I was totally hungry when I arrived home today, it was half past five and I had not eaten anything the whole day. This is a quite bad habit of mine, I don't usually have breakfast in the morning because I always like to stay in bed as long as possible before I rush to go to work ;). I knew I had to starve for a few more hours if I started making a charaben (character bento), that's why I made a quick (but extremely satisfying) dinner instead - Udon noodle soup with Szechuan wontons. I love this type of meal - very homey, comforting and filling. I don't even mind having it everyday...!
I usually always have a stock of frozen homemade dumplings, because I know it can be very practical, especially for such a time like today when I'm starving but I don't really feel like cooking much. You only need to cook the dumplings for a few minutes, add udon noodles, dashi powder, a bit of soy sauce and mirin and voilà....it's ready...! Well, I did add some chopped green onions, Szechuan chili oil, Chinkiang vinegar, fried onions and toasted sesame seeds to make the dumplings a la Szechuan. If you're interested to see the recipes, click the two links above.
The udon noodle soup is garnised with half a semi hard-boiled egg, green onions, blanched carrot flowers, toasted sesame seeds, Shichimi togarashi (Japanese 7-spice powder) and half a strawberry. If you want to bring something like this to work, I do suggest not to include the soup stock with the noodles, because in the end the noodles would get soggy (it might leak too...!). I would simply bring a sachet of dashi powder, then when you want to eat the noodles, you simply have to add boiling water and the dashi powder.
If you are curious where I got the bento boxes, they're from CasaBento. It's a combination of my Hanako Kokeshi bento box and my Urara Bento Box Brown.
That's it for now... Maybe I'll make bento again tomorrow, but I cannot guarantee it...! So, see you (hopefully) tomorrow :).
If you are curious where I got the bento boxes, they're from CasaBento. It's a combination of my Hanako Kokeshi bento box and my Urara Bento Box Brown.
That's it for now... Maybe I'll make bento again tomorrow, but I cannot guarantee it...! So, see you (hopefully) tomorrow :).
Those carrot flowers are so cute!
ReplyDeleteyummy and cute!
ReplyDeleteLike you, I also rarely have breakfast. I like sleeping :)
ReplyDeleteThis meal looks so yummy. I love udon noodles and the carrots look so pretty.
Con lo que me gusta el wonton, que delicia.
ReplyDeleteSaludos
Those wontons look so tasty! I do the same thing, I keep a stock of frozen wontons at the ready for quick and yummy lunches :)
ReplyDeletelooks delicious, esp. those dumplings. i was going to ask you, how do you find all the right ingredients when you live in europe? that's seriously awesome how global this world has become!
ReplyDeleteHi CG! I like your round bento box! This is such a fulfilling bento (but I can eat the entire thing!). This one proves you can cook non-character bento as well. Now I start to see that you don't need a cake to decorate, you can do the same with food!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment on my blog! What I see here looks totally awesome! I LOVE LOVE LOVE your bentos, they're artwork! :D And I totally adore your carrot flowers. :)
ReplyDeleteWhoa, those Szechuan wontons look spicy!!! M'mmmm!
ReplyDeleteLike the egg too - they look perfect. Do you know there is an app on iphone called Egg Timer allow you to make perfect egg :-P
Both your Udon noodle soup and Szechuan wontons are making me droops! LOL
ReplyDeletewow...looks divine...excellent presentation dear..
ReplyDeleteTasty Appetite
yums yums..you make me hungry now..
ReplyDeletei want the wontonnn..must be taste good. :) can't wait to see your nex bento!
ReplyDeleteThis is truly lovely and yummy! I especially love the flowers. CG, which cutter do you use to cut that flowers?
ReplyDeleteYummy!!!!!!!!!!Beautiful presentation.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.easycookingforamateurs.com/
Delicious flavours and would love to try the wantons,
ReplyDeleteMy mum always used to freeze home-made dumplings too. It's a great idea which I rarely put into practice, since my freezer is really small :-( Everything looks delicious and so colourful!
ReplyDeletei just had a look at the wonton in your older posts, it looks really mouth watering. This is a fabulous meal!
ReplyDeleteNice and yummy
ReplyDeleteWow, you don't need a cute cartoon character to make your meal beautiful! This is lovely as it is and looks absolutely delicious!
ReplyDeletehow creative, I can imagine this after a long day of work..is super yummy!!
ReplyDeletesweetlife
This is soooo cute! Totally adorable!
ReplyDeleteGreat looking wontons ever! Yummy Chinese- Japanese style bento!!
ReplyDelete@ Tata - I used a flower cookie cutter and a metal decorating tip to make the round hole in the middle :)
ReplyDeletewow...this is your idea of quick? It would take me forever just to assemble a bento like this so prettily :) I didn't have lunch yesterday, and I was so hungry by the time I went home, I just ate whatever I could find before I started to look for something to cook :D
ReplyDeleteHello CG
ReplyDeleteALl your bentos look REALLY awesome -artistically yummylicious! Pls could you share how do you cut/shape the carrots? Do you use a special cutter or are they manually craved out to individualy shapes? I would truly love to learn how do you get the hole in the middle of the carrot, would appreciate your guidance!
Many thanks!
Ling
@ Anonymous (Ling) - Hi Ling, thanks for stopping by :). I used a flower shaped cookie cutter to cut out the carrot and a decorating tip to make the round hole in the middle. I hope this helps :)! Happy bentoing :)!
ReplyDelete