 8-10 stems lemon grass

• 3-4 large cloves garlic

• 45 shallots

• 35 kemiri nuts (or macadamia nuts)

• 25 red chilies

• 3-4 tablespoons ground turmeric

• 6-7 tablespoons ground coriander

• 2 tablespoons trasi (shrimp paste)

• 25-30 kaffir lime leaves

• 7-10 salam leaves (or bay leaves)

• coarsely ground black pepper salt, pepper  

For the glaze:

• about 500 ml/17 fl oz (2 1/4 cups) lemon or lime juice

• about 250 ml/8 fl oz (1 cup) water

• 2-3 tablespoons ground turmeric

• 2 tablespoons salt

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Method:

1. Peel the ginger and galangal root and chop coarsely. Cut the lemon grass stalks into 3 pieces each. Peel the garlic and chop very coarsely.

2. Peel the shallots. Coarsely puree the shallots, kemiri nuts and chilies together with the turmeric, coriander, trasi, salt and pepper to make a paste.

3. Stuff the cleaned sucking pig with this paste together with the ginger and galangal root, kencur, lemon grass, kaffir lime leaves, salam leaves and garlic (having first rubbed the inside with this mixture).

4. Close up the sucking pig and slide onto the spit. Dilute the lemon or lime juice with water and season with turmeric and salt.

5. Coat the skin of the piglet with this yellow liquid. Repeat regularly during the cooking process. Spit-roast over an open fire for 4 to 6 hours depending on the size and stuffing of the sucking pig.

6. Turn and baste the piglet continuously during the cooking process.