Bebek betutu begins in lavishly-irrigated, scalloped, emerald
green rice fields: ducks are traditionally bred near Bali’s
idyllic, stepped rice terraces—their preferred source
of food. After the harvest, duck farmers drive their flocks
to the flooded, recently cut sawah and set them free to splurge
on organic matter, discarded and leftover rice straw and grains,
worms, and small water animals. (Few people keep ducks in
either mountainous or dry limestone areas like the Bukit and
Jimbaran because there are no prosperous, wet rice fields
nearby.) Ducks form an integral part of Bali’s rice
belt eco-system--from the Tabanan countryside (Kerambitan,
Pupuan, Antosari, Pejaten) to Sanggingan to Tegallalang and
Jatiluweh through to the central highlands of Batukaru. They
judiciously protect the growing rice crop from destructive
insect pests like brown planthoppers, while simultaneously
fertilizing the precious, pregnant fields. Brown batallions
of hundreds of busy, quacking (flightless) Balinese ducks
swim in the water and waddle—in long, orderly rows one
behind the other—through the green-brown irrigation
ditches (timeless herders wielding bamboo switches close behind).
Paddling along the raised ridges between the rice paddies,
the long straight line of trained ducks obediently follow
their owner (a boy, or perhaps an old man with a limp dragging
a machete) home at sundown—guided by a white cloth (or
bunch of white feathers) tied to the end of a long bamboo
pole. As recently as the 1970s, the duck farmer would be bare-chested
and dressed in an old Balinese-style cotton sarong hiked up
between the legs like a loin cloth. A common sight in Bali,
this ancient agrarian march has inspired countless local painters
to create charming landscapes of this bucolic, rural countryside
scene.
The Balinese admire the strength of the duck because, like
the turtle, it is the only creature able to survive on land
as well as water. Ducks are deemed more intelligent, forthright,
and purposeful than chickens: determined “royal palace
ducks” rule the reception area, forecourt (and off-limits,
floating lake pavilion in the great inner courtyard) of the
Puri Kanginan, an eighteenth century palace of the Karangasem
royal family in Amlapura! The Balinese favor duck over chicken,
but (expensive) duck meat is not common, everyday village
compound food. Farmers raise ducks mainly for their eggs (telur
asin, salted duck eggs, are a local favorite, and pale blue
duck eggs appear in almost every village market). Vociferously
vocalizing live ducks are sold in pairs, tied together by
the feet, in the larger markets: bundled home on speeding,
unsteady sepeda motor, they will be reinvented into ceremonial
tum bebek (highly seasoned, paste-like, diced duck parcels
steamed in banana leaf purses), kuwah ares bebek (duck soup
with banana stem), or lawar kuwir (juicy minced duck, sautéed
spice paste, duck or chicken stock, and coconut cream with
blanched, roasted, or fried, crunchy green papaya, grated
coconut, palm sugar, garlic, shallots, chillies, and kaffir
lime leaves).
Bali’s pièce de résistance is succulent,
well-seasoned, bebek betutu (whole smoked Balinese duck)--the
most famous traditional dish on the island of the gods. The
outside of the duck is rubbed and massaged with a carefully
balanced cornucopia of roots, herbs, spices, and vegetables—a
celestial medley of small, hot bird’s eye chillies,
large red chillies, shallots, garlic cloves, ginger, turmeric,
lesser galangal, greater galangal, ground pepper, black peppercorns,
white peppercorns, cumin, coriander seeds, nutmeg, sesame
seeds, candlenut, sea salt, lemon grass, lime leaves, dried
shrimp paste, tamarind, kecap manis, salam leaves, palm sugar,
and fresh coconut oil. The cavity--and even the throat--of
the duck is then stuffed with the remaining mixture. Once
prepared, the duck is wrapped in banana leaves, or, more traditionally,
sheathed in sheets of sliced banana stem, bamboo, coconut
tree bark, or in the husk of an areca palm branch. It is buried
in a smoldering pyre of rice husks or burning coconut fiber
and baked underground very slowly and thoroughly for anywhere
from three to eight hours (some say overnight) until it is
so tender that the aromatic meat falls off the bones and melts
in the mouth.
The Balinese only undertake time-consuming, traditional bebek
betutu on special ceremonial occasions like Hari Saraswati,
the day dedicated to Dewi Saraswati (goddess of literature,
fine arts, books, learning, wisdom, science, knowledge, music,
and education). Saraswati Day occurs every six months (on
the last day of the 210-day Balinese calendar): books, libraries,
and educational tools are cleaned and honored with offerings,
the Balinese refrain from reading and writing, and it is a
school holiday. The day after, Banyu Pinaruh, is marked by
mass self-purification rituals and spiritual activities at
the temple or on the beach--and a Balinese banquet of bebek
betutu, nasi kuning, vegetable lawar, raw eggplant, mung beans,
cucumber, salted fish, and fried egg to represent the diversified
bounty of the earth. Strong-flavored duck is mandatory for
this thanksgiving feast because it is the sister of the pure
white swan that the beautiful young goddess traditionally
rides as her mount: the swan symbolizes prudence, so that
devotees may use their knowledge to distinguish between good
and evil.
Considered to be a particular specialty of Ubud, bebek betutu-for-two
comes alive at the Bebek Bengil1 restaurant (Jl. Hanoman,
Padang Tegal, Ubud. Tel. 9754890). Bebek Betutu was built
in 1990 when the rural village of Tegal at Ubud’s southern
end was still an undeveloped, intricately layered sea of pristine,
hand-tended rice paddies. The restaurant was nearing completion
when a local flock of ducks ran roughshod through security
and tracked their wet, muddy webbed feet across the floor
and tables. (Usurped from their usual, early morning, rice
field feeding grounds, loss of habitat equalled impromptu,
restaurant countertop rampage!) The owners decided to name
the establishment Bebek Bengil (which means “dirty duck”)
after their very first, bold, delightfully preposterous, and
highly obstreperous guests (the first customer of the day
is considered lucky and auspicious among the Balinese). Bebek
Bengil’s house specialty is its renowned Crispy Duck:
the birds are marinated for thirty-six hours in a secret age-old
recipe of delicately calibrated Balinese spices, steamed,
and then rapidly deep-fried at high temperature to yield crisply
finished, bony, very crunchy pieces of trademark Balinese
duck.
