leggo my obento! the bento blog

his bento

rice with umeboshi, miso pork, stir fried green beans and carrots, tamagoyaki with wakame!

his bento

yaki udon with pork rib, cabbage, and carrots; apple slices; hostess CHOCODILE for dessert

yaki udon is easy to make.  i used dry udon noodles but you can also use the pre-packaged fresh ones.  if using dry udon noodles, boil them for 10-12 minutes and rinse them in cold water REALLY well to get all the starch off.   making yaki udon is similar to making yakisoba.. stir fry the meat and veggies and set aside, then stir fry the noodles for a few minutes.  add the meat and veggies, then add 1 T soy sauce and 1 T sake.  stir fry until well mixed, then transfer to bento box of choice..!

his bento

smoked salmon, stir fried corn, chopped spinach, apples with lemon juice, sweet simmered shiitake, fish cake tube with mayo

he doesn’t like eggs on rice, but had asked me to make him this when he saw the picture in my japanese family style recipes cookbook. the design was taken from the naomi kijima book, but i decided to use corn instead of eggs. i stir fried the corn in oil with salt. you can also add soy sauce and sugar to make it taste a little more like the eggs. for the spinach, i just blanced it in salt water, rinsed with cold water, drain and chop.

his bento

top: smoked salmon and green onion tamagoyaki, sweet simmered shiitake, stir fried green beans, and fish cake with mayo
bottom: daikon rice with furikake
my bento

left: salted cucumber salad with sesame seeds, apple slices, adzuki beans
right: smoked salmon donburi

i love donburi but he hates it. he doesn’t like egg on rice or sweet egg or hard boiled egg!!! so i made him a tamagoyaki with some smoked salmon and green onion, a dash of soy sauce and a dash of sake.

daikon rice: this recipe was taken from naomi kijima’s bento book. marinate daikon in soy sauce for about 10 minutes, drain, and stir into cooked rice along with bonito flakes. i topped mine with my favorite furikake which is a mix of bonito flakes, nori, sesame seeds. this was actually leftover from dinner last night..

smoked salmon donburi: this recipe was also adapted from naomi kijima’s bento book. she has a recipe for unagi (bbq eel) donburi and i instead replaced it with the smoked salmon.

the adzuki beans also came from naomi kijima’s bento book. i used canned beans instead, and added about half the sugar since i don’t like mine as sweet.

it’s been awhile!  actually i’ve been packing bentos BUT i haven’t had much time to take pix.  finally did today!

his bento

corn and wakame stir fry, fried chicken with tonkatsu sauce over rice, ginger candy

my bento

fried chicken with tonkatsu sauce over rice, corn and wakame stir fry, salted tomato and cucumber slices with a dollop of japanese mayo

i just started working at an ice cream shop part time, so i had ice cream for dessert hehehe.  he finished off the lemon merengue pie when he got home (i figured he would..).  the corn and wakame stir fry is EASY.  i mixed about 1 t soy sauce, 1 t sake, 1/2 t sugar… and you can add a little salt to taste if necessary.. i stir fried the frozen corn and the wakame after soaking it for a few minutes.. then poured the mixture over it and stir fried until it was absorbed by the corn.  the end!