Leftover Garlic Chicken Bento Box
The other day a coworker and I ventured out to our International District, we call it “The I.D.”, formerly known as “Chinatown”, for a banh mi lunch. We stopped in a few shops along the way to pick up various salty plums, preserved ginger, taro buns and “what not”. Our path took us near the center of “The I.D.” where a ginkgo tree partially shades a paved park. It’s here in the mornings that you would normally find groups of people practicing the beautiful art of tai chi. But it was now the lunch hour, high noon, and the previous early risers were now replaced with a few women combing the grounds for berries…ginkgo berries! It was a cute sight as they held out their clasped hands to each other and showed off their ginkgo treasure. After watching this, I too looked down to the ground to see if I would catch a glimpse of any berries. In doing so, I noticed the abundant ginkgo leaves on the ground and I immediately thought of my ginkgo cutter that’s stashed away in the back of my bento tool box. I’ve never used it before and I don’t know why. I alway grab the habitual sakura or sharp looking star shapes. So I took a better look at a lone, single ginkgo leaf pressed flat on the sidewalk… “it’s kind of pretty”…not an icon like a maple or oak leaf and it has a softer shape. A beauty in it’s own unique way.
So after that long story… today’s featured bento box contains leftover garlic chicken, mushrooms and peppers along with satsumaimo, broccolini and a tomato slice. And of course I introduced a new embellishment, the ginkgo leaf cutter for decorating Saba Man’s bento box.
When I asked Saba Man about his lunch, he said he liked the “birds”! :)
ha ha! I just commented the exact same thing on flickr… that I forgot about my gingko cutter too. Don’t know why this poor leaf is not more forefront. Good way to find yellow foods to cut.
Somehow the gingko leaves are look similar to the birds with 2 wings, no wonder your Saba Man said it was birds hehehe …
) Love the green look of your broccolini.
If I hadn’t seen a ginko leaf cutter before, I would have identified them as birds too
) But ginko or birds, either way this looks like a delicious bento.
I love this type of 4-in-1-box, if I ever come across one, I would definetely buy it.
i can see how they look like birds, but i have a ginkgo tree on my street and i have always loved the leaves (though sometimes the smell of the decaying berries is not great!!)… anyway, another beautifully balanced and yummy looking bento. thanks for sharing your ginkgo story!
Ginko is such a great tree =) Here in Freiburg are lots of those trees. And now in fall I love to go around and look on the nice yellow leafs ^.^ Your bento looks delicious
Thanks everyone. It’s seems that I’ve been noticing the gingko trees now, more than ever!
I’ve been noticing and collecting gingko leaves on my lunchtime walks this fall, too! They have a unique, quiet beauty in thier flutter-fan shapes. Loved your description of translating this seasonal/natural inspiration into the making of this bento!