Mabo Tofu Chicks Bento

Mabo Tofu Chicks Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Today's bento has mabo tofu, one of my favorite meals which I hadn't made in a long time. When I make the kids' version I don't use any chili sauce at all, sadly, since they have no tolerance for it. This is why theirs looks so brown. After they get their serving, the adult version gets a few tablespoons of chili paste added in, which adds the nice red color that I love. For this batch I used ground chicken, and I also stirred in an egg, which is why there are yellow bits visible in the closeup. I scooped the mabo tofu over some lettuce in this bento, and I left out most of the sauce to keep it on the less drippy, bento-friendly, side. For dinner they had it served over rice, which is my favorite way to eat it. I added a red leaf and dandelion green salad with sliced grape tomatoes and feta cheese, carrots, strawberries and grapes to round out the bento. And for a final Easter touch, I put two baby chicks sitting on a leaf together. They are made of yellow carrot, with orange carrot and nori details. Cheep cheep!

Four-Part Bento

Four-Part Bento, a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Today's bento has rotini pasta with sauteed baby portobellas, chicken sausage and wilted spinach, roasted asparagus, steamed broccoli, carrots, grapes, a mini mandarin, more (yellow and purple) carrots and a strawberry. We got a ton of these mini mandarins from the in-laws' yard, and the kids love them because they're so cute. I don't really like them much because the have seeds and they're kind of hard to peel. I much prefer satsumas, but we have to go through two huge bagsful still. Sigh. Unless I can get them to eat a bunch at breakfast and dinner, you'll be seeing them here a lot. These purple carrots are from L.A. as well, and you can see that the purple color goes almost all the way through the whole carrot, with just a small yellow core. The ones I usually get have just a thin purple skin. These looked nearly black on the outside. Very cool!

Did you notice my cool divided bento box? I found it at Ichiban Kan (I think Daiso carries it too); the brand name is Assist. It's made of hard plastic with two moveable dividers that you can intersect in three different ways -- to create 4 equal sections, 2 big + 2 smaller (which I've done here) or 2 big + 2 tiny. There are raised tracks molded into the box to keep the dividers from moving around too much. The top of this one is light blue, and it has a rubberized gasket seal as well as a rubber vent hole that you have to pull open before you can remove the lid. It seems to be pretty watertight. The one thing I don't like about this box right away is that there aren't any fingergrips to grab onto for opening the box. The lid and box are flush all the way around. I let MisterMan practice opening it before I let him take it to school, to make sure he could handle it. The nice thing about this box, though, is that it comes with an elastic band and a zippered fabric tote to carry it in. There are a few different varieties made by this company. If you live near an Ichiban Kan you might want to check them out. It also feels pretty solid, which is good for a lunchbag-swinging kid!

Chicken Bento

Chicken Bento a photo by sherimiya ♥ on Flickr.

Sliced rotisserie chicken, the usual veggies and the usual fruits. How's that for a quick description? All these fruit are super sweet; you can tell by the intense colors -- dark red strawberries, black grapes and dark orange mandarins. Really happy with this bunch of fruit I picked up this week. Along with steamed broccoli, kabocha and asparagus, I added a yellow and purple carrot skewer, and tossed a couple watermelon radish flower cutouts in there as well. The LunchBot Trio keeps all the parts separate, which I love.

If you'd like a chance to score one of these stainless steel boxes for yourself and donate to a good cause at the same time, do check out the Bento4Japan eBay auctions going on here. Along with several LunchBots, there are all kinds of brand-new bento boxes and accessories up for bid, and more are coming soon!

Sticky Rice and Red Fruit Bento

Sticky Rice and Red Fruit Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Today's bento is one of my (and my kids') favorites. Sticky rice is fun to make because you don't have to stick to traditional ingredients -- well anyway, I don't. Here is my basic recipe. Today I mixed brown and white glutinous rice along with brown and white regular rice. I cooked it in pure chicken broth, and towards the end of the cooking cycle I tossed in sliced lup cheong (Chinese sausage), sliced shiitake mushrooms, chopped squash and baby bok choy. All the flavors meshed together very well in this batch. I presoaked the rice for a few hours, which is essential if you are using brown glutinous rice. Super tasty, and nice colors too. The other side turned out to be an all-red fruit section, with strawberry, grapes, blood oranges and radish. Oh, and there's a yellow carrot in there for contrast.
My fellow bento enthusiasts have come together to establish a Bento4Japan eBay auction theme. There are books, bento boxes, goodie packages and more listed there, and all the proceeds will go towards the Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund. So you can satisfy your bento shopping while helping a good cause at the same time. Please take a look: simply use the search term "Bento4Japan" here!

Five Spice Chicken Bento

Five Spice Chicken Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Chicken and rice -- that old standard that never fails -- makes an appearance in this bento once again. This time with some Chinese five spice in the mix. Super flavorful and goes really well with plain rice. Here's what I do:

For 3 chicken thighs:
Mix 3T shoyu, 1T olive oil, 2tsp five spice, 1tsp fresh grated ginger, and 1tsp fresh minced garlic. Marinate chicken a few hours or however long you have (doesn't really matter too much). Roast for 10-15 minutes, turning occasionally. Reduce heat to 350F and bake additional 15 minutes. If you cut the thighs into smaller pieces for cooking like I did, they will cook faster and you can skip the baking step. Check to see when your pieces are cooked through, and remove from heat.

I put the chicken pieces and a furikake-sprinkled rice ball in a moon-shaped silicone cup along with a few colorful cherry tomatoes and a bunny cut from radish. This box is pretty deep so I was able to squeeze in a corncob, Okinawan purple potato, broccoli, yellow carrot flower shapes, peapods and some white nectarine slices into the rest of the space. I made a big batch of chicken so you'll see it again in near future bento as well. I just realized I should have cut a moon shape instead of flowers, for Mid-Autumn Moon! Next time.

Pandapple Fish Bento

Pandapple Fish Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Today's bento has Chinese style steamed snapper: just salt & pepper the fillet, steam in a little shoyu and mirin to taste until done, 10-15 minutes depending on size of the fish, and top with shredded ginger and green onion and a drizzle of sesame oil. I also steamed the brussels sprouts and cauliflower in the same pan to save time. By the way, the vegetables taste really good in the shoyu mirin sauce too! If you're concerned about the fish taste/smell getting into the rest of the food, you could use a box with a separate tier for the fish. Or, you might be able to simply put another lettuce leaf over to keep it more contained. My boy has never complained, so I just pack it as you see here.
I added a few tiny yellow carrot flowers (as usual) for visual interest on the brussels sprouts, and cut a radish into a Pandapple face with nori details. There's also purple cauliflower, raw carrots, a half supersweet apricot, some local cherries and my very own homegrown strawberry. For some reason a whole bunch of them are ripening at a very tiny size; maybe tomorrow I'll cut a whole sprig of them together. They are SO mini and cute. And dark dark red! I ate a few today and they're pretty good!

More Pork and Musubi Bento

More Pork and Musubi Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Yep, another pork and musubi bento. But I didn't make this pork; it's side pork cooked with preserved veggies from my neighborhood deli. Since it comes in a sweet sauce I thought it was pretty safe to add a musubi. This one is made with mixed rice (white, pearl barley, bulgur and lentils) which I sprinkled generously with furikake to make it more acceptable to MisterMan. I added nori eyes and a cherry tomato nose for fun. Also I stuck in some steamed purple cauliflower with yellow carrot flowers, and raw purple carrot slices. Fruit side has a mini mandarin, mini white peach, sweet cherries and a few grapes tossed in. Do you have your summer fruits yet? Every weekend we get more varieties appearing at the farmers markets, and I get so excited to see what's new each time! The apricots on our tree are getting bigger too, so I hope they'll make an appearance in a bento soon :)

P.S. It was a totally gray and rainy day, so I think that's why the photo doesn't look completely washed out today. So, there's one good thing about this wet weather in spring, I guess. Ha!

Slow-Cooked Pork Bento

Slow-Cooked Pork Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Today's bento contains some sliced pork, cooked in the slow-cooker, Okinawan style. Slow-cooking meat is easy and effortless, and you always end up with tender, moist, delicious meat. This recipe is no exception. It's sweet and rich, and the sauce is delicious over rice and veggies. Perhaps you've noticed we like to use all kinds of meat sauces over our veggies. In our house, such a tasty sauce will magically make ANY veggie desirable. Guaranteed. You should really try it with your little ones. Broccoli, choy, cauliflower, even sweet potatoes get dipped in sauce. You might be surprised at what they'll agree to eat!

3-4 pounds pork butt
2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 inch ginger root, crushed
1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup mirin
1/2 cup shoyu
1/2 cup miso

Combine all ingredients except the pork, mix well, put in slow cooker.
Place pork in slow cooker and cook on high for 4-6 hours or low for 8-9 hours, until tender.
Turn over midway through cooking to brown the other side.
Cool, then slice. Enjoy!

The rest of the bento includes a mixed rice onigiri which is hidden beneath a flower made of sliced radish, purple potato and peapods, steamed broccoli, and a hard boiled egg shaped into a bear face. I know it looks really weird, but I put nori dots in the eye and nose indentations, and a nori strip in the mouth, because I thought you would be able to see it better. Um, I guess I have to change the settings on my camera since a few of the last photos have had a lot of glare and intense brightness. You can't even tell I shaped it; but believe me -- I did, and it came out perfect too, no cracks or anything! Oh well. I'll try again tomorrow.

There's also a yellow carrot flower, white peach slices, a strawberry and some blackberries. All packed in my stainless steel Lunchbots box. This one has no dividers, but never mind; the silicone cups do well at separating the fruit from the rest of the meal. This nice compact box fits well in my boy's little insulated tote.

Oh, and I almost forgot: this one qualifies for Hapabento's BOMB contest for Flowery Bento, yay!
Happy bento!

Balsamic Chicken Bento

Balsamic Chicken Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Balsamic chicken was adapted from Maki's recipe: I marinated chopped chicken thighs in equal volumes balsamic vinegar and shoyu. Instead of draining off, I just pan-fried the chicken for a few minutes until browned and let the associated marinade reduce during cooking. Sprinkle with sesame seeds after. The reduced sticky sauce is great with steamed broccoli and rice too. I made a batch of Thai purple and white jasmine rice (not the same as glutinous purple rice, or black rice, which I've used before and which turns a much darker black color). I mixed it with furikake to make an onigiri for my boy's bento. Topped with sweet potato / purple potato flowers, this bento now qualifies for Hapabento's May B.O.M.B contest! I also added steamed broccoli, raw yellow carrot spears and a radish. Fruit side contains strawberry, grapes and one of the last remaining Cara Cara oranges. I'm SO sad that they appear to be unavailable suddenly, and the last time I saw them they were $3 a pound! Oh well. I'll have to wait for the summer fruit production. Our tree is now full of apricots, which I hope will mature into bright orange fruit soon!

Burrito Bears Bento

Burrito Bears Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Today's bento is a very simple and easy one. It's simply 2 sections of chicken burrito in a lettuce wrap, with steamed broccoli, grape tomatoes, baby carrots and skewered yellow carrot flowers all squeezed into the main compartment of the Ecolunch stainless steel bento box. I like that this box comes with a lidded separate container, which I have used to hold "liquidy" food such as yogurt or cottage cheese, or even extra salsa or sauce. Today it holds slices of Cara Cara oranges, a strawberry, some red grapes and a blackberry. I left the lid of the container off, and just covered with the box lid -- which by the way seals very tightly itself.

The only cute details in this bento come from the twin bear picks, which MisterMan said looked like they were sitting cutely on a bench together, and maybe the carrot flowers, which took a couple seconds to cut out. An example of how a perfectly fine bento can come together in a minimum of time and effort, still healthy and fresh-looking, on those days when you have way too much to do rather than work on the bento.

Oh, and it's Mexican food too! Happy Cinco de Mayo week!

Lemon Garlic Salmon Bento

Lemon Garlic Salmon Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Salmon today was broiled in olive oil with pepper, garlic and lemon juice. I served it with potato "chips" that I tossed in the same pan to crisp up. Also in this bento is steamed broccoli, yellow carrot flowers and cherry tomato ladybugs with nori detail. I stuck the nori on with olive oil. You can't use water; you'll find the nori will just curl up and fall off. The bugs are sitting on steamed baby potato halves. Everything looks so garden-y in the lettuce leaf, doesn't it?

For fruits he gets red grapes, a kumquat for contrast, a luscious strawberry and some cara cara orange wedges. These oranges are back in stock in a big way at my local market. Yay! Good thing too, since we probably each eat one a day.

Don't forget to enter the Hawaii's Bento Box Cookbook giveaway here!

A Flower Garden Bento

A Flower Garden Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Today's bento is a spring garden bento, which will be submitted to Hapabento's contest. There's still time for you to enter too!

As you know, my boy is not a big rice eater, but I really wanted to use my red/brown rice as "dirt" for my garden scene. So I put a layer of roast chicken down, added furikake, and topped with just a thin layer of rice. In fact, I think you can even see the chicken below in some places. I really did put the minimum amount. I hope it is acceptable :) I also sprinkled more furikake on top, for taste. It can represent the mulch, let's say. Steamed broccoli form the border below, peapods are the stems, and the three sets of flowers are pink carrot "roses", yellow and purple carrot "daisies", and radish "tulips". I lined the box with green lettuce leaf as well, to further the growing garden theme.

The small box holds half a mandarin and a bunch of grapes. The sunset-hued (real) rose is from my garden (though the name of this one escapes me!). A lot of my roses are blooming now, and they are very lovely and fragrant. I chose every one for its scent as well as color and form. This one to me smells just like pikake; very strong and kind of citrus-y. It's putting a smile on my face right now as it sits next to me while I type :D

Bowties with Meat Sauce Bento

Bowties with Meat Sauce Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Today I fell back on another standard: pasta with meat sauce. This time I used miniature bowties, which I boiled in water I used for cooking beets. I was hoping it might turn the pasta red, but the best I could get is reddish-brown. As a result, it kind of blends in with the meat sauce. Oh well! I topped with a piece of steamed broccoli "tree" and a bright orange kumquat to add some color.

We have lots of ripe blackberries so I sliced some up to flavor the cottage cheese and topped with crushed walnuts and wheat germ. In the third section I tossed some edamame along with a skewer of purple and yellow carrots. Is it a happy meal? I think so :)

Furikake Fish Bento

Furikake Fish Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

I know, I know. Usually you make furikake salmon or furikake mahi mahi, like I had in this bento. But, I thought I would try it with wild cod, since it was available in my market, and I figured since it is a mild-tasting fish the furikake would give it a nice shot of flavor.

Here's how to do it:

1. Spread the fish with mayo.
2. Sprinkle generously with furikake.
3. Fry in butter until done, then flip.

That's it! Fillets like salmon and mahimahi hold together well, but cod tends to fall apart so it ended up being more like chunks of furikake cod. But actually this works out well for kids, since it's easier for them to eat like this anyway. For this bento I lay the fish on some lettuce, added some garlic roasted asparagus, and decorated with tiny yellow carrot flowers. I also gave him maroon carrot sticks and Okinawan sweet potato flowers. In the fruit section he has a strawberry, grapes and a mini mandarin.

Simple but easy, and tasty :)

Chicken & Sweet Potato Bento

Chicken & Sweet Potato Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Since today is National Sweet Potato Day (you learn all kinds of things via twitter), I decided to toss in two kinds of sweet potato into MisterMan's bento to celebrate. I steamed regular orange and Okinawan purple sweet potatoes, cut them into flower shapes, and lay them in. I also put some roast chicken in lettuce wrap, quick pan-fried garlic enoki mushrooms, steamed broccoli with tiny maroon carrot flowers, starcut carrots and a grape tomato.

In the fruit section I place a giant, juicy red strawberry, some red grapes (underneath), and some yellow carrot stars on blood orange slices with the rinds cut off, like I saw ehmeelu do yesterday. I like the cool effect.

I used a kind of indigo dyed cloth-like paper for background. I can't remember where I got it, but it came in a big sheet which you fold up like fabric although it's actually paper. And do you see the cute Keroppi pair?
They are a gift from a very, very thoughtful and sweet bento friend!! I LOVE them; thank you!!!

On to other news:
I was so fortunate as to receive the following award from Natesgirl of Give Peas A Chance.

Thank you so much!! I am so flattered and honored. You should take a look at her blog; she is so talented -- making bento, cooking, baking, crafting... and raising a beautiful family to boot! Wow!
Since I have already told you several things about myself in an earlier post, I won't bore you again...but I will pass this award on to one of my favorite bloggers, Lia of MyBentolicious. If you don't already know how amazing Lia's bento skills are, you must take a look at her blog and discover for herself!

Olympics Bento: Snowboard Cross

Olympics Bento: Snowboard Cross, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Today's bento has a theme: Olympics! It's an easy one, and it might even provide more than one themed bento over the next week. I'll tell you what this one shows, since you may not be able to decipher it on your own: Snowboard Cross.

Yes, I know it doesn't look like a snowboard but the truth is he was supposed to be a downhill skier. After I cut out the carrot man, I couldn't get him to stand on two skis so I used only one. And didn't bother to cut a proper snowboard by that time :) But luckily this way I don't need to figure out how to put poles either.

I made honey garlic pork, using sliced pork loin instead of chops so it's easier for the kids to eat and better for bento. I also stirfried yellow zucchini (squash) and sweet red pepper with olive oil and garlic powder. There's also steamed broccoli, a maroon/purple carrot skewer and a grape tomato. The snowboarder is made of carrot with a grape head and a purple carrot ski, and he is perched on a tofu hill. In the fruit section I put sliced blood oranges, a strawberry, a yellow carrot star and some red grapes (underneath).

Double Tigers Valentine Bento

This is my final Happy Valentines Day / Chinese New Year dual bento!

I made two sweet potato tigers with nori and sesame seed detail, with a red pepper heart to show their love. Also in the box, which is a tiny bamboo steamer, broccoli, maroon carrots, yellow carrots, strawberry and red grapes. My boy brought a bunch of lay see and candies home from his class party, so I used some of them for the photo.

Hope all my bento friends enjoy a weekend of love and best wishes for an auspicious new year's beginning :D

Teriyaki Salmon & Asparagus Bento

Teriyaki Salmon & Asparagus Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

Wild salmon teriyaki with roasted asparagus thrown in there too. Baked purple potato "chips", cherry tomatoes and cucumber. Fruit side has satsuma mandarin, kiwi and raspberries. Yellow carrot added a bright punch with flower and star cutouts. The stars are cut out by hand, very simply with a knife tip. I am really liking the bright intensity of the yellow carrots -- I think I'll be using it quite a bit during these dark days of winter.
No holiday details here (too tired to think of any)! Maybe tomorrow...

The Floating Bento

The Floating Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

I have powers of levitation that I put to use in my magical bento today...what do you think? Actually, the light blue background I used just makes it appear as if there's no background at all! Also, it must have been a particularly bright day. Now that the days are getting shorter, I find my pictures might be getting darker with more shadows. Since I have no professional lighting equipment, this lack of natural light must be reflected in my photos, *sigh*. Do you use high-wattage lamps? Or like me, is the quality of your photo dependent upon the weather?

MisterMan has standard vermicelli noodles with grilled chicken, cherry tomato, cucumber baran, broccoli, purple potato wedges and bursting yellow carrots. Fruit side has satsuma mandarins, grapes (underneath), kiwi, blackberries and raspberries.

This bento is so simple, but it includes my boy's favorite kind of food: noodles, so I know it will be a hit. As for the rest of it, as usual I just throw in whatever I have in the vegetable crisper, making sure there is representation of most of the color groups. This is for nutritional balance as well as aesthetics. Starting after this bento, I am trying to put a festive touch into each one. There are only a few weeks left until Christmas, so we might as well make the most of it, right? Happy holidays, friends!

Turkey Bento

Turkey Bento, originally uploaded by sherimiya ♥.

This was the requisite leftover turkey bento! Did your leftovers make it to a lunch or two? Along with a few slices, I packed gravy in a yellow container, a little square of cornbread, potato croquette (not homemade), purple and yellow carrot skewer, pear tomatoes, satsuma mandarin, grapes (underneath), blackberries, raspberry and chocolate persimmon.

Have you ever seen this kind of persimmon? I've only seen it recently for the first time. It looks the same as a regular persimmon on the outside, but the flesh looks darker. Seems to taste quite similar to me. You might like to try it if you happen to see it at your local farmers market.

I find most of the unusual produce I use in my bento at the handful of farmers markets I try to explore each week. The food there is fresher, more recently harvested, and more genuinely delicious. Also, if you're not sure how to prepare something, the vendors are happy to share their suggestions with you -- an added bonus :)