Archive for the 'Bento' Category

Bento 13 – Rice Rolls, Red Pepper and and Egg

Upper Tier: Rice rolls with furikake or nori, red peppers with scalloped edges

Lower Tier: Shu Mai from Trader Joe’s on a bed of edamame, hard-boiled egg molded into the shape of a cow’s head, pineapple with shredded ginger, very small container of dipping sauce

Black Tray: Okaki meguri (rice crackers) and technical chopsticks from Snow Peak, all of which just fit under the domed lid (not shown) of the bento box

The Shu Mai wasn’t as tough as it was last time, probably because I added nearly a tablespoon of water to the bowl in which I microwaved them — and watched the time very carefully, taking them out before they were quite warm.

About that egg — it was a lot of fun to put the hard-boiled eggs into ice cream molds to shape them, and the process worked pretty well (details to follow later, maybe). But I don’t know; I’m not so sure I’m really excited about eating an egg that looks like a cow’s head.

My in-laws gave me these wonderful chopsticks. The wooden tips slide into the metal cases, which are also the handles. The tips are screwed into the case to make full-size chopsticks. They come with a nifty sleeve and cord, too.

Update: The chopsticks aren’t on Snow Peak’s website any longer. Or maybe they are, and it’s just too difficult to find them. Check out REI , though; they’re on the website and in my local store, too.

Soy Steak with Red Pepper and Onions

Upper Left: Edame shu mai from Trader Joe’s (a bit heavy and not as tasty as they should have been — next time I’ll try steaming them instead of microwaving)

Upper Right: Green grapes

Lower Left: Soy beef stir-fried with onions and red peppers

Lower Right: Steamed rice with shirasu furikake

Wasabi Tuna Stuffed Onigiri

Upper Left: A single strawberry

Upper Center: Salted cucumbers

Upper Right: Green grapes and blueberries

Lower Left: Onigiri stuffed with canned tuna (good quality!) seasoned with wasabi mayonaise and sambol olek and wrapped with a band of nori

Lower Right: Cherry tomatoes

This represents a new low in photography — got to work on that lighting!

Ginger Salmon on Soba Noodles

Upper Left: Olive and tomato skewers on a bed of basil

Upper Right: Strawberries

Lower Left: Ginger broiled salmon on soba noodles with ginger soy sauce

Lower Right: Artichoke hearts with greek olives and red peppers, lemon juice and red pepper flakes

Grape Leaves with Squash and Chick Pea Salad

Upper Tier: Two layers of grape leaves stuffed with rice, onions, sumac, walnuts, and lemon juice with yogurt and dill dip

Lower Tier: Grape tomatoes, squash and black olives in a silicone baking cup, chick peas with lemon and red onion

This bento box is made by Lube Sheep (don’t ask; I sure don’t intend to!). It’s one of three I just got from a great eBay store, and is pretty commonly available. These particular boxes look quite small at about 6 by 3 by 3.5 inches — and they really are small. But according to a really useful chart over at Lunch in a Box, it’s the right size for me. Bento boxes size is usually determined by capacity, rather than dimensions: these hold just under 600 ml.

Each layer has its own lid, and there’s a nifty little space under the domed top for a thin goodie or two, and a set of undersized chopsticks — or a full-sized pair like my wonderful technical chopsticks, which I’ll show in another post.