hapa bento

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!

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

If you’re like me, my first experience with figs was eating Fig Newtons or should I say NOT eating Fig Newtons.   Those were not cookies, not to me as a kid anyways.   No way. Gross.   But now as an adult I love them but I enjoy eating the real thing even more.

Fresh figs.

They are delicious.  Sweet, but not overly so.  Great texture, color and size for packing in a lunch.

Complimenting today’s fig is baked salmon, stir-fried gai lan, potato salad, chow fun and a tomato.

There will be plenty of bento lunches filled with these yummy fruits as they are plentiful in the markets this summer.

Summer… ha ha ha!  The calendar says it is so.  But the news reports say that Seattle has only experienced 78 days of 80 plus degrees thus far!

Oh well, we will eat like it’s summer no matter despite the weather.

So here’s to more figs!

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I usually don’t add sweets to Saba Man’s bento lunches but with the overflow of  butter-mochi…I had no where else to put them. Read the rest of this entry →

A little “long distance” caprese anyone? 

One of the benefits of  posting my bentos online  is meeting new friends via the internet.

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Today’s bento is a sort of potpourri of foods!  A little of this, a little of that— equals a lot of flavor and a bit of a fragrance.

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 Saba Man and I love to dine at small “our little secret” places!  Unfortunately for us—but good fortune for Caravan Kebab— the secret got out!

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Here’s the first of our series of  back-to-school bento lunches!  But before we jump into the foods and fillers there are some guidelines that may be helpful for those who are new to packing bento box lunches. There’s also a special surprise!

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I’m occasionally stumped when attempting to present a pleasing bento. Color is important by far, and for me it’s the fun part when designing a bento box. The anticipation after buying purple carrots keeps me motivated for sure. The “not fun part” is texture. I have made plenty of bento boxes that are boring, boring, boring and it’s not for lack of color, but lack of texture. By texture I mean both visual and touch. This other “bento dimension” is challenging and it’s something I’m learning with each attempt. This photo captures a recent bento box that hopefully showcases texture as well as color. Of course, bento boxes are a personal thing, to each his own, as they say and I support every one’s creativity. What do you like or dislike about your bento?

Of course TASTE is a priority for me, but what’s your opinion or thoughts with regards for bento design and satisfaction? Are you a super artist that easily whips out cute charaben? (I’m envious of these gifted folks) How about practical, no fuss, no muss bento boxes without the Sanrio character? Do you sketch your bento box design beforehand or are you filling each tier “on the fly”? What combinations of food items or accessories make your bento box complete? Is your major focus about health and nutrition?

This box contains Lettuce Wrapped Salmon. It’s made with grilled salmon and sliced cucumbers wrapped in green leaf lettuce. The sauce is a combination of kochujang/mayo/honey/sesame. Any fish or meat can be substituted and romaine lettuce lettuce is awesome for wrapping. It’s delicious and BONUS… you don’t need utensils to eat it.

Wow, it seems like forever since I packed Saba Man’s bento lunch boxes. His first day back to work today so I provided lot’s of healthy Omega 3. Salmon and mackerel are accompanying him to the office so if any of his co-workers are reading this; you’ve had fair warning. Actually, his hours are a little off of “normal” so there’s usually no one there to complain about any food smells. He can he eat in solitude… it’s his quiet time.

Along with fish, the bento boxes contain brown rice for extra energy. I know, I know… previous posts have said that we are cutting back on carbs; however the open bags of rice won’t keep much longer and I don’t want to waste. “That’s my story and I’m sticking to it”.