Chicken and Broccoli with Beet Slaw Bento

Chicken and Broccoli with Beet Slaw Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

I haven't posted a MisterMan bento for awhile, so here's today's: Vietnamese soy chicken with steamed broccoli, a raw beet-carrot-onion-daikon vinegary slaw, and a selection of fruit (peach, strawberries, blueberries). It does look a bit ordinary, doesn't it? Actually, I haven't been posting his bento because he's been making his own, by himself, a couple of times a week. He decides what and how much he wants, and he likes to show me the finished result. I've taken phone shots of his creations, and I really should post them for posterity. Maybe I'll show you a few of his bento sometime!

Rudolph the Quail Egg Christmas Chicken and Rice Bento

Rudolph the Quail Egg Christmas Chicken and Rice Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

The nights around here are getting pretty chilly -- down in the 30s -- calling for some comfort food to warm up the bones during the day. I made a big pot of Vietnamese soy chicken drumsticks (method and recipe here). Even though I grew up with shoyu chicken, and the Hawaiian version was a childhood favorite of mine, I really love the distinct taste of this version. I think it might be the fish sauce that gives it that extra flavor punch. Or maybe it's the black pepper. In any case, I'm hooked. I made this batch on the stovetop, and it doesn't take more than an hour to get nice and fall-off-the-bone tender. I packed some in the apple box atop some furikake rice and some broccoli steamed in the same pot. Chicken and rice. It's delicious hot, cold, room temperature, whatever. You know what I mean? The top layer holds a satsuma mandarin, the ever-present sauerkraut and pickled cucumbers, a smattering of blackberries, and a shoyu-dyed quail egg Rudolph. It's Christmas, after all!

Ma Po Tofu Panda Bento Bowl (and why we're eating wheat and soy again!)

Ma Po Tofu Panda Bento Bowl, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

And it's yet another donburi-type bento in the ever-favorite panda bowl; this time ma po tofu (adapted from Lovelylanvin's fantastic recipe here). This batch contains chopped pickled mustard greens (because I love 'em), along with scallions and even some choy sum. As usual, there is no hint of chili sauce at all in the kid version, which is why it looks so drab and dull (sigh). You may (or may not) have noticed that ma po tofu had been absent from our menu of late. This is due to the fact that TinySprite had tested positive for both wheat and soy in a blood IgE test. We assumed she was allergic to these foods and I had therefore been diligently trying to remove and replace them in our family diet. Well, recently she was retested via the more accurate skin prick test and we discovered that she is not allergic to wheat or soy at all. In fact, she was negative for all the common food allergens. So here we are eating wheat and soy again! I learned a lot about soy- and gluten-free cooking and eating during those months, and when I shared what I learned on this blog [you can search "gluten free" in the search bar up top and see how much I did!], I discovered that a whole lot of you are allergy-conscious as well. I have a new respect for folks who must live with food allergies; it can be tough and frustrating. I'm not abandoning soy- and gluten-free eating -- I actually like the taste of non-wheat flours, and I still have a lot of soy-free soy sauce (yes, it does exist!). The upper tier doesn't add much in the way of color, with blackberries, black grapes, and orange-fleshed plums, but I hope the sakura-shaped carrots brightened up this ho-hum bento for my girl. ^_^