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.
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
his bento
ginger pork on rice; tamagoyaki with spinach; takoyaki with mayo, nori flakes, and red ginger; green beans ohitashi
this bento is very christmas-y on accident. actually i started making it and realized how green it was gonna be, so it was either carrots or takoyaki for color. i decided he’s been a good boy so i’ll give him a little treat. i got some frozen takoyaki already made, so all i do is take one out and heat it up in order to add it to the bento. they are really yummi and even have a tiny piece of octopus inside!
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..!
japanese translation of title: buta-baraniku to daikon no nimono
i like packing bentos for saturdays, even tho neither of us has to leave the house because it means lunch is taken care of. generally we nibble on them throughout the day. whenever he gets hungry he can just open up his bento and eat something. same for me - lunch is made so i’m not tempted to eat something unhealthy. anyways maybe i’m just weird, but i like saturday bentos. also it’s a good use of leftovers from the week’s bentos…
his bento
back, from left: simmered pork with daikon, rice with nori flakes; front, from left: daikon carrot pickles, chikuwa fritters and calamari fritters, stir fried corn and green beans, kiwi slices
my bento
back: rice with nori flakes, simmered pork and daikon raddish (i don’t use seperators because i like how the juice gets into the rice); front, from left: meatball, stir fried corn and green beans, calamari and chikuwa fritters, daikon and carrot pickes; left: kiwi slices
note that i also got the bento boxes i had ordered from j-list.com!! they are even cuter than in the pictures!!
the best use of leftover rice is fried rice! we ordered hot mama’s pesto pizza last night for dinner and i’d made rice for yesterday’s bentos that morning.. and still had nearly half a pot of rice leftover this morning… so i made fried rice.
his bento
left, from top: hamburger with tonkatsu sauce, simmered konbu, simmered shiitake; right: pork fried rice; dessert: slice of pound cake
my bento:
left: pork fried rice; right, from top: mandarin oranges, simmered konbu, simmered shiitake, hamburger
since the boy is still working overtime i realized i hadn’t really packed him enough food to get through the day… so i made an extra snack for him..
octopus wieners with tonkatsu sauce hair and japanese mayo faces (and a few simmered carrot flowers)
i made okonomiyaki tonight, with my friend!! i have yet to make okonomiyaki by myself, and it’s such a fun dish to make together with other people who like to cook. i make my okonomiyaki fluffier with a little extra flour and a dash of baking soda. for filling i had pork, calamari, and fresh shrimp that we varied in each one. i usually add grated namaimo to my batter because i find it makes the okonomiyaki more moist and filling. for toppings, i use okonomiyaki or tonkatsu sauce, bonito flakes, and nori flakes, and for condiments, red pickled ginger and japanese mayo.
his bento
left: chopped apples, mandarin orange, and kiwi, stuffed cabbage rolls; right: okonomiyaki made with shrimp, calamari, and pork with condiments (mayo and pickled ginger), strawberry filled mochi cakes; back: japanese cream puff
he is working extra hours this week to catch up from the holidays, so i wanted to pack a little extra for him to munch on throughout the day.
my bento
okonomiyaki with condiments (mayo and pickled ginger) and mandarin orange slices
ooh this lunch is gonna be STINKY!!
his bento
top, from left: pineapple cookie, rice with sardine ginger sauce, sardine simmered in ginger sauce, niku jaga (minus the beef cuz he picked it out at dinner 
); bottom, from left: sliced apple, cucumber sunomono with dressing in a heart shaped squeeze bottle, cabbaged stuffed with ground pork and beef and shiitake, quarter of a chocolate chip cookie
my bento
from left: cucumber sunomono with dressing in a star shaped squeeze bottle (i had the heart but the boy wanted it lol), sardine simmered in ginger sauce, persimmon slices, soft boiled egg, cabbage stuffed with ground pork and beef and shiitake, rice balls shaped in hearts and stars rolled in salmon furikake
i was having artistic issues with arranging mine 
i really needed a cherry tomato or something cute and small to go in the middle. at first i put the cookies but that wasn’t doing it, i knew that wouldn’t be a fulfilling lunch.. then this morning i thought of it! a boiled egg!! yum!!
