japanese food

Make a Bento Box

| Doyd

I am crazy for Bento and my dream is to become a  Bento Chef 🙂  Is there such a person? 

To prepare a bento box,  first of all, even before you start being creative, you need to have the money to buy all these tiny things to make your bento look really cute.  I love purchasing small bento accessories.  I buy only the best ones I like and keep them for future use.  These accessories are quite pricey considering that most of them are disposable so if you are practical, try to reuse these super cute bento accessories.  I am into knick knacks when it comes to cooking and I adore the colorful creations seen at Japanese Bento books.  When I see the photos of wonderfully made bento boxes, I always wish I could make that too.

Here, I created a simple bento box for lunch.  What’s included?

  1. Pan Fried Alaskan Salmon fillet
  2. Brown rice with pre-cut sea weed topping
  3. Seasoned blanched Broccoli
  4. Seasoned Spinach
  5. Fresh-cut Nectarines

Here’s how I made it:

For the Salmon, I just seasoned the salmon with salt and pepper then pan-fried with Olive Oil, about 5-8 minutes per side on Medium high until the skin is crispy.

For the Broccoli, boil water into a tiny pot or saucepan and season with salt.  Blanch the broccoli for a minute then drain and quickly rinse under cold water.  Using the same saucepan, brown some garlic on olive oil then add the blanched broccoli.  Season with a mixture of light soy sauce, a dash of sugar and some cooking sake.

For the Spinach, boil water into a tiny pot and season with salt.  Blanch 1 bunch of spinach then wash in cold water, drain and squeeze off the excess liquid.  Randomly chop to create bite sizes of the spinach.   Season with minced fresh garlic, light soy sauce, dash of sugar, tiny drop of sesame oil and a few pinches of sesame seed.

For the Brown Rice, cook it accordingly.  You can use left-over rice that you have in your fridge.   I just used my sushi mold to shape the rice like so (see photo) then topped it with a pre-cut seasoned laver (sea weed). 

For the Nectarine, cut into bite sizes and add into the bento.

I try my best to keep my seasoning at its minimum to make sure my cooking will taste as natural as it is. 

If you have some quick bento recipes to share, please do share to me 🙂

The Art of Miso Ramen

| Doyd

Vodpod videos no longer available. 

more about “The Art of Miso Ramen“, posted with vodpod

 

I wish I can make this everyday but I feel like it’s too much work even if it’s really simple.  Making a warm bowl of miso ramen is a lot of work for me just like many of my other favorite japanese food. Because of it’s precision process, sometimes having a bowl of this from a small authentic jap restaurant is better than making your own. Here, I will share how I made this beautiful work of art so you can try your own version too.

INGREDIENTS:

  • Fresh ramen noodles
  • Some pork belly
  • 4-5 cups water
  • 2-4 tablespoons miso paste (depending on taste and kind you like, I use white miso)
  • 2-4 teaspoons chili oil
  • 1/2 teaspoon hondashi
  • hard boiledeggs  and sweet corn kernels
  • Narutomaki(fish cake with pink swirl)
  • 1 stalk green onion (finely chopped)
  • 1 tablespoon white sesame seeds (pounded until fine)
  • Light soy sauce to taste (optional)
  • Seasoned laver/seaweed (cut into strips)

METHOD:

Bring water to boil with the cleaned whole piece of pork. Let it simmer for a while then remove the pork and skim remaining stock. Add in the miso paste, hondashi, eggs and sesame seeds. Bring the soup base to boil. Add in the chili oil and light soy sauce to taste (optional). Blanch the fresh noodles in a pot of boiling water until they are cooked. Rinse with cold water, drain and set aside. I rub the noodles with a little bit if vegetable oil to keep it moist. In a serving bowl, add the noodles then top with the hard-boiled egg, sliced pork, narutomaki, corn kernels and chopped green onions. Pour the miso soup base into the bowl and add the roasted seaweed to top then serve immediately. Look at my photo gallery to be inspired and get hungry!

Note: I added preserved bamboo shoots to my soup because my favorite bowl of ramen from a japanese ramen restaurant serves theirs with some.