Bunny Riceball and Salted Salmon Bento

Salted salmon and rice for TinySprite today. Have you made shiozake before? The method I use is one from LovelyLanvin's recipe: I salt the fish overnight, then slice into small strips before broiling. It packs very well for bento and tastes delicious cold or room temperature. It's nice to serve with plain rice because the salmon itself has lots of flavor. I decorated the rice with nori into a bunny face, and using lettuce as a liner means she can either wrap the whole thing up or eat it with a fork. This cute divided box lets me add blood oranges and grapes in a separate section, alongside steamed Okinawan sweet purple potatoes, carrots, and cucumbers. Simple, but so delicious! This is one of my own favorite meals as well. ^__^

Octodog and Salted Salmon Onigiri Bento

Octodog and Salted Salmon Onigiri Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

I made salted salmon last weekend, and have been enjoying it in all kinds of ways. Today I made a salted salmon onigiri for my second-grader, who will like the flavor the fish imparts to the plain mixed rice. I added a couple of octodogs with sesame seed and nori facial details, and a quail egg with a molded bear face. I dipped the egg in shoyu for flavor and to add contrast. I filled in the gaps with steamed broccoli, and I also fried some partially steamed kabocha in the same octodog pan. I drizzled shoyu on the wedges at the end to give a bit of salty flavor. The plum slices are accented with watermelon radish and pink carrot flower.

I used Maki's Just Bento recipe for salted salmon. Briefly, all you do is coat a fresh piece of salmon with sea salt, wrap in paper towels and refrigerate for 24 hours to draw the liquid out. After the salting period, you can slice the filet and cook in a few different ways. I chose to pan-fry; a few minutes on each side until cooked through. It is quick and easy to do, and so versatile. I've eaten it in jook, ochazuke, onigiri, and just as is with plain hot rice. It's simply delicious. And since Maki says you can freeze the salted pieces, that's just what I've done. It'll only take a few minutes to fry some up whenever the mood strikes me.