hapa bento

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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Saba Man and I shared a rare weekday off together.  So we decided to drop the car off at the shop for a routine check-up.  Off course that was just too optimistic of us  because the shop called to tell us that our “whatchamacallit” was leaking… we had no choice but to get comfy in a loaner car.

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It started out a gray day but turned sunny by noon…just in time  for a Meatless Monday bento!

Yummy fried tofu, bought from the Vietnamese market, then simmered in sesame, shoyu  and garlic.  Partnered with “hapa rice” (brown and white mix), gai lan (Chinese Broccoli) and carrot sticks it’s both a balanced and satiating meal!

If you don’t have access to fried tofu,  you can fry your own using firm tofu that’s been drained of all moisture.  Just press between cotton towels with  a heavy plate on top. Leave it for at least 20 to 30 minutes switching to dry towels as needed.  Cut into bite-sized cubes then fry in hot oil until golden.  Drain thoroughly.   I keep them  in the freezer which does alter the texture a bit, but I like them that way. Cook them up in almost any kind of seasoning for bento or drop them in stews or soups.  More than just bento-stash!

I was hanging out at the top of a tall building today.  By lunch time, the clouds made way to blue skies which made today rainless as well as meatless!

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For a change of pace, today’s featured bento box is actually a lunch for me and not for Saba Man.  It has some of my favorites, black mushrooms and gai lan (Chinese broccoli) which I could eat all day long.  So yummy.  Fried tofu, brown rice, roasted onions, tamagoyaki and some freshly sliced tomatoes fill out the rest of the box.  It’s a big lunch and I will probably need a nap after consumption to aid in digestion.

The Chinese black mushrooms I think are the same as shiitake?  And for this recipe, I used the large dried mushrooms for their intense flavor, rehydrated and simmered in the same liquid along with garlic, shoyu and sesame oil.  When the liquid is reduced I add the gai lan and continue cooking until they are tender.  The combination of soft earthy mushrooms with the slight bite of the gai lan is wonderful.   When not packed in a bento box, I use this same recipe as a topping on a ramen bowl. 

I’m not bragging, but feel fortunate to live in a very diverse region where I do take advantage of purchasing ready-to-eat items like the fried tofu.   Before packing in the box, I parboiled it to remove any excess oil, then simmered in shoyu and mirin for extra flavor.  If you fry your own tofu, make sure you thoroughly drain and squeeze all the moisture out before you add it to the hot oil.   I don’t like to fry so in most cases, I just buy tofu already cooked and the brand I choose comes in different flavors, such as onion and spicy pepper!