Tag Archives: bento

bento for sakura picnic (31/mar – 2/apr/16)

03/04/2016

 
2nd april 2016, aoyama cemetary

as many people may know by now, japan is obsessed with sakura, cherry blossom. sakura is considered to be the national flower of japan that blossom splendidly around the end of march to beginning of april. the entire country gets flourished with the colour of delicate baby pink, which is the sign for the start of a brand new, exciting, fun season. this coincides with the new financial and school year, which lifts everyone’s spirits to the highest. everything becomes sakura this and sakura that, from sakura flavoured latte to sakura printed/shaped plates spread all over town. it feels a bit overdone in recent years, but i guess they do it because people fall for it. japanese take seasonality seriously, and make the most of it whenever possible.

  

so, what do we do? we go for picnic with our packed lunches and picnic mats, and this is called “hanami (hana = flower, mi = to look at”).

this is the bento i prepared for a sakura picnic (2 adults + 1 little one + 1 littler one who does not eat yet – the mini onigiri and assorted deli lunch on the right are for my LO). what i made is nothing special, but i prefer bringing homemade food because it brings me a sense of nostalgia from my childhood, and i want to give my little one the same feeling.

having said that, of course i get lazy and buy sandwiches or commercial bento from time to time…

one day, i’d love to make a bento packed beautifully in layered lacquer boxes and stuns everyone present, but i think it’ll take a while to realise that mission (have to buy the lacquer boxes to start with!)…


31 march 2016, yoyogi park (the image by courtesy of my dear friend L.G.)

bento for the little one (grilled cod 29/mar/16)

01/04/2016

menu: grilled cod “saikyo” style,  omelet, steamed broad beans, tomato, wakame seaweed & tofu salad 

fresh apple for dessert

   
 grilled cod fish marinated with “saikyo” miso paste. i grilled the fish perfectly for LO’s packed lunch, but totally burnt it for our dinner the same evening 😭 

since the saikyo miso paste is quite sweet it is prone to get burnt easily. I was multi tasking when grilling the fish for dinner, which wasn’t a very good idea…

 
wakame seaweed is one of LO’s favorite things to eat. it’s semi-dried, and you soak it in water for a few minutes and cut into bite size pieces before serving. it’s not that fishy (to me but i’m japanese), and not chewy, either. it’s full in mineral, and it’s said to be keep your hair nice and shiny.

bento for the little one (omelet rice 16/mar/16)

23/03/2016

menu: “omuraisu” omelet & rice, coleslaw salad with chicken, cherry tomato and green beans

apple mousse with yogurt for dessert

  
“omuraisu” omelet rice – it’s a Japanese adoption of western omelet. it comes with fried rice usually seasoned with tomato sauce. today however, i used just salt & pepper for seasoning. the fried rice is then wrapped with a plain omelet, and tomato sauce on top of it.

  fried rice with chopped onion, spinach and bacon 

bento for the little one (tricolor bento with chicken mince crumble 10/feb/16)

10/02/2016

menu: san-shoku (tricolor) bento with tori-soboro (chicken mince crumble), scrambled egg & sliced snow pea, tomato & cucumber salad, mashed sweet potato & spinach

apple mousse & diced banana for dessert

  

today’s main dish is, in my family, called “san-shoku” bento. the literal translation of “san-shoku” is tricolor, and in this bento, the three colours are represented by tori-soboro (cooked chicken mince) in brown, scrambled egg in bright yellow & sliced snow peas in spring green. the three ingredients are placed separately on top of white rice, next to each other. in order to give a little feeling of spring, I put a small slice of steamed carrot (cut out with a flower-shaped cutter), which makes the bento look like a flower field…. i remember having been very happy to open this bento box in particular, not only for its taste but also for its colourfulness, cheerfulness and this care that my mum put into on  its presentation. i was always proud of having such a pretty looking bento, which may sound silly but did matter quite a lot growing up…

san-shoku bento recipe

ingredients:

(chicken mince)

  • 200g minced chicken
  • 1 table spoon of sake (if not available, white wine)
  • 1 table spoon of dashi-soy sauce (if not available, normal soy sauce)
  • 1+ table spoon of mirin (if not available, a sprinkle of brown sugar with a table spoon of water)

(scrambled egg)

  • 1 egg
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1 tea spoon of oil

(snow peas)

  • a few snow peas
  • a pinch of salt

direction:

  1. chicken mince – in a frying pan stir-fry minced chicken in medium heat. make sure to constantly stir the chicken so that it doesn’t get burnt, and try to make chicken as crumbled as possible
  2. once the chicken is browned, add sake, and stir further
  3. add soy sauce and mirin, stir further until the sauce is reduced but still keeping the chicken moist
  4. scrambled egg – beat the egg and add salt while heating up a small frying pan
  5. when the pan is hot, add oil, and then the egg
  6. immediately start scrambling, and make egg as crumbled as possible (tip: hold a few pairs of chopsticks in your fist and stiiiiiirrrrr)
  7. snow peas – in a small pan, bring water to boil
  8. add a pinch of salt and snow peas (make sure to remove any strings beforehand. salt is added to keep the bright green colour of the peas), boil for 2-3 minutes until tender but not soggy
  9. once cooked, rinse the peas in running cold water for its bright green colour
  10. slice the cooked peas into small pieces
  11. decoration – on white rice (with its surface flat), place the 3 ingredients above separately, next to each other to make 3 wide stripes (or any other shapes you like)

that’s it, enjoy!

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 (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.