I made this bento two days ago and then directly submitted the picture to Bento&Co Contest 2012. I almost gave up to enter the contest, as I really didn't have any time  last week to make any bentos. Luckily I managed to prepare this "Rilakkuma & Kiiroitori" bento in the last hours before the contest was over. I am so happy to say that my bento got into the Top 10 list :D).

The theme of the contest is "Onigiri" or rice balls. I made three rice balls which are modeled after Rilakkuma and Kiiroitori. The rice itself is coloured with soy sauce and the yellow suits are made out of thin egg crepe. I had never liked to make thin eggsheet/ egg crepe, since my old frying pan really sucked and the eggsheets I made in the past always sticked to the pan, but since I've got a new non-stick pan a few weeks ago, making eggsheet is no longer that intimidating :).

The side dishes include oven-baked chicken nuggets, a few pieces of radish, edamame beans, carrot butterflies, two pieces of fried panko-coated prawns, tomberries, gherkins, kiwi slices, raspberries, blackberries, one takuan rose and a few pieces of ham/green bean rolls. The little white flowers are made out of goat cheese and carrot, if you are curious...

Oh, by the way, you can click the following link if you're interested to see the pictures of the Top 10 Finalists. I think everyone did a wonderful job...!

Bento&Co Contest 2012 - TOP 10

Don't forget to vote for me if you think that I deserve to win, hehe...:). My bento is the last one - number 10.

Thank you all for your kind support, it's greatly appreciated :D)!

Have a wonderful week!

I ordered a new vegetable cutter last week. I own several butterfly cutters already but this one now belongs to one of my most favourite cutters ever because it's so pretty...!! It's also quite small, perfect for bento making!

This simple bento contains delicious braised duck breast which I cooked in soy sauce/oyster sauce/cinnamon mixture for an hour before I cut it into thick slices. I also included half a scotch egg - my scotch egg is made differently to the usual scotch eggs which are covered in bread crumbs and deep fried. My version is healthier and much simpler to make as I only used soft boiled egg which I wrapped with seasoned ground meat and then pan-fried without oil in a non-stick pan.

I finished up the look by adding some carrot butterflies, cucumber leaves, tomberries (miniature tomatoes), lettuce border, parsley, a piece of radish and a piece of blackberry.