hapa bento

Today’s featured bento box includes more of  my latest passion, the Black Thai Glutinous Rice. This rendition is a mix of the black rice cooked in coconut milk with azuki beans.  It’s a twist on the Latin and Caribbean staple, rice and beans with a hint of Asian azuki bean and coconut! I sweetened it just slightly with brown rice syrup, to give it a dessert feel without over doing it.  It’s probably not a new recipe as I am sure that hapa bento is not the first to combine all these ingredients, but it’s new to me and I’m excited that it works for a bento box.

Coconut Black Rice with Azuki Beans

2 cups Black Thai Glutinous rice cooked in coconut milk.  I used a rice cooker and just replaced the water with canned coconut milk.

1 cup of cooked azuki beans.  I used dried beans then boiled per instructions.

1/4 to 1/2 cup of brown rice syrup. (How sweet do you want it?)

Mix together and enjoy!

The other items in this snack bento box is tamagoyaki cooked with extra shoyu.  I wanted a more savory egg mixture to compliment the sweetness of the rice so no mirin.  Roasted carrots, broccoli and baby potato with a hint of garlic.  A juicy slice of raw tomato adds a touch of freshness to the snack. 

What else can we make with the black rice?   Lia of mybentolicious commented that in Indonesia this black rice is used in many desserts.  Sounds very yummy and I can’t wait to try some recipes from that region!