Nasi Merah/Red Rice in Bali

[Banana72]

About to ask possibly a rather strange question, here goes:

Those who live in Bali or have pretty vast culinary experience there...do you know if any restaurants sell (cooked) red rice/nasi merah? I've been eating that since diagnosed with diabetes back in 2018 and while the rice still rise my glucose a bit but it's still quite a few points lower than regular steamed rice.

Will be traveling to Bali in a few weeks, and so far all the restaurants wife have picked only one that serves red rice (and it's actually on day 3..). I have even reached out to one asking if they have nasi merah that's possibly not on the menu. Other restaurants (some non Indonesian), I can get by with eating lots of salads, and planning on bringing cooked rice but that'll probably just last me about two days. (it's a five day trip).

Mini rice cooker I could find is still a bit bulky..and don't wanna spend a few hundred thousand on vacuum sealer that I may not use that much. I have seen a couple videos on cooking rice using an electric kettle (yes I'm desperate and feeling creative...). I have a small electric kettle that I'll experiment with soon...we'll see if that works or not...so I might bring that, with uncooked rice, on top of the small amount of cooked rice I'll bring with me...and will immediately put in the fridge as I arrive at the hotel.
Any other suggestions?

 

[HappyMan]

I don't live in Bali, but here in Bandung you can find people selling all sorts of foods for special diets via Gojek and Grab. I fully expect that you can have red/brown rice delivered for every meal.

*Addit: I might be selling it a bit hard with "all sorts", but there are definitely diabetes friendly sellers on those apps.

 

[snpark]

Surely just buy a cheap rice cooker on arrival? And donate when you leave or bring it back?
Can imagine very easy to buy raw red rice in Bali? Buy a few kg and speak to the hotel chef and ask for special service and throw him $20 for his trouble
Just say you prefer red and can he cook for you every day. Not a big deal at all considered to what some people demand from hotels.

 

[Pak Tani]

Any other suggestions?

Basmati rice? If you are looking for a low glycemic index rice, basmati (GI 50-58) beats red and brown rice.

 

[Wisnu]

This mini rice cooker is very small. You can put in carry on or even backpack. Good enough for 1 or 1.5 cups.
I bought it at ace hardware in Jakarta.

 

[Banana72]

Thanks for all your replies...so I haven't emailed the hotels yet (a couple of them are private villas) to see if they can accommodate my red rice request....but I did check Ace Hardware today...the one made by Krisbow (size 0.3 L), definitely smaller than the one posted here (Wisnu)...price ain't too bad either at Rp 229,000 and surprisingly quite competitive compared to similar stuff on Tokopedia. Originally wife was thinking it might be a waste of money buying it as we won't be using it often..but thinking that we'll have another 5 day domestic trip after this Bali one...it's definitely worth it to consider.

I have had Basmati a few times, maybe that's not a coincidence after eating Indian food (Biryani) my glucose isn't too bad considering the amount of rice I ate...could be the spices too...maybe it's easier to find Indian restaurants in Bali than Indonesian restaurants that sell red rice..

 

[Banana72]

Update: So one of the villas responded that they'll cook the rice for me..so that's good news.
Second villa doesn't accomodate cooking for guests, but they do have nasi merah in their menu, so looks like all is good!!