bento for the little one (onigiri rice balls & rolled cabbage 8/feb/16)

08/02/2016

menu: onigiri (rice balls) with shirasu (baby sardines) & spinach, rolled cabbage, carrots, green beans and cherry tomato

raspberries with yogurt & honey for dessert

onigiri is one of the most typical recipes for bento box. it is rice ball with some seasoning/garnish with nori seaweed, and its name comes from a verb “nigiru“, which means “to grasp” or “to hold”. most people must know what onigiri is, but to clarify it is a bit different from sushi from various aspects – sushi rice is prepared with rice vinegar, sugar & salt, whereas onigiri rice is with just a pinch of salt. sushi usually comes with THE most fresh ingredients, such as raw fish or shellfish, but onigiri is prepared with cooked or preserved ingredients such as grilled salmon flakes or umeboshi, pickled sour plums (by the way, i cannot eat umeboshi because of its sourness – oh dear so unjapanese of me, my mum must be so cross with me for this). shape wise, sushi has this small boat-like shape, while onigiri usually has either round or triangle form. sushi is usually bite size, while onigiri is much bigger and fills you up quite quickly (usually an onigiri is made with the portion of a small bowl of rice). we eat sushi more on special occasions, whereas onigiri is rather everyday food. sushi is luxurious and elegant, while onigiri is rustic and homey. sushi, expensive, onigiri, cheep! ….maybe that’s enough explanation 😉

for LO’s bento today, i prepared nori seaweed separately from rice ball, so that it will remain dry & crisp. but you can also put it on rice ball beforehand if you prefer nori being rather soggy. it’s totally up to you.

today’s side dish, rolled cabbage, is just some leftover from the evening before. it is pork mince pâté wrapped & rolled in a cabbage leaf, and cooked in chicken bouillon. i used sliced pancetta and thyme to give extra flavour.

i hope LO liked my another effortless bento today.

bento for the little one (macaroni with tomato sauce 5/feb/16)

06/02/2016

menu: macaroni with tomato sauce, mashed sweet potato with chicken mince, boiled egg, broccoli

fresh strawberries for dessert

LO loves any kind of pasta, but her absolute favorite is the one with tomato sauce. i make tomato sauce with only 3 ingredients – cherry tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil and a pinch of salt. just toss the 3 ingredients into a pan, simmer it until tomatoes get watery, for 8 minutes or so. with any pasta of your choice, you’ll be surprised how tasty it can be with such simple recipe.

depending on the side dishes, i make sure to add chopped spinach or some other veg, as well as either tuna, chicken or bacon in the sauce, so that LO gets enough nutrients from a meal. but today i kept it simple, as there were already enough protain and vitamins in the side dishes.

LO loves sprinkling parmiggiano on her pasta, so i put a tiny container of grated parmiggiano in her bento box, which i thought was very cute. she seemed to have enjoyed it, too 🙂

bento for the little one (lotus root curry rice 3/feb/16)

04/02/2016

menu: lotus root curry & rice, sliced veg salad, eggs & spinach salad

apple mousse & yogurt for dessert

last evening when i was about to cook i found renkon, lotus root, in our fridge that i had bought for some other dish but ended up not using. since i didn’t feel like cooking the dish i had originally planned, i made curry out of it (such a convenient and easy dish to prepare with a help of japanese-adapted curry roux). it turned out really nice, with the crunchy texture of renkon matching very well with the saucy spicy curry. i used chicken mince with it, which added roundness and depth to the flavour.

bento for the little one (udon noodles – 28 jan 16)

28/01/2016

menu:

udon noodles with chicken & tofu, spinach egg omelet, tomato & cucumber salad

organic grape jelly (bought at a shop) & fresh strawberries for dessert

today, LO is back at daycare after staying home for a week because of a flu. we say that udon (japanese noodles made of wheat flour) soup noodles are good for digestion and often eat them while being ill. i remember my mum’s udon – simple but tasty and gentle for your stomach… my comfort food. i just cannot bring myself to feeding my little one a cracker with a slice of cheese when she is ill, while it is what my husband (he’s dutch) craves when he doesn’t feel well. cheese is one of the last things to come to my mind… but i know this goes way back to your childhood and is deeply rooted to your senses… it’s funny how cultural differences can be discovered so randomly in situations like this. i wonder how our LO’s tasting pallet develops as exposed as she is to such versatile choices of food.

udon soup noodles (serving for 4)

ingredients:

– 400g udon noodles (store bought)

– 800cc – 1,000cc japanese fish broth

– 1 small (or 100g) carrot (thinly sliced, roughly into 1cm x 3cm rectangular slices)

– 100g daikon, japanese radish (thinly sliced, roughly into 1cm x 3cm rectangular slices)

– 15cm japanese negi/ spring onion, roughly sliced

– 100g chicken thigh (cut into small bite pieces)

– 1/4 of fresh tofu, diced

– 2 table spoons of japanese sake (can be omitted)

– 1 tea spoon of salt

– 2 – 3 table spoons of say sauce (start with 1, and add to your liking)

– 1 – 2 table spoons of japanese mirin (alternatively, just a pinch of sugar)

– for garnish & extra colour, chopped japanese mitsuba leaves or cooked spinach or thinly sliced leek

directions:

1. in a medium sized pan, pour the broth and put carrots, daikon & leek slices and bring them to boil.

2. lower the heat but keep it boiling, and gently remove any residue coming up to the surface

2. add chicken and boil for another 5 minutes or so. make sure to remove residue

3. once carrots & daikon are soft, add sake, salt, say sauce and mirin to taste. make sure that soup tastes to your liking here

4. add udon, brings the soup to gentle boil, lower the heat and cook for another 3 – 5 minutes or so (depending on the thickness of the udon)

5. add tofu at the very end, stir gently so that tofu gets warm

6. place the soup and noodles in a deep bowl, place the garnish at the center

bento for the little one (salmon rice – 20 jan 16)

20/01/2016

main dish of the day: one of the little one’s favorite dishes, grilled salmon mixed in rice

menu: grilled salmon flakes mixed in rice with sesame & nori seaweed seasoning, cooked pumpkin in dashi broth, cherry tomato, omelet with spinach

mikan (similar to mandarine orange) for dessert

in Japan we eat a lot of grilled fish. some everyday even for breakfast, others maybe every other day. we have a fish grill embedded in our kitchen stove, which is common here and very handy.

this morning i grilled salmon filet (marinated with salt beforehand) while preparing for breakfast, and once done, mixed its flakes into a bowl of rice and a pinch of salt to taste. it’s always nice to sprinkle some seasoning on top for presentation.
fish grill in our kitchen. look at the cute little fish sign above the dial at far right

bento for the little one (hijiki – 18 jan 16)

18/01/2016

new year’s resolution: post bento images as much as possible.

today’s menu: hijiki (cooked hijiki sea weed with chicken & carrots), tamago (omelet), cherry tomatoes, broccoli & rice with sesame seasoning

homemade apple mousse and diced banana for dessert

hijiki is full in mineral and iron. Very good for kids.

hijiki

ingredients:

dried hijiki – fistful (lightly rinse, soak in water for 15 min, drained)

1 small carrot (sliced in julienne)

100g chicen thigh (cut into small pieces)

1 tbsp oil

2 tbsp sake

2 – 5 tbsp water

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 1/2 tbsp sugar

directions:

1.in a medium sized frying pan, put oil and stir fry chicken and carrots in medium heat for 3 minutes or so

2. add sake and fry further until carrots are soft

3. add hijiki, stir fry further. add water as required so the hijiki keeps moist

4. once hijiki is tender, add soy sauce and sugar, stir a bit and turn off the heat.