Ayam Betutu: Bali's Ceremonial Roasted Chicken

Betutu — from the Balinese *be* (meat) and *tutu* (to press or press-cook) — is the most sacred of Balinese ceremonial preparations, reserved historically for odalan (temple anniversary ceremonies), tooth-filing ceremonies, and cremation feasts. The technique is unmistakable: a whole bird (chicken or duck — bebek betutu uses duck) is stuffed with an enormous quantity of base genep spice paste (galangal, turmeric, kencur, ginger, lemongrass, shallot, garlic, red chilli, terasi, candlenut, coriander, pepper, and the specifically Balinese additions of *desiccated coconut skin* and the rare *isen* spice), rubbed with additional paste inside and out, then wrapped in banana leaf and cooked at extremely low temperature for 8–24 hours. The result is a bird so thoroughly permeated by spice that every cell of the flesh has been transformed — there is no neutral interior, no centre untouched by the bumbu.

Ayam Betutu — Balinese Slow-Roasted Whole Chicken in Spice Paste

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