Bento Corner

Pasta with prosciutto, mushrooms, and spinach with bean sprout salad and fruit.

Pasta was pretty easy to make since I used the same ingredients for the pizza we made last night. I sauteed the spinach (frozen variety), sliced mushrooms, and onions. Then added cooked pasta and flavored it lightly using the Amami Ippai Napori Pasta Sauce that I got from the Japanese store. Then topped with parmesan cheese.

The bean sprouts are par boiled and then tossed in a Japanese oil-based dressing. Sliced kiwi and strawberry for dessert. The face is made of carrots.

The picture is a little blurry because the regular camera is on the blitz -- after 5 years I guess it's time to invest in a new one. Had to use my little camera with minimal features...

So my husband wanted to try making a kyaraben after my failed attempt at making the meppuru bento. He had a lot of confidence in making it since he spent a great deal of time painting miniatures. I told him that it's really difficult to get in the detail of the character especially the eyes and the hair. He told me of his strategy and confidently said that he  would like to give it a shot, what with his extensive background in...oh, yes, painting miniatures.

Here is a picture of the actual character, Cure White:

And here is my husband's interpretation of Cure White:

He showed this bento to me first. He admitted that it was more difficult than he thought. But he did point out that he did the shadowing with soy sauce and everything...The face is made of sliced turkey; the shirt, as well as the whites of the eyes, and ribbon is made of sliced cheese; and finally, the hair and dark parts of the face is made of organic fruit strips.

My daughter took one look at this bento and said, "Wow, daddy made a bento!"

After observing it for a few seconds she asked, "What's this daddy? A rabbit?"

Elephant onigiri with chicken and cucumber/radish salad.

Elephant onigiri with pink kamaboko ears and trunk and konbu for the eye and mouth. The tomato has a smiley face made with black sesame seed and konbu for the mouth. For the cucumber/radish salad, I sliced both vegetables and then lightly salted them for 30 minutes or so. Squeezed out the excess water and binded them with some mayonnaise.

 The chicken is stewed in a sweet teriyaki sauce. Then sliced mango and blueberries for dessert.

My daughter actually ate the tomato because it was so cute. Amazing considering she hates tomatoes.

Botched bear onigiri with okra ohitashi and red beans.

I call this botched bento because I was really trying for a meppuru kyaraben. It failed miserably, and it was taking more time than anticipated so I changed it into a bear onigiri at the last minute. Oy! The eyes are oh so uneven... Anyway, the blue bow tie is made of kamaboko; the face is made of nori and jack cheese. Bento also includes chikuwa with jack cheese, sweet red beans from the Japanese market, and okra ohitashi from the frozen food section of the same market. And a strawberry for dessert. My daughter thought the bear was cute despite what I (and my husband) thought about it. I guess my daughter sometimes cuts me some slack...