Rest easy, Saba Man and I have not gone back to eating meat.  It’s only seitan not real beef.   My twitter friends and I do a monthly food theme and February’s was Oranges and after posting my photo of  Orange “Beef” and Broccoli, there were requests for the recipe.

I’m not great at writing down my ingredients in details.  So like my other recipes, please feel free to adjust to your personal tastes and availability.

Mock Orange Beef and Broccoli

Ingredients:

2 cups of cubed seitan or wheat-meat ( you can use drained, extra firm or fried tofu if you are gluten intolerant)

1/2 cup of orange juice (I used freshly squeezed blood orange)

1/2  tablespoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon honey

2 tablespoon coconut aminos (or soy sauce )

1/2 cup Mochiko (sweet rice flour)

1 tablespoon corn starch

dash salt

Vegetable oil

Fresh broccoli florets

Assembly:

Mix the seitan,  orange juice, ginger, honey, and aminos together and let marinate for 30 minutes to an hour.

Drain the seitan cubes and set the liquid aside.  You will need that later.

Mix the mochiko, cornstarch and salt together, then dredge the seitan cubes with this mixture.

Space the seitan cubes on a lightly oiled pan and bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 15 minutes.  The idea is to adhere the mochico to the seitan.  This step adds texture to the cubes.

In a lightly oiled, hot,  non-stick skillet add that leftover marinade with the broccoli, stir in the baked seitan cubes and keep it moving until the broccoli is tender and everything is coated.

Serve with rice.

Don’t forget to let it cool before packing in your bento box!

So that’s how I used oranges for last month’s #twitterfoodparty theme.    I made enough for dinner and for Saba Man’s bento.    To compliment the tangy orange flavor, I think rice is good, brown rice is excellent and sprouted brown rice is perfection!  Yummers!

Next month’s theme is bacon!  Umm…. this will be a challenge but I’ll figure out how to make my own “facon”. 

Please join in with hash tag #twitterbaconparty.

________________________________________________________
For more bento tips, information and recipes subscribe to hapa bento via your email or newsreader

Japanistic – cool, fun, well-designed Japanese bentos and other products!  “Your world is a happier place with a new bento box! “

Here we go… starting off 2012 with a relatively healthy bento: baked salmon, egg omelette, fried brown rice, and broccoli.  Embellishments include a sprig of kaiware (radish sprouts), black sesame seeds, nori, and beni shoga (pickled red ginger).

I consider this bento healthier than not because  I used sprouted brown rice,  just a dash of olive oil and low salt shoyu for the fried rice.  The two-egg omelette is missing one yolk.  And the mayo on the broccoli is made from grape seed oil.   The baked salmon is… um…baked!

Most of the ingredients are organic as well!

We try our very best to eat the better options, a practice that we abandoned during the holidays.  So now with the new year we are focused and ready tackle our cravings with smarter choices.

I hope to keep it up to at least through February.  Do you think we’ll make it? Ha ha!

For more bento tips, information and recipes subscribe to hapa bento via your email or newsreader

Japanistic - cool, fun, well-designed Japanese bentos and other products!

I recently returned from a trip to the southern portion of the US. Specifically the gulf coast. Warm weather, friendly people and good eating.  Guess what my favorite thing to eat was?

Yes, I did sample some of the culturally unique seafood dishes but I mostly stuck to my veggie lifestyle with sweet potatoes and hush puppies!  Oh man are those hush puppies delicious.  Those were my fave!

A question to my readers from the south: “Why didn’t you warn me?  I’m hopelessly addicted to these savory morsels of fried dough!”

I couldn’t eat enough of them and I’m compelled make them myself.

As a vegetarian it was challenging to eat in the local restaurants. But I didn’t suffer much…cole slaw,fried pickles, baked yams, and those hush puppies kept me happy.

In short, I had an amazing foodie journey and these few photos are just a scratch of the highlights.

I wish I had taken more, but some of the places were too dark or I just plain forgot!

But what I missed with my camera, I will keep in my memories…

Our server Sachiko, the Japanese expat  working at the Hard Rock Casino in Biloxi, Mississipi of all places!  She was awesome and kept the sweet-tea flowing.

I caught a HUGE  throwed roll from halfway across the restaurant  then slapped  some apple butter on it!  This was at Lambert’s (of the Food Channel fame) in Alabama. What a fun place to eat.

Drank the best cup of coffee ever at the Hotel Monteleone in the French Quarter, New Orleans. The most delightful staff there too.

Sat at an oyster bar and chatted with the lightening-fast shuckers as they deftly remove fat oysters from their shells. Loved  the way they expressed pride in their culture and community. Adored their accents too.

The iced cafe au lait at the Cafe Du Monde. Perfection on a hot and humid morning.

Fried Okra!

All in all I was impressed with the gulf region’s food and charm.  Southern hospitality tasted so good.

—————————————-

For more travel,bento tips, information and recipes subscribe to hapa bento via your email or newsreader

While I was on vacation last week I had the opportunity to pack a couple of real school -lunch bentos!

They were for two very sweet high school students who were gracious to indulge me with my hobby. Okay, obsession.

Their mom said they eat about anything but I kept things pretty basic with teriyaki chicken, fried rice, tamagoyaki, cucumbers and sliced tomatoes.

Luckily for me their pantry had a stash of containers and I was able find these…a perfect size!

Everything worked out great and I heard that the kids enjoyed their bentos that day!

For more bento tips, information and recipes subscribe to hapa bento via your email or newsreader

Japanistic – cool, fun, well-designed Japanese bentos and other products!

I know what you’re thinking. Where’s the sandwich?

It’s actually deconstructed.

Garlic naan.

Butter-poached mahi mahi.

Lettuce.

Tomatoes.

Saba Man could choose to assemble when ready to eat!

Which he did.  And he immediately text’d a message declaring that he should be called Mahimahi-Man for the day! 

He enjoyed it.

And he loved the squash, corn, bean and red cabbage salad.  There was enough vinaigrette to coat the lettuce leaves so he ate it all. The bento box was completely empty upon return!

Mahimahi-Man indeed.

For more bento tips, information and recipes subscribe to hapa bento via your email or newsreader

Japanistic – cool, fun, well-designed Japanese bentos and other products!

Here’s the recipe for my Mashed Yams with Coconut  that was featured for October’s #twittersweetpotatoparty.

Ingredients

4-5  yams

1 cup of coconut milk (approximate)

1 stick of softened butter

salt to taste

goat cheese (optional)

Preparation

Wash the yams then bake the yams with skins on at 350 degrees for about 1 hour or until tender in the middle.  I poke the largest one with a chopstick.  If  it’s still tough I continue baking for another 15 to 20 minutes.

While still warm, remove the skins, then cut into chunks.

Place in a bowl with the  butter.  Start mashing and slowly add the coconut milk until you get the desired consistency.   I like it thicker for packing in a bento and creamier for eating right away!

Add salt to taste.

Garnish with crumbled goat cheese.

And speaking of  Twitter… We haven’t selected a theme for next month’s #twitterfoodparty.  Any suggestions?
—————————————-

For more bento tips, information and recipes subscribe to hapa bento via your email or newsreader

Japanistic – cool, fun, well-designed Japanese bentos and other products!

It’s a special Meatless Monday Bento!  Today is Halloween as well as the last Monday of the month!

What’s so special about the last Monday you ask?

Every month on twitter, a wonderful group of foodie-friends select an ingredient or theme, then each of use tweet a photo of the dish featuring the ingredient.   For October, we decided on sweet potato, yams or satsumaimo as the key  ingredient.   What’s great about this event is that you  don’t have to make the recipe yourself… it can be store or restaurant bought.   This month, I  decided to make mashed yams with coconut milk and  pack in my weekly Meatless Monday bento.

To compliment the yams, I added a medley of vegan sausage, kale, sweet onions and yellow tomatoes.  I simply sauteéd all with just a touch of olive oil, salt and pepper.  Delicious.

And of course to celebrate the today’s spooky holiday… I added a slice of goat cheese fashioned as a Hello Kitty-skeleton.

“Trick or Treat!”

So there you have it.  A sort of  “triple-threat” bento!  Halloween, Meatless Monday and #twitterfoodparty all in one lunch!

Won’t you join us in this month’s theme?  Just post a photo of your sweet potato dish on twitter using hashtag #twittersweetpotatoparty

If you’re not on twitter yet, it’s very easy to sign up…and you can start tweeting immediately.  If you’re already using twitter— follow me for more information about our monthly #twitterfood party.  My id is @hapabento

We haven’t picked next month’s theme yet.  Any suggestions?
—————————————-

For more bento tips, information and recipes subscribe to hapa bento via your email or newsreader

Japanistic – cool, fun, well-designed Japanese bentos and other products!

Tofu again!  Hey, it’s my “go-to” protein.    Quick, easy and absorbs any flavor that you throw at it.

This time…hoisin sauce.  I found a very nice vegetarian type and tossed it with baby bok choy, shiitake mushrooms, onions, fried tofu cubes then simmered until tender.

Brown rice topped with furikake with a slice of takuan.   Takuan (takuwan), pickled daikon, is risky for the work environment.  It’s very stinky.  He hasn’t mentioned it but I’ll have to ask Saba Man if his co-workers have commented on his odorous lunches.   I’ll let you know his answer.
———–

For more bento tips, information and recipes subscribe to hapa bento via your email or newsreader

Japanistic – cool, fun, well-designed Japanese bentos and other products!

Here’s a familiar bento item: Butter Miso Mahi-Mahi.  We crave butter and love miso, so why not combine the both for the most tantalizing glaze.  It’s mouthwatering.  No lie.

A simple 1:1 ratio of white miso paste and butter mixed with a little splash of mirin.  Smear this on the fish pieces then bake, grill or pan fry.   Easy-peasy!

To compliment the mahi-mahi, I simmered chopped kale in a mild ginger-shoyu marinade. The kale leaves wilt, but the stems maintain a nice crunch!

I’m still obsessed with sprouted brown rice  so you know I was over-joyed to learn that my grocer is now stocking it in bulk!  With that said…this bento features a healthy portion  topped with sliced shiitake mushrooms.

Tomatoes and kaiware sprouts even out the flavors, color and textures.

But anyway, I think this  butter-miso combination has potential for a variety of applications.  Salmon…or how about shellfish?   Tofu!?   I must experiment with this idea.

———–

For more bento tips, information and recipes subscribe to hapa bento via your email or newsreader

Japanistic – cool, fun, well-designed Japanese bentos and other products!

I think Saba Man’s favorite time of year is autumn.  Because autumn brings football!  This past Saturday, I packed this inarizushi bento for him to snack on while he cheered for the University of Washington Huskies!

This inarizushi is not your ordinary recipe, I added scrambled eggs, tuna, shiitake mushrooms and topped each bundle with a slice of avocado!

I tucked in some tomatoes, then realized that this needed something to represent the Purple and Gold…so I added purple figs!

Go Dawgs!

———–

For more bento tips, information and recipes subscribe to hapa bento via your email or newsreader

Japanistic – cool, fun, well-designed Japanese bentos and other products!

I know, right?  It’s been awhile since my last Meatless Monday bento post.  No excuses, except that most of my recent bento box lunches were repetitive (read: boring).  Rice, tofu, asparagus.  Then more rice, more tofu then broccoli.  Same ole stuff.

Well, this bento is pretty much the same thing except one teeny-tiny difference.  Can you see it?  It’s in the rice.

Yep, I cooked chunks of Okinawan sweet potato (OSP) along with the rice. Imo-gohan!!  So delicious and steamed together in a rice cooker.

Just peel the raw sweet potato, cut into large chunks, then  toss in with the washed rice. Add water as usual.

When the rice is done, gently mix to break up the chunks into smaller bits.   For this version I used my usual sprouted brown rice.  But any rice will work.   I’m thinking about  using orange colored yams too. Wouldn’t that look great for an autumn-themed bento lunch?!

The other items are simmered tofu with bok choy then topped with fried onions.  Cherry tomatoes and kaiware (radish sprouts) add color and pizazz!

———–

For more bento tips, information and recipes subscribe to hapa bento via your email or newsreader

Japanistic – cool, fun, well-designed Japanese bentos and other products!

A big thank you to all the participants!  If you missed them, you can still see them on my Facebook page here.    They were all winners in my book but there was one bento that gathered the “likes” and that is this one from Angelene!  Congratulations to you and please show us what you do with your prize bento box  from Japanistic.com.

I also want to thank the nice folks from Japanistic who donated the adorable Elpha 2-tier onigiri set and matching chopsticks for our prize.   Did you know that they have more than bento boxes on their site? Yep, they offer the cutest, the coolest, fun, well-designed Japanese products on the world-wide-web!  Please check them out.

For more bento tips, information and recipes subscribe to hapa bento via your email or newsreader

Japanistic – cool, fun, well-designed Japanese bentos and other products!