Children's Day (こどもの日 Kodomo no Hi) Fish Slaw Bento

Children's Day (こどもの日 Kodomo no Hi) Fish Slaw Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Happy Children's Day! Okay, it's not until the 5th of May, but since that falls on a Sunday, we'll be celebrating it today. I made kind of a deconstructed fish taco (but without the tortilla), which kind of falls in with Cinco de Mayo too. Yay! I pan-fried snapper and served it with a fresh cold cabbage slaw which was tossed with shredded carrots, onions, cucumbers, and rice vinegar with a sprinkling of sugar. I also made a tomato cara cara orange salsa. A cup of mango completes the tropical feel. Along the pickled red onion there are some cucumber koi nobori (carp) to go with the cheese nori boy with his Okinawan sweet potato hat. A couple of big strawberries fill out the box. I know it's "Children's Day", but when I was a kid we called it Boy's Day (and there's a Girls' Day to balance in March), and so this one is for my MisterMan. Hope he likes it!

Children's Day (こどもの日, Kodomo no hi) Bento

Children's Day (こどもの日, Kodomo no hi) Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Happy Children's Day (こどもの日, Kodomo no hi)! The 5th day of the 5th month used to be called Boys' Day (with Girls' Day falling on the 3rd day of the 3rd month) when I was a kid growing up in Hawaii, but now it has been generalized to include all children. I will always think of this day as boys' day, though, symbolized by the carp. I made gluten-free pepperoni pizzas to commemorate. This is the same dough I used last time, pressed into a fish shape before topping with cheddar cheese, quartered pepperoni scales, and a zucchini/pepperoni/mozzarella/kale eye. Underneath this fish pizza is a regular shaped pizza topped with shredded kale, julienned zucchini, pepperoni and cheese, and in the top tier of this EcoLunchBox is cottage cheese/sunflower seeds/wheat germ, blood oranges, strawberries and blackberries, and carrots. Happy Children's Day to all the littles out there!

Children's Day Bento

Children's Day Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Children's Day (こどもの日, Kodomo no hi) is a Japanese national holiday which takes place annually on May 5, the fifth day of the fifth month, and is part of the Golden Week. It is a day set aside to respect children's personalities and to celebrate their happiness. It was designated a national holiday by the Japanese government in 1948. (Wikipedia)

I don't know about you, but when I was growing up we called the 5th day of the 5th month Boys' Day and the 3rd day of the 3rd month Girls' Day (Hinamatsuri). So May 5th always makes me think of boys, kabuto, and koinobori. To celebrate this holiday I made a boy from a halved hard-boiled egg decorated with nori features and wearing a purple carrot kabuto (military helmet). The koinobori is made from the other half of the egg dyed with beet juice and cut into a fish shape with my small paring knife. I cut the scales with a straw cut lengthwise in half, and the eye with another straw. It's flying from the pole by rice sticks.

The rest of the bento has pasta tossed with my homemade arugula pesto and roasted grape tomatoes, steamed broccoli, carrots, strawberry and grapes. This cool bento box has a raised lid so the boy can look out the window with his carp to greet MisterMan at lunchtime. Happy Children's Day to all kids everywhere! ^_^

*for arugula pesto:
2-3 cups arugula alone, or mix in some basil if you like.
1/2 cup roasted hazelnuts
1-2 cloves garlic (depends how garlicky you like it)
Process, and gradually add olive oil (about 2/3 cup) to desired consistency.
Also add 2/3 cup grated parmesan, process until smooth.

I toss with pasta, or use as sandwich spread. Yum!