Saturday (Onigiri) Bento

I love weekend mornings. I have a bit more time to relax and do things. This morning, I wanted to make some Onigiri (Japanese rice balls). Just recently, I found that the best way to keep my onigiri moist and tasty is to store the fresh-shaped onigiri in my little bamboo steamer. When we are ready to eat for lunch, they are so tasty! My daughter (almost 2) ate two little onigiri very fast :-) I love to eat my onigiri with my mom's homemade plum pickles (Umeboshi). She sent some for me in a care package.
Shabbat Shalom and Happy Lunch.

Oven Baked Salmon Bento

Yeah! It's Friday. Packed left over from last night. I cooked some oven baked salmon.
Ingredients:

• Salmon fillet
• Bread crumbs (Japanese Panko)
• Organic Canola Oil
• Organic Dried Dill
• Egg

Beat an egg in a dish. Clean the salmon fillet and coat with the egg. In a separate dish, mix some bread crumbs, dried dill, and small amount of canola oil. Rub the mixture by hands to moist the crumbs. Coat the salmon with the crumbs. Lay on the baking pan (layer with parchment paper). Bake in 450F degrees for about 12-15 minutes. Crust is crispy without pan-frying. This is my favorite way to prepare the salmon fillet (frozen ones). It tastes good in the next day as well.

My husband's Obento.

Here is my Obento.

• Japanese steamed rice wtih "Yukari" topping
• Vegetable Miso Soup
• Oven Baked Salmon
• Steamed broccoli
• Cucumbers and red peppers
• Fish flake salad with homemade "Nuka zuke" vegetable pickles
• "Eringi" and Chicken

Happy Friday!

Tofu (Light & Healthy) Bento

My refrigerator looks empty. I always keep some Tofu. Here it is! Garnish with "Gari", pickled ginger (the one that comes with Sushi).

• Japanese steamed rice with Furikake topping
• Veggie Miso Soup
• Tofu with Gari
• Steamed Broccoli
• Carrots
• "Eringi" mushrooms with Chicken

This is my Obento from yesterday.

• Japanese Steamed Rice with Furikake topping
• Vegetable Miso Soup
• Cucumbers, Carrots
• "Eringi" mushrooms with Chicken
• Fish flake salad
• Steamed Broccoli
• Apples

Meat ball (Steamed) Bento

Made about a dozen of meat balls last night. Recently, I often use my little bamboo steamer to cook dishes. This is one of them.
Ingredients for the meat balls:

grass-fed ground beef, silken tofu, egg, dried soy-bean protein (Fu in Japanese) in replace with bread crumbs, apple sauce, graded onions, soy sauce, mirin.

Shape into small balls. Lay the bottoms (two-tires) of the bamboo steamer with cabbage or lettuce leaf (to prevent sticking - also, easy to clean after cooking. So, save those outer leaves that are not so pretty or perfect for salad. Steam for 10-15 min. Done! No grease, no watching the pan, no flipping the meat balls. While steaming, you can prepare other dishes or setting your dining table. I cook with the steamer to save time and cook with less grease. I did not use a single drop of oil.

Here is my Obento.

• Japanese steamed rice topped with flavored little fish
• Veggie Miro Soup
• Steamed Meat Balls
• Salad with cabbage, tomato, red peppers (used Cod fish oil for dressing)
• Steamed broccoli
• Homemade Daikon radish pickles
• Fish flake salad

It was yummy.

Bento on Monday

Monday morning is unique each week. Either I'm ready for a new week or tired from the weekend. This morning, I looked at the refg. found some ingredients and left over dishes. Here is my Obento.

• Japanese steamed rice
• Vegetable Miso soup
• Fish flake salad with sweet potato and veggies
• Steamed broccoli
• Yakisoba
• Cucumbers

Here is my husband's:

• Japanese steamed rice
• Steamed chicken (left over from Sunday night)
• Yakisoba
• Steamed broccoli
• Cucumbers
• Carrots

Happy Lunch!

Yakisoba (Japanese Stir Fry Noodle) Bento

It's snowing again in Ames. I'm teaching all day - my students requested to wrap up the class early, so they can drive home safely. We got a 30-minute lunch break. Thanks for my Obento, I was able to satisfy my hunger and reboot my spirit and mind for our afternoon session :-)
Today, I made:

• Yakisoba (Japanese stir fry noodle)
• Steamed Cauliflower
• Baked Sweet Potato
• Home made veggie pickles
• Fish balls topped with Okonomiyaki sauce

Oh, here is my husband's Obento.

Gefilte Fish (Japanese style) Bento

Main dish: Gefilte fish - well, grounded or pasted fish meat balls are very common in Japan. I used very small wildly caught silver fish (at least that's what the package say in English), mixed with onion, ginger, garlic, flour (Katakuriko), soy sauce, mirin in a food processor. Boiled and topped with Okonomiyaki-sauce.

• Red pepper
• Steamed broccoli
• Baked sweet poptato
• Home-made veggie pickles (nuka zuke).

Steamed Chicken & Tofu Bento

I've been making lunch almost every day for my husband and myself.

This is my Obento in Thermos container.
Japanese steamed rice, veggie Miso soup.
Left container: baked Kabocha (squash), steamed chicken mixed with Tofu (I wrapped the mixture in cabbage leaf to prevent being dry), carrots.
Right container: Cauliflower, fish flake salad with home-made pickled veggies and baked sweet potato.
Yes, it was yummy.