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.

 

I've apparently got Rilakkuma fever :). Rilakkuma themed bento two days in a row...! Well, I have always wanted to make a bento lunch full with cute characters and I think this time, I have somehow achieved it, this bento is really quite adorable, isn't it :)?

I used my Sakura Appetizer box pictured above which I got from CasaBento. I have done a review on this bento box some time ago, if you want to know more about this beautiful appetizer box, check it out here.

The easiest characters to make are the little chicks made out of tamagoyaki (rolled omelet). I used the tamagoyaki triple pan below to make the chicks (I used the middle part to get a perfect rectangular-shaped tamagoyaki). I also love this pan because you can cook  three different things at the same time, which is just perfect for bento making, as you usually would like to have various types of food in your bento box. I highly recommend this pan, as this would be a real time saver!

You can buy this pan in CasaBento. The price is €32.99 and the diametre is 24 cm. It seems to be dishwasher safe too, as I have washed it in the dishwasher several times and the pan is still totally fine and intact until now.

I have also found a cute video which shows a recipe on how to make soboro lunch using this triple tamagoyaki pan. The lady has got nice and simple, mostly-Japanese recipes in her YouTube channel.

Hey guys! Today I have come up with another Rilakkuma bento and this time I even made two sleepy Rilakkumas :). I made another Rilakkuma-themed bento because I am so very happy with my new Rilakkuma bento box from Modes4u, an online store which sells kawaii products, including bento boxes and accessories. If you enjoy Japanese pop culture and adore super cute things, I highly recommend you to visit this store - it will give you a daily dose of cuteness...! I don't usually get excited so easily, but when I found this store, I kept saying OMG the whole time while browsing their site...;) - how cheesy! Modes4u has a huge selection of Rilakkuma products and other San-X and Sanrio related merchandise. I also found out about Sentimental Circus from this store. This store is based in Hong Kong but it ships worldwide. When you purchase over €60 (or US$78 / £54), you will get free shipping. Another good thing about this store is, you will always get one small free gift from them everytime you shop there :)

Here is the Rilakkuma bento box which I got from Modes4u. This is my first ever kawaii bento box, my other ones are all the elegant type ones ;), but I LOVE it because it's so cute...! If you also want to have this bento box, here is the direct link to the product. The price is €14.90, which is okay, considering that it is made in Japan. You can also find more Rilakkuma-themed bento boxes here.

This two-tier bento box comes with a pair of cute pink chopsticks and plastic lids to avoid spilling. It also comes with a brown elastic band to keep the two compartments together. This bento box is dishwasher and microwave safe.

I also got two pretty washi tapes. I made some food picks from the washi tapes to decorate my bentos, but of course you can also use these tapes for scrapbooking or other crafty things.

Now let's talk about what's inside the bento box :). The left box is filled with two Rilakkuma inarizushi, two slices of tamagoyaki filled with water spinach, two baby carrots and one little chick (modeled after Kiiroitori) made out of quail egg which I soaked in turmeric water - he's wearing a rather extraordinary-looking purple hat which actually is simply purple potato.

The box on the right contains two nigirizushi topped with gouda cheese which I cut out into two sleepy Rilakkumas. The two little chicks are made the same way as the little chick on the left and the two mini brown bears are also quail eggs which I soaked in soy sauce overnight (They look more like choco balls than quail eggs, I know ;)). The ears are made out of takuan and I attached them with toothpicks.

If you are interested to look at my other Rilakkuma-themed bentos, check out the following links below :)!

• Festive Spring Bento

• Rilakkuma Picnic Bento

• Rilakkuma Inari Sushi Bento

• Rilakkuma & Co Bento

• Tiger Rilakkuma Bento

• Koala Rilakkuma Bento

• Surprised Rilakkuma Bento  

• Rilakkuma Bento

• Dragon Rilakkuma Bento    

 

Today I made sesame noodles for lunch. If I remember it correctly, this must be my first ever vegetarian bento...! I am not vegetarian and I am not thinking to be one either, but I have to say having meatless meals from time to time can be very tasty...! 

Sesame Noodles

Serves 2

• 200 grams spaghetti, cooked until al dente
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp chili oil
• 2 Tbsp sesame paste (or peanut butter, if you don't have sesame paste)
• 2 Tbsp soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp chopped scallion
• sugar, to taste
• chili flakes, to taste
• toasted sesame seeds for garnish
• Toppings: cucumber slices, radish, cherry tomatoes

Mix cooked noodles with the rest of the ingredients and topped with refreshing cucumber, radish and cherry tomatoes.

 

Do you know Sentimental Circus, the new cute circus troop from San-X? I myself just found out about it a few weeks ago.I find the characters totally adorable, especially the main one, Shappo, the cute gothic(?) bunny. But since making him would be quite difficult, I chose the easier character, Rio the Lion, to make instead. I am sure I will make Shappo too one day, when I have more free time...

Source: Sentimental Circus

I made Rio the Lion from cheese and nori. Underneath the lion is natto fried rice which I decorated with lettuce border and two pieces of carved radishes.

The side dishes include half a scotch egg, a slice of tamagoyaki, stir-fried green beans, three pieces of chicken nuggets and a few pieces of grapes.

This is my first sheep-themed bento :). The two little sheep are cut out of mozzarella cheese and nori and the feet are black beans. They are happily grazing on yummy pork soboro which hides a portion of spicy shirataki noodles underneath.

I also included one scotch egg which I cut in half, three pieces of tamagoyaki filled with bok choy and three pieces of oven baked chicken nuggets. It's my first time making scotch eggs and I was very happy with the result since the egg yolk was still quite runny when I halved the egg...*love*:)!!

To have runny yolk, simply cook the eggs for 6 minutes only in boiling water. Make sure that each egg is completely covered in water.

I also managed to make another bento besides this sheep-themed bento this morning. I'll post it tomorrow, so stay tuned :)!

 

How do you like these two polka dot butterflies? I think they are quite pretty (and simple to make too!). I used a butterfly cutter to make the cheese butterflies, quail egg nori punch to make the little black dots, different size round decorating tips to cut out the holes and a tweezer to help me transfer the black dots onto the cheese butterflies.

I ate the cheese butterflies with a slice of pumpernickel sandwich and four cherry tomatoes.

I used to make a butterfly-themed bento as well for Valentine's day, have a look at the link here. Which one do you like better? The polka dot butterflies or the valentine butterflies :)?

Can you guess what kind of fried rice is in the bento box?

A few days ago I bought two packets of natto (Japanese fermented soy beans) from my local Asian grocery store. I was curious with its infamous slimy, sticky texture and pungent (and many people say 'repulsive') smell. I was ready to pinch my nose when I opened my first ever natto packet, expecting strong, unpleasant odour. Strangely enough, I didn't find the smell to be repulsive at all, it didn't smell that strong either. I actually thought that it smelled like roasted peanuts...;). The texture is but a whole new different level. After I stirred the fermented beans several times together with the soy sauce and mustard included in the packet, the beans got very gooey and slimy - which certainly didn't look very appetising at all, but I had expected this, since I had been doing some research on natto beforehand.

I know that natto is a popular accompaniment to steamed rice usually eaten for breakfast in Japan. I wasn't ready to try it as it was though, the texture was quite a turn off, but I could somehow imagine that it would taste great when the gooey texture is gone.

And boy was I right! I found some natto recipes while browsing the net and the idea I l liked most was Natto Fried Rice. If you're a vegetarian, I strongly recommend you to give this natto fried rice a try. I am usually quite carnivorous, but I was able to enjoy this natto fried without adding any kind of meat or fish.

Natto Fried Rice

Adapted from Just Bento

• 1 cup cooked brown rice
• 1 packet natto (mixed with soy sauce and mustard included in the natto packet)
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp oyster sauce (alternative: Worcestershire sauce)
• 2 Tbsp chopped scallion
• White pepper to taste

Mix the egg with a packet of natto. Fry the natto/egg mixture with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Add brown rice, soy sauce and oyster sauce. Stir-fry for a few minutes and mix well. Toss in the chopped scallion and white pepper. Stir-fry for another minute. Serve.

Sitting on top of the natto fried rice a dragonfly made out of cheese, purple potato, nori and takuan.  The side dishes include four baby carrots, two ham flowers, soy sauce egg, radish, two cherry tomatoes and one takuan rose.

It's public holiday in Germany tomorrow. I hope I'll be able to come up with another bento :).

Yesterday I was browsing some kawaii sites and Rilakkuma was almost always in every Kawaii site I went to... Well, I have to admit, he's really quite adorable :).

I had some takuan (pickled radish) in my fridge and finally found good use of it - I made a rose out of takuan (slice the takuan thinly and roll and you'll get a rose :)), the little chick Kiiroitori and Rilakkuma's yellow ears are also made out of takuan.

The Rilakumma onigiri is filled with beef teriyaki. There are also two pieces of rolled carrots (meant to look like roses), three cherry tomatoes topped with cheese flowers, two ham/green bean rolls, soy sauce egg, edamame, one fried shrimp, one boiled dumpling which is covered by the takuan chick, one radish and one takuan flower.

Oh, by the by, this is my 9th Rilakkuma-themed bento...!!

• Festive Spring Bento

• Rilakkuma Picnic Bento

• Rilakkuma Inari Sushi Bento

• Rilakkuma & Co Bento

• Tiger Rilakkuma Bento

• Koala Rilakkuma Bento

• Surprised Rilakkuma Bento 

• Dragon Rilakkuma Bento    

 

Before I end this post, I'd like to let you know a great new food site called RecipeNewz.You can share food pictures here and no images would be rejected. If you like to look at mouthwatering pictures or you just want to get to know other food bloggers, this site is worth visiting. Have fun :)!

I had been eyeing Maangchi's Dakjjim recipe (Korean braised chicken with vegetables) for a few months. Today I finally had the chance to make it and I can only say that it's delicious and my version is just the shortcut version with quite some missing ingredients but it's still totally yummy - imagine the taste of the original version!

Besides the bento meal I also have another new bento box which I want to review - actually I have had this bento box for a few months, but never used it until today. This pretty bento box below is from Bento USA. It's microwavable and costs US$23.95.

It is  a click and lock bento box which comes with a plastic lid and includes a pair of wooden chopsticks.

The box is pretty roomy, you will be able to fit in quite a lot of foods inside. There is also a removable plastic food separator inside the box, in case you don't want some food items to touch each other.

 If you are interested to buy this bento box, you can click the link here.

Now let's get back to the food:). Besides Maangchi's Dakjjim, I also made carrot and konyakku kinpira which I adapted from Maki's (from Just Hungry) recipe. I never knew that kinpira can taste so good...!! If you don't know what kinpira means, it is a cooking style which involves sautéing (usually) root vegetables with soy sauce and red pepper flakes.

Dakjjim - Korean braised chicken
Adapted from Maangchi

• 5 chicken drumsticks, skinned
• 6 - 10 mushrooms, sliced
• 200 grams Shirataki noodles
• 1 Tbsp olive oil for pan-frying
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 Tbsp ginger, minced
• 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp gochujang (hot pepper paste)
• 1/2 Tbsp sugar
• 200 ml water
• 5 dried chili peppers
• 5 fresh chilies, seeded and sliced
• Black pepper, to taste
• Toasted sesame seeds for garnish

Sauté garlic, ginger, dried chili pepper, fresh chilies together with the chicken drumsticks. Add the sliced mushrooms and stir-fry for 1 minute. Drizzle some oyster sauce, soy sauce and gochujang. Add water, sugar and shirataki noodles. Simmer until the chicken drumsticks are cooked through. Sprinkle with ground black pepper and toasted sesame seeds.

Carrot and Konyakku Kinpira
Adapted from Just Hungry

• 2 medium carrots, julienned
• 1 block konyakku, sliced
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp Katsuobushi (bonito flakes)
• a pinch of shichimi togarashi (or red pepper flakes)
• toasted sesame seeds

Heat up a frying pan with 1 Tbsp sesame oil. Add the julienned carrot sticks and sauté for 3 - 4 minutes. Add konyakku, bonito flakes and soy sauce. Stir-fry for another 2 minutes. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes and sesame seeds.

I also had steamed brown rice topped with yukari furikake, 2 boiled shrimps, 1 crunchy umeboshi, beni shoga (pickled ginger), 4 cherry tomatoes topped with purple potato flowers, stir-fried water spinach with XO sauce, stir-fried soy sauce green chili peppers, 1 radish and 2 slices of tamagoyaki.

 

I have always liked to look at Japanese New Year's foods or Osechi-ryōri pictures, even though I have never had the chance to personally see and taste it myself. Everything in the osechi boxes always seems to be so prettily arranged and the combination of colours is just breathtaking. I hope my osechi bento has somehow managed to capture the essence and style of Japanese osechi.

Anyway, as I promised last week, I use my newest bento box from CasaBento to present my osechi bento.

This bento box is truly beautiful and definitely a keeper for people who love traditional bento boxes. Nevertheless I have to warn you that this box is not a box that you would like to carry around to school or work, and is more intended for elegant food presentation to impress your guests or when you want to celebrate something special at home.

There are four separate compartments which are stacked on top of each other.

As you can see from the picture above, the chance of food leaking or spilling is too high. If you are looking for portable bento boxes, this bento box is not for you. But if you are into elegant and sophisticated Japanese-style bento boxes which are pleasing to the eye and don't mind to limit this bento box for home-use only, then I can only recommend you to buy it.

This box is called Sakura Appetizer Bento and costs €27,99. CasaBento ships worldwide and they pay the custom taxes/import duties for you, which I think is a real great service, as I can only say that I hate paying custom taxes! - I recently bought a bag from the US and had to pay €100 for  Zoll (German custom tax) :(!!

As you can see there are quite a lot of food items in the four boxes, but I didn't need very long to make this osechi bento since I used both yesterday's lefover and some frozen foods - I love to make a big batch of something (e.g. dumplings, ebi fry, etc) and freeze them for future use.

Top boxes: Ebi fry, shiu mai, cherry tomatoes, asparagus sticks, octopus salad, soy sauce egg and grapes on sticks.

Bottom boxes: Shrimp temari sushi with brown rice, tamagoyaki and leftover turkey/calamari stir-fry.