Omelet Rice Bento

Sneak peak at the April issue of JapanUp! magazine.
Created bunny omelet rice bento just in time for Easter :)

Easter Bunny BentoBox

Made a light lunch bento for my husband and me.
It was really nice out today, so decided to eat at the park next to our apartment.

I just carved a slice of cheese into a bunny shape and placed between rice and seaweed.
Very easy one!

I finally started Instagram. Please follow me if you feel like it...:)
https://instagram.com/funbentobox/

Sesame Mayonnaise Chicken Rice Balls

1 Small chicken breast  , steamed or however you'd like to cook
1/2 tbs Mayonnaise (more or less to your taste)
Dash of soy sauce
Dash of honey
1/2tsp Sesame oil
Pinch of Salt and pepper


Shred chicken by hands and mix all the ingredients.
Use as filling for your rice balls.

Shio Koji Creamy Corn Pot Pie

I will introduce a Japanese magical seasoning today.
I use it when I marinade chicken or fish, pickle vegetables.
I like to use it for any recipes that call for consomme bouillon. It is a good replacement.

The magical seasoning is........

Shio Koji !!

Shio koji is a rice malt that has been fermented with salt.
This fermented koji marinade will bring out the best flavors from food! It's called magical sauce by some Japanese people!  It's becoming a staple seasoning in Japan.
It contain a lot of enzymes that breaks down the starches and proteins in food into sugars ans amino acids.
It's nutritious and good for digestive system.
You can get this at any Japanese grocery stores or I saw it at Whole Foods Market the other day.
It's called "Umami Enhancer".

I brought a pack of shio koji when I visited my friend, Ally last year. She loves to cook, so I thought she would enjoy this seasoning. She explains well about shio koji on her blog. She is a great food blogger!
 Please see her blog post, "Ingredient Spotlight: Shio Koji". She is also showing how to use it.
I will try to introduce more recipes with this shio koji on this blog:)



Creamy Corn Chowder

1 Chicken breast
2 Potatoes, big
1~2 Onion
1 Carrot
1 Canned sweet corn
4tbs Flour
400ml Soy milk
500ml  Water
1 tbs Shio Kouji

1. Cut chicken, potatoes, onions, carrot into small pieces.
2. Place corn in a FP and mix until smooth. Set aside.
3. Heat butter in a pot and cook the chicken and the vegetables. Add shio koji
4. Turn off the heat and mix flour until you don't see any powder.
5. Add the corn, soy milk and water. Turn on the heat. Cook over medium-low heat until thick.
6. Add salt. pepper to taste. You could add more shio koji. But if you do, add tsp at a time.

Making pie tops.

Follow the instruction on a package of frozen pie sheet.
Cut as shown to make rabbit.
Poke holes and brush mixed egg.


                                                       

Cheese and Cracker Bunny for Easter

Just place cream cheese on crackers and create face parts with peppers and ears with sliced almond!
Easy and cute party appetizer:)

Easter Salad

Cute salad cup for bento! Great for Easter season.

I got a juicer as an anniversary gift from a friend and have been making carrot & apple juice every morning ever since!  I get a lot of juice pulp so am trying to make a good use of them.

I made dressing with it this time!

Carrot Dressing

1 handful of carrot or carrot & apple juice pulp

1/4 Onion

1tbs White sesame

60ml Soy sayce

1tbs Sugar

60ml Vinegar (Balsamic or White wine vinegar preferred)

120ml   Oil

100ml Water (or Soy milk)

pinch, Salt

1. Slice onion and soak in water for about 1 hour.

2. Mix all the ingredients in FP.

3. Let sit in a fridge over night.

To make a rabbit, cut a slice of bread as shown. ( I used wholefoods brand snappy sourdough. This bread is easier to shape than other kinds I think)

2. Roll over plastic wrap with a rolling pin.

3. Place ham, cheese, or anything you like in the middle of the bread. 

4. Wrap it as shown.

5. Put salad in a cup. Place the bread in the middle. Make ears with extra bread and ham.
Make face parts with nori seaweed.

Easter Bento

Happy Easter!
Coloring egg shells is fun, but isn't it nice if you can make edible colored eggs?
It's cute to put the eggs in your lunch box:)

~How to make edible colored eggs~

Yellow
tsp2 curry powder
tsp2 soy sauce
tsp1/2 sugar
200ml water

Put all the ingredients in a pot and bring to boil.
Turn off the stove and add eggs.
Leave until it gets the nice yellow color.

Blue
about 1/4 purple cabbage
500ml water

Boil the cabbage until the water gets dark purple.
Pour the purple water in a cup and add eggs.
Leave it until it gets the nice blue color.

Pink
Add some lemon juice into the purple water above.
Add eggs and leave it until it gets the nice pink color.