Mini Egg and Ham Muffin Bento

Mini Egg and Ham Muffin Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

This is my next installment of the mini bento series. Yes, it's another breakfast mini. I've already done a mini pancake stack, which I think was close to my first one. I've also made a mini sandwich, mini sushi, mini pizza, mini market haul, and mini snowman, among others. I got the idea for this one while I was making these whole wheat english muffins a few days ago. I decided to make a couple of mini ones so I could make a mini egg mcmuffin.

So here it is! On the flower shaped cream cheese sandwich I've plated: ham and "egg" (mozzarella cheese topped with real egg yolk dotted with fresh ground pepper) on english muffin, real bacon strips, a cup of "orange juice" (carrot with spaghetti straw), cup of "coffee" (brownie), and my cute little nori utensils. I would have liked the muffin to be even smaller. Next time! I've squeezed in some steamed broccoli and peapods, a sliced strawberry and some grapes for scale. Still have lots more mini ideas to go...

Mini Snowman Bento

Mini Snowman Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

I wanted to make a mini bento for Christmas since I haven't made one in such a long time. I initally wanted to do a miniature Christmas tree, but then I thought a tiny snowman would be so cute! I planned to make little snowballs to go with him and everything, but after working with the snowman himself I think the microsnowballs would be too much trouble. As it was the "snow" stuck to the plastic wrap and thus doesn't look quite smooth. I made three balls out of cream cheese for the snowman, and decorated his face with nori, a carrot nose and a yellow carrot corncob pipe. He also has purple carrot buttons and a carrot top hat. His arms are dry somen. As you can see, just as real snowmen do he started to melt after awhile, and began to lean to the side. I propped him up for the picture but lay him down after I was done. He is on a tofu platform and there's a bare tree next to him as well as his watermelon radish mittens. I wanted to poke the mittens on his arms but then his arms would have fallen off for sure! The rest of the bento contains a satsuma mandarin, grapes, peapods and carrots. Merrry Christmas!

Mini Sushi Bento II

Mini Sushi Bento II, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

I've been hearing about the Japan Society Virtual Bento Box Battle for awhile now, and last weekend tried to think of what kind of bento to make. Reading over the qualifications, one of the statements stuck out to me: Representations of iconic Japanese foods, landmarks, customs, or public figures.

Well, I love iconic foods of Japan, especially sushi! Then I realized that I hadn't made a mini bento in awhile; why not make a mini sushi bento? Some of you who know me from flickr remember my mini bento set, which sprang from my joint love of miniatures and bento. In fact, I had made a mini sushi bento before, and it was a lot of fun! I figured, why not make another one to symbolize and honor this iconic food of Japan? So here is my mini faux sushi bento (part II), submitted to Japan Society.

From left: maguro (actually a piece of roasted red pepper), yellowtail (steamed satsumaimo), unagi (teriyaki chicken), salmon (raw carrot with mozzarella), and ikura (red quinoa). The rice for the nigiri is actually cut from mozzarella cheese stick. The wasabi is green-dyed cream cheese and the pickled ginger is shredded carrot. All nori details are real nori. The platter is a sheet of nori as well, and it rests upon a pb&j sandwich. I added maroon carrot/cilantro flower details, and in the other section I put clementines and a cherry tomato to show scale.

Have you entered the contest? I believe the deadline has been extended to Monday, April 5th, so you still have time to create something to submit! Have fun!

Mini Sandwich Bento

Mini Sandwich Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

I haven't made a mini bento in sooo long, and you know how much I love minis! Just had the urge to make a mini bento today. Well, I picked up a pack of Mini Toasts and thought they would be so cute as a mini sandwich. Usually I make mini-er foods than this, but this is a nice scale to work with too.

On the toasted breads I put two circles of smoked ham, swiss cheese, some mini curly lettuce, a mini slice of avocado, and finally I sliced some grape tomatoes and lay them on top. Looking at it now, I think I should have squirted a squiggle of mustard right on top of the tomatoes. Next time.

I cut some mini carrot sticks to go along with this healthy "lunch" on a tofu "plate". The whole thing sits on top of a mini mandarin, with red grapes and strawberries surrounding. I added a tree of broccoli for color too. Here's a closeup view:

Isn't it cute?

Mini mini mini love ^_^!

Happy Weekend friends!

Mini Bento: Yakitori Bento

mini yakitori bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

* this miniature is real and 100% edible*

I haven't made a mini bento in awhile, but here is one from the archives that I hadn't blogged yet (I think). This one was a lot of fun to imagine and prepare. :)
For this snack bento I made for TinySprite, I used real chicken yakitori on rice stick skewers drizzled with real teriyaki sauce, "miso soup" in a blueberry bowl with cheese "tofu" cubes, cream cheese and red lettuce "onigiri", and real tiny broccoli florets. All on a swiss cheese plate.
The hardest to make was the onigiri, as the tiny bit of cream cheese melted very quickly. The trick is to freeze it first, so that I had more time to shape it into the traditionaly triangular form, and then add the lettuce and press to stick. There really isn't any liquid in the blueberry bowl, but I could have added water for realism. Even tiny bits of wakame, too for that matter. Next time, perhaps. The rice sticks worked very well as skewers, and by the time my girl ate them, they had softened up enough to chew easily.
The rest of the bento includes a red plum, carrot sticks, raspberries, cherry tomatoes, peapods and pea sprouts.

New Japanese Food Carving Book!

It's called The Decorative Art of Japanese Food Carving, by Hiroshi Nagashima, and I glanced through it at Kinokuniya Bookstore last weekend. It looks fantastic, with big glossy pictures and clear tutorials. I wanted to sit right down and read the whole thing immediately, but the rest of my party was restless. Just look at the cover photo of the mini foods ~ is it not the cutest thing you have ever seen, ever?? Of course, if you have been following my blog, you will know that I am a passionate miniature enthusiast...ok, I am obsessed with minis. And lately, carvings too! The tiny sandwich there just blew me away. The other intricately carved shapes are equally as wonderful -- look at the butterfly! Perhaps you might take a look in your local bookstore and see if it's something you might like to buy to give you ideas for cute bento. I know I would love it.... *hint* ^_^

Mini: Watermelon!

I made this mini watermelon from a green zebra heirloom tomato, after inspiration from playing with fire and water, a blogger who did a very similar thing (brought to my attention by Laura Bento, who knows my obsession with minis!). If you haven't seen green zebra tomatoes, they are characterized by green striations, very watermelon-like in nature. I scooped one out, cut out a corresponding size watermelon, popped it into the tomato shell, and placed sesame seeds on top. You can see that my watermelon scoop is not a perfect match for its tomato shell, but it was only my first novice try. I'll try again, you can be sure :)

Isn't the baby watermelon just the cutest thing ever? I mean, look at it!! Tee hee! Made for bento, I think :)

Mini Bento: Pancake Stack Bento

mini pancake bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

I am posting a mini bento from last spring because it's a favorite of mine and I just haven't had time to do many mini bento snacks lately. This one was for my toddler daughter. It includes her favorite ham & cheese rollups, plus a selection of fruits: strawberries, tangerines, and grapes. I also put in 2 peapods, because she will only agree to eat vegetables if they are present in small (one or two pieces) quantities. The mini part of the bento is the mozzarella cheese "plate", with real mini pancakes on top, topped with a tiny square of cheddar cheese "butter" and real maple syrup. The nori utensils I made using my craft punch. TinySprite loved the pancake, calling it "Baby pancake!", cuddling it, singing to it, and kissing it. It was so funny, I wish I had taken a photo of that scene :)

I have lots more mini bento ideas, and I am such an avid mini fan... there will definitely be another one soon, I hope!

Mini Pizza Bento!

I have a kind of obsession with miniatures, and you may see a few mini bento when the mood strikes me, and when I have extra time to *waste*. I like to use only edible stuff, since they usually are part of an actual snack bento for my toddler girl, TinySprite. This bento features a mini pizza, made from a whole wheat tortilla and spread with real tomato-basil sauce. The toppings are chopped green peppers, mushrooms, real pepperoni rounds, and shredded cheddar cheese. It is "raw", as I didn't actually bake it :) The rest of the bento includes champagne grapes, yellow pear tomato, pasta spirals, broccoflower, peach wedges, blackberry, strawberries, and spinach leaf. She really did eat it all, even the spinach leaf.  :)               

            

And a close-up view of the pizza :)

Mini Bento: Fresh from the Market

Sometimes a bento can be cute, and sometimes cute. Miniature = cute. Miniature edibles are super cute, and miniature bento are awesome! You will find that I like to make mini bento just for fun, from time to time. :)
For this one I used Okinawan purple potato as the table for the bagel chip and pretzel basket, holding some green onions and cilantro fresh from the farmers market. Also included in this bento are carrot spears, okra stars, a little brown rice onigiri with furikake and a cherry tomato, a lychee, cherries and blueberries.
Here is the real-life inspiration for this mini:
My recent farmers market haul that included purple and yellow carrots, purple peppers, various eggplants, golden beets, orange cherry tomatoes, and pluots. Whew! This produce was beautiful right out of the earth.