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Bento

Bento 23 – California Roll

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Bento

Bento 22 – Sushi Scramble

It’s been so long since I’ve posted bento, I have lost track of what I’ve eaten.  Here’s my best guess:

Image of a Bento with Mixed Sushi

Upper left: Wasabi, pickled ginger

Upper right: Grape tomatoes with shiso sprinkles

Lower left: Vegetarian sushi with avocado and cucumber, wrapped in nori

Lower right: Strawberries sprinkled with dark cocoa powder and confectioner’s sugar

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Bento

Bento 21 – Dumplings

Mini-Dim Sum

Image of a Bento with Steamed Dumplings and an Agar Leaf

Top Tier: Grape tomatoes with furikake; green grapes with a coffee agar maple leaf

Bottom Tier: Steamed vegetable dumplings; napa cabbage slaw with carrot and rice vinegar

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Bento Explorations

Bento 20 – Cabbage, Gyoza and Rice Crackers

. . . in the blue, wackily-named Lube Sheep bento box.

Image of a Bento with Cabbage Salad and Crackers

Top Tier: Shredded cabbage and carrots in rice vinegar; vegetarian gyoza

Bottom Tier (clockwise from left): Fresh grape tomatoes; rice crackers; red peppers roasted with garlic; strawberries

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Bento

Bento 19 – Spring Roll in a Small Box

Three Tiers

Image of a Bento with Spring Roll in a Small Box

Upper Left: Grape tomatoes

Center Left: Broccoli with garlic slices

Lower Left: Green grapes, halved

Center Tier: Spring roll with lettuce, carrot, rice noodles, spring onion, shrimp, mint and cilantro in rice paper wrappers and small container of garlic-enhanced shoyu

Upper Tier: Rice crackers

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Bento

Bento 18 – Bento with Celery, Peppers and Cabbage

. . . in the large faux enamel bento box

Image of a Bento with Gyoza and Crackers

Upper Left: Vegetable gyoza with dipping sauce in bottle and two strawberries

Upper Right: Grape tomatoes

Lower Left: Shredded cabbage tossed with seasoned rice vinegar; celery partitions; steamed rice with furikake

Lower Right: Green grapes below roasted red peppers

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Bento

Bento 17 – Spring Rolls and Broccoli

Shrimp, Mint, and Cilantro Spring Rolls

Image of a Bento with Spring Roll and Broccoli

Upper Left: Green grapes and grape tomatoes

Upper Right: Broccoli dressed with shoyu and garlic

Lower Left: Lettuce, carrot, rice noodles, spring onion, shrimp, mint and cilantro in rice paper wrappers

Lower Right: Cucumbers in rice vinegar

Center: Small jelly

Center Right: Kalamata olives on picks with basil between

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Bento

Bento 16 – Bento with Gyoza, Carrots and Cucumbers

Gyoza, Carrots and Cucumbers

Image of a Bento With Gyoza and Carrots

Upper Left: Coffee flavored jell; dipping sauce with shoyu, garlic and ginger

Upper Right: Cucumbers in rice vinegar

Lower Left: Gyoza (vegetable, from Trader Joe’s)

Lower Right: Slivered carrots simmered briefly in a light sauce with mirin (then cooled); heart-shaped egg

The egg was shaped in one of my ice cream molds (see Bento 13). I don’t have the knack yet; that’s not a broken heart, but it is a cracked one!

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Bento

Bento 15 – Black Rice Noodles

Black Rice Noodles, Shitake Mushrooms and Shrimp

Image of a Small Bento with Black Rice Noodles

Here’s mine, in a standard bento box

Upper Tier: Black rice noodles with shitakes, green onions, garlic and shrimp

Lower Tier: Straw-cut carrots, pineapple with Vietnamese cinnamon, cucumber with black sesame seeds

Here’s Allium’s, in a single-layer box that’s really meant for serving sushi (I think)

Image of a Bento with Black Rice Noodles

Top: Black rice noodles with shitakes, green onions, garlic and shrimp, decorated with strips of egg

Bottom: Cucumber with black sesame seeds, pineapple and blackberries in a cup, straw-cut carrots

Right: Fruit gels

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Bento

Bento 14 – Tofu, Umeboshi and Carrots

Tasty Tofu (No, really!)

Image of a Bento with Tofu, Umibosh and  Carrots

Upper Left: Green grapes

Upper Right: Carrots and celery (Allium decoratively scored the carrots down the side to make them flower-like)

Lower Left: Steamed rice with furikake and an umeboshi

Lower Right: Tofu roasted with five spices

I’m not always a big fan of tofu — usually it’s just boring. Dusting the cubes with Chinese Five Spice powder and then roasting it didn’t make the tofu exactly exciting, but it did make it tasty, and gave it a very un-tofu-like, almost crunchy texture. Quite nice with shoyu enhanced with garlic and ginger (which I packed in a very small Nalgene bottle that isn’t shown).