Menu: Stir-fried chicken teriyaki, Komatsuna omelet, Cucumber sticks, Cherry tomatoes
Apple mousse and sweet potato mash for dessert….
But our daughter demanded she eat the apple and sweet potato combo for breakfast. Hence….
Mandarin “mikan” for dessert
Menu: Grilled marinated snapper, Tomato/ham/cheese omelet, Boiled broccoli, Rice with goma-shio (black sesame & salt sprinkle)
Kiwi and banana for dessert
Menu: Shiokoji (salted & fermented ricemalt) salmon onigiri, Diced sweet potato with tori-soboro, Boiled egg, and Cucumber sticks
Apple wedges for dessert
Shiokoji, salted & fermented ricemalt, has been one of the hottest ingredients in Japan in recent years. Shio = salt, koji = ricemalt, is a traditional Japanese condiment, and we mainly use it as sort of like marinade on fish or meat in order to give extra flavour and tenderness. Since it is salted & fermented, it can preserve food quite well, and is considered to be one of the many superfoods we have in this country.
For whatever reason, some media picked up on it in a cooking program on TV one day, and ever since then shiokoji has become an important must-have item in our everyday kitchen. Everyone started talking about it, even though it had been there for ages, as if it was some novel discovery. My mum and her sisters are crazy about it also, and even culture their own shiokoji at home. They consistently and a little persistently kept suggesting me to use this magical ingredient, up to a point where I had no choice but use it so that I can make them happy hence quiet. But you can never underestimate your mum’s or auntie’s wise words. Once I started incorporating it in my cooking I have become a big fan.
So there it is, marinated salmon filet in shiokoji. I grilled the filet this morning in our fish grill for our little girl’s onigiri riceballs. I added chopped boiled komatsuna for extra crunchiness and flavour.
Shiokoji made by my auntie T
Menu: Tori-soboro (chicken crumble) variation with chopped veggies and tofu, Roasted sweet potato, Goma-konbu, Baba-hamu-kyuri
Green grapes for dessert
Having some guests over the weekend. I didn’t have time for grocery shopping for bento making on Monday. Whipped up this packed lunch box using the ingredients stored in our pantry/fridge/freezer. Not too bad!
Menu: Macaroni bolognese with parmiggiano leggiano, Steamed broccoli, boiled green beans, Boiled egg
Kiwi & yogurt for dessert
Menu: Simmered sword fish, Spinach goma-ae, Pumpkin & egg salad, Steamed broccoli, Cherry tomato, Rice with goma-konbu
Apple wedges for dessert
Menu: Tori soboro & sautéed chopped spinach mixed in rice, Goma konbu, Kiriboshi daikon, Cherry tomato omelet, Boiled green beans
Japanese “nashi” pear for dessert
Menu: Yakiniku stir-fried pork slices (same recipe as nikudon pork, just not on rice), Spinach goma-ae, Kiriboshi daikon, Seared pumpkin, Cherry tomato
Japanese “kyoho” grapes for dessert
Menu: Grilled salmon, Steamed sweet potato & lightly fried bacon, Boiled egg, Cucumber & cherry tomato
Japanese “kyoho” grapes for dessert
Our little girl caught another cold, second one in a month, this time with some coughs and runny nose. In the evening before she seemed a little weak but fine, so I set the timer for the rice cooker and put my alarm for the daily bento making the following morning.
In the morning I usually wake up before her and start preparing the bento, so that’s what I did. Once everything was ready, I went in to her room and tried to wake up my little sleepy head. She usually mumbles something grumpily but resigns and wakes up eventually, but this morning she still seemed to be in her deep sleep. I quickly realised she was quite ill, and we decided to keep her home for the day.
The bento wasn’t really necessary today, but she ate most of it at our coffee table, despite her nasty coughs, continuous runny nose and a bit of fever. She used her own cutlery set and place mat that she uses at kindergarten everyday. She proudly laid everything very nicely on the table, just like she always does it at school, which made my heart tickle and made me want to hug her tightly.
Sometimes bento making gets so tedious I wish there was school lunch provided at her kindergarten, but I wouldn’t have seen her eating my handmade bento the way she did today. For this, every effort is worth it. For this, I will keep making bento for our girl.
Menu: Assorted mushrooms cooked with rice, Steamed sweet potato with tori-soboro, Spinach omelet, Cucumber & cherry tomato
Apple wedges for dessert
Autumn…. Season for mushrooms…. I love mushrooms for their strong earthy flavour and their fleshy texture. In Japan there are various types of mushroom such as shiitake, enoki, maitaké, shimeji, eringi… All come with different flavour, shape and texture. I put all of these in the Japanese earthware pan and cooked rice with them, with a little bit of seasoning. It came out very well, BUT, our daughter doesn’t like mushrooms… not yet. So for the packed lunch today, I put only teeny tiny bits of mushrooms that’s not even visible in rice, hoping she’d at least get used to the flavour and eventually show her liking. I’ll be crossing my fingers!
SMALL TOKYO KITCHEN 