leggo my obento! the bento blog

Trader Joe’s has frozen swordfish steaks.  They are reasonably priced and very tasty.  I made some Swordfish sticks from Naomi Kijima’s bento book with them.  Good stuff!

Also Konnyaku is an excellent “diet” food.  It has virtually 0 calories and next to no nutritional value, but it absorbs flavors very well.  It is a very filling item and the flavor in it can help to appease a ravenous appetite (use it sparingly, however!).   I like the texture a lot.

Rice with Furikaki, Swordfish Strips, Stewed Gobo and Carrot, Stewed Konnyaku, Stir fried Corn (soy sauce, sake, sugar).

in honor of the chinese new year i made a dim sum bento. well not a great dim sum bento, a lot of my favorite dim sum items were missing. actually, the truth is i didn’t have time to cook dinner so i had a lot of pre-cooked things.

Rice with umeboshi, potstickers, shu mai, egg roll, cherry tomato, hard boiled egg, sesame green beans, and a hot dog.

Went to Daiso yesterday and picked up some cute bento stuff.  They opened the one downtown Seattle which is way more convenient than the one way up in Lynnweird.  I love that store.

Each item pictured above was $1.50 and the bento box was $4.00.. grand total was $10.00 (plus tax).

For those who don’t know, Daiso is a Japanese dollar store that recently started opening stores around the world outside of japan.  Normally bento accessories can only be bought online via ebay or jlist.  There is usually a small price markup and there are shipping costs to consider.  I’ve usually gone to Uwajimaya.  Daiso has a better selection of bento accessories, but Uwajimaya has pretty decent bento boxes (and groceries).

seared giant scallop, shrimp, shiitake, salmon roe, mango, tofu salad, green beans

simmered pork, potatoes, and shirataki over rice; steamed broccoli with mayo; pickled hakusai; cherry tomato; pancake filled with azuki beans

2 bentos with hakusai-maki. i got a new cell phone with a nifty camera in it, so hopefully there will be more bento posts (depending on how late i’m running for work… haha). Also I will take some food photos.

Hakusai-maki, Hijiki, Curry Cauliflauer pickles, iri-dofu, rice

Hakusai-maki, Curry cauliflower pickles, cherry tomato, rice with umeboshi and shiso

my bento blog turned 1 on Dec 28th!  i’m currently on vacation so no bentos.  expect more bento action january sometime…

his bento

niku jaga; rice with umeboshi; steamed asparagus

here’s my recipe for niku jaga, i like it really sweet:

thin sliced sukiyaki beef (about half a pound at most)
4 small or 3 medium potatoes (the small ones with thin skin)
1 carrot
1/2 yellow onion
1 cup (japanese - 180 ml) dashi
2T sugar
2T soy sauce
1T sake

chop carrot, cut potatoes into fourths, and slice the onion.  stir fry beef, potato, onion, and carrots in heavy skillet on medium heat for 5 minutes.  mix rest of ingredients with the dashi in a seperate bowl then add.  turn heat to med-low and cover skillet.  cook until the potatoes and carrots are soft (this varies by individual preference).  serve hot (but i think it still tastes good at room temperature..!).  ideal side dishes are green vegetables and some kind of light crunchy fresh food, like tomatoes or cucumber salad or apples.

my bento

cherry tomato, pan fried green beans; kabocha; hot dog; umeboshi and rice

this is a good time to suggest to bento fans that want to pack their own but don’t have a real bento box.. try disposable plastic ware!  fill rice up to the halfway point and then put your side dishes on top of the rice (or next to it).  you can make a simple bento using hot dogs and vegetables such as green beans, snow peas, asparagus, corn, spinach.  add a hard boiled egg cut in half, or if you don’t like hard boiled eggs, make deviled eggs, or a small one egg omelette (try smoked cheese and spinach!!).

my bento

fish ball stir fried with green onion; green beans wrapped in bacon; kabocha; hard boiled eggs with mayo (deviled egg); fried rice with dried shrimp and takanazuke  (i love that stuff!!)

japanese mayo is perfect for making deviled eggs.  traditionally americans make deviled eggs by mixing the egg yolk with a little mayo, a little mustard, and a little white vinegar.  since japanese mayo is made with rice vinegar and is sweeter than american mayo, the extra flavor additives are unnecessary.  just pop out the egg yolks and mix with a little mayo.  deviled eggs is a good alternative solution to bento lovers that don’t like traditional hard boiled eggs…!  although i love both… it’s a nice treat every now and again.