All the Things that go Bump in the Night...

It's been a long time because I was busy. But no matter how busy I am, there is always time for bento-ing. Especially on my favourite holiday. Halloween!! So here it is, my Halloween bento of rice, sweet potato salad, spicy chicken... And maybe something more...

The pumpkin is made of mashed sweet potato. It is like mashed potatoes with mayonaise and such only that it is made from sweet potatoes. I added some fried bacon to add some texture and so that the mash is not too sweet. My sister in law felt that it was a surprise taste and gave it the thumbs up.

The green Frankenstein is colored with sushi coloring from Daiso. The color turned out lighter that I expected but there is a slight pandan fragrance which was quite nice. I added some tomato ketchup as blood on the face.

Mousy Little Mushroom Bento

It's been a long time since I last updated. Mainly because I was lazy and also because my friend TK came from Hong Kong and we spent some time eating and going around so I had no time to cook or plan to cook anything. But after the long break, it is time for Bento again. Today I made a Bento with Sesame Seeds coated Chicken, stirfried Shimeji Mushroom with Carrots, Broccoli and two Quail Egg Mice. I also spread furikake and sesame seeds on half of the rice.

My two mice are wearing a baseball cap and a ribbon pick that my friend TK helped be buy from Hong Kong. There are 4 in a set which also includes a sun hat and a cone hat. I can't wait to use those in a bento soon.

And now a little intro on what TK and I did in with our lovely sisters for her Singapore trip. What else but eat, eat and eat!! We had all of her favourite Singapore specials. Yakun Kaya Toast, Tiong Bahru Chwee Kueh, Butter Crab Noodles which taste more like Herbal Crab from Don's Pie, Roti Prata and finally Chicken Rice!! Next time we shall go to Melban ok?? Wait for TK to come to Singapore again.

Buzzy Beetle Bento

It's Sunday again and what does that mean?? Bento time of course!! Today I made a sushi beetle bento with sides of gyoza and fried fritters with sweet sauce. The beetle is my first attempt at making panda sushi that went horribly wrong. So in the end I made them into a beetle instead.

Today it seems that everything that can go wrong went wrong. Other than my freak panda turned beetle sushi, I discovered at the last minute that my mom had used the cabbage that I bought for my gyoza for something else so in the end I made my gyoza with onions instead.

How to Wrap Gyoza

Gyoza is quite easy to make. Use store bought gyoza skin, put the filling on one side of the circle and wet the sides with water. Then fold up and press only the centre to seal. Then fold one side of the gyoza skin towards the centre and press to seal. Do the same on the other side. The folds on both sides should face the centre as below. Then its done!!

Vegetable Pork Roll Bento

This simple bento is filled with Vegetables Pork Roll, Spinach with Cashew Nut Dressing and Tamagoyaki with Tomato sticks.

For the pork rolls, carrots and long beans is wrapped with pork belly thats been marinated with teriyaki sauce, dipped into corn flour with a dash of pepper, then dipped into eggs and finally covered with breadcrumbs and shallow fried.

Cashew Nut Dressing

5 stalks Spinach (cut to pieces)
8-10 Raw Cashew Nuts
1/2 tsp Sesame Oil
1 tsp Japanese Soy Sauce
1 tsp Mirin
1/2 tsp Sugar

Put spinach in bowl, cover with enough water to submerge spinach. Microwave for 3-4 mins until soft but still slightly crunchy.

Toast the Cashew Nuts in a toaster until golden, process till fine. (I think it will be better if you can run it through a food processor but since the the amount is too small, it is quite hard so I only gave it a few pounds hence mine is quite coarse).

Mix the crushed Cashew Nuts with the rest of the ingredients until it becomes a paste. Mix with the hot spinach (right out of the microwave, remember to remove from water) and its done.

Where it all began...

It's been a long time since I last blogged. Specifically 2 years, 3 months and 7 days... The reason for getting off my lazy ass to start blogging again is because recently due to a school project, I started to post photos of my bentos on facebook and many of my friends expressed interest to learn how to make them. My interest is not only in bentos but in making and replicating commercial food at home. Join me on my journey of imagination and experimentation.