Year of the Dragon Bento

Hello again, everyone :)! I had been wanting to make a dragon-themed bento to celebrate the Chinese New Year and today I managed to overcome my laziness and made one :). Chinese New Year was always quite important to me when I was a little girl because it was the time when I would get 'red envelopes' filled with 'lucky money', so I always enjoyed visiting my relatives and parents' friends to get those red envelopes, haha ;). But now that I am married, I think that I am no longer eligible to receive those envelopes and I believe it's now my turn to give out red envelopes instead. But since I live in Germany, I don't have anyone to give out red envelopes to - maybe this is a good thing...;)??

I have to admit the dragon was quite complicated to make, but it's worth it because I am so proud that in the end it really does look like a (Chinese-style) dragon ;)!! The body of the dragon is made out of cheese, carrot and nori and the head of the dragon is made out of cheese, crab stick, carrot, nori and soy paper.

The pink, round balls above the dragon are meant to be red lanterns - they are made out of boiled quail eggs which I coloured with beet juice.

The big sakura bento box contains tamagoyaki (omelet with slices of fish cakes and chopped onion), Peking pork chops, garlic & chili shrimps, kimchi mandu and ebi fry.

The round, pink thingy next to the bento boxes is red bean mochi which I bought from my local Asian store.

Peking Pork Chops
Adapted from Rasa Malaysia

Marinade

• 500 grams pork tenderloin, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1/2 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Sauce

• 1 1/2 tablespoons tomato ketchup
• 1/2 tablespoon plum sauce
• 1/2 tablespoon chili sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon sweet bean sauce, or Hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoons black vinegar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• small pinch of Chinese Five Spice powder, optional
• 2 tablespoons water

1. Marinade pork with Shaoxing wine, salt, egg and cornstarch for 30 minutes.
2. In a separate bowl, mix the sauce ingredients. Set sauce mixture aside.
3. Deep fry the pork slices until golden brown. Set aside.
4. Bring sauce to a quick boil. Toss in the deep fried pork slices, stir and coat well with the sauce.
5. Sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

Garlic and Chili Shrimps

• 500 grams shrimps
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped garlic
• 1 tablespoons chopped (seeded) chili
• 2 tablespoons Shaoxing wine
• 1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce
• Sugar and white pepper to taste

1. Heat the oil. Add chopped garlic and chili. Stir-fry until fragrant.
2. Add shrimps and stir well.
3. Add Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, sugar and white pepper.
4. Cook for another minute and turn off the heat. Serve.

Happy Chinese New Year to everyone who celebrates it :)! I think the opening theme of the film 'Once Upon a Time in China' suits the atmosphere of Chinese New Year well. Enjoy the music!