hapa bento

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!

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

Summer is in session…finally.   Sunny skies and warmer temps have finally arrived in Seattle!

And you know what that means?  Correct.  Cold noodles for lunch!

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Today’s bento  has yummy chapchae or japchae along with mini crab cakes, cucumbers and Rainier cherries!

The crab cakes are re-fashioned from the  full-sized, store-bought frozen kind.   I thawed, added more spices,  formed mini-patties, dusted in corn flour then shallow fried.   They fit better in the bento box and taste slightly more homemade this way. 

Cheating? Improvising?  Creative?

I say all of the above.

Speaking of cheating… this chapchae is leftover from dining out at our favorite Korean restaurant!

Leftovers are a bentoist’s best friend.

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JaponMania -Lovely bento supplies and more!

The use of fresh lettuce for baran, the barrier between food items, is becoming cost prohibitive.   With the recent rash of bad weather, fresh fruits and vegetables are now almost double in price!  What’s a bentoist to do?  Read the rest of this entry →

I may have to change Saba Man nickname to Stainless Steel Man if we keep going on like this.

So this is another quick one. 

Nimono (simmered veggies), fried tofu, saba shioyaki (grilled mackerel) cukes, tomatoes  and snap peas! 

Top tier…more hapa rice and stinky takuan just like yesterday’s bento!

Lucky for SM’s coworkers it’s a stainless steel bento—he is not going to microwave his lunch.  Can you imagine heating up saba in a lunch room?

*shivers*

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Today’s bento has quite the variety of items including a radish-rabbit as I’m trying to get in as many bunnies until February 3rd. That’s the start of “The Year of the Rabbit” according to the Chinese calendar.

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Today’s bento is following a trend I’ve been noticing on the social networks…”Meatless Monday!”

I never gave it much attention because being a vegetarian myself, everyday is meatless! Read the rest of this entry →

Today’s featured bento with the exception of the cucumbers was assembled with take-out foods!

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This bento happened by accident.  Well, not the act of bentoing itself, but the ingredients.   The mishap is the ham-salad stuffed aburage!  What?!

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My friend Susan of  Hawai’i's Bento Box Cookbook said it best, “ everyones’ lives has been touched in some way by cancer.”

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Ginkgo leaf cutters are currently in the spotlight!  Its delicate bird-like pattern…is just a hint of autumn.

I dug around for my fall-themed bento gear and from a gazillion choices, I selected this tool!

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What can I say… Chicken and Rice is a bento staple.

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