sansbento

my boxed lunch photos, tips and ideas

[sansbento]

No. 325 Hijiki, tofu puff, shiitake, umeboshi, pickles, bok choy, chicken

Takikomi gohan mixed rice with hijiki seaweed, tofu puffs, shiitake, umeboshi, and sesame

Bok choy and shredded chicken in karashi mustard soy sauce

Nukazuke pickles

[sansbento]

Pork, nagaimo, cabbage, kabu

Pork and nagaimo stir-fry (recipe from cookpad)

Pickled kabu turnip

Steamed cabbage with sesame oil

Rice

The kabu, cabbage, and nagaimo are from Kyushu, the plate is made in Omuta, and the cup was purchased from a mysterious unmanned stall in Yufuin.

[sansbento]

No. 324 Egg, carrot, burdock, pork

The return of the bento!

Ninjin shirishiri (sautéed carrot and egg)

Leftover pork tonkatsu and gobo/ burdock root

Lettuce, cherry tomato (there’s tonkatsu sauce hidden underneath)

Mixed black and white rice

[sansbento]

No. 323 Teriyaki salmon, winter salad of carrot daikon and shiitake, tamagoyaki, snap peas, mandarins

The yummy teriyaki salmon recipe is from Just One Cookbook, and the winter salad recipe is from Danny Chu's Shojin Ryori cookbook. I substituted fresh shiitake mushroom for dried, and dried it out slightly first in the pan (without oil) - can't remember where I learnt this "technique" but I always do it now, it really improves the taste and texture of fresh shiitake.

[sansbento]

Home-grown pink oyster mushrooms. (If you live in Singapore, the mushroom farm I used is by Kim Yan, and you can get it very reasonably at Fairprice.)

[sansbento]

Avocado, luncheon meat, kailan, salted radish, carrot, pickled plum

Avocado dressed with soy sauce & mentsuyu

Sauteed luncheon meat

Sauteed kailan greens & salted radish

Rice, carrot, mini pickled plum

[sansbento]

No. 322 Pork, potato, carrot, onion, egg, spinach, greens, shimeji

Today's lunch:

Nikujaga (simmered potato, carrot, onion and pork (more often beef) )

Rolled omelette with spinach - the triangle shape was not intentional XD;

Kailan greens and shimeji mushroom quick-cooked with sake, sesame oil and salt

Rice

[sansbento]

No. 321 Pork, potato, carrot, onion, egg, okra

Today's lunch:

Nikujaga (with pork)

Rolled omelette

Grilled okra

Rice, spicy pickles

[sansbento]

No. 320 Eggplant, pork, egg, carrot, potato, snow peas

Long time no see! Today's lunch:

Eggplant and sliced pork sauteed in soy sauce, mirin and gochujang

Potato and carrot kinpira

Rolled omelette

Snow peas

Rice, shibazuke pickles

[sansbento]

Happy new year, readers!

This was a "bento" I put together of leftover osechi-ryori, or traditional Japanese new year's dishes. I didn't make anything in the bento myself... Well, I did cook the rice. XD;

I haven't been making bento since I've been working from home. Many thanks to everyone who's recently followed me anyway.... And to longtime followers who are still around. :D

[sansbento]

No. 319 Fried chicken, greens, carrot, strawberry

Today's lunch:

Leftover fried chicken

Asian greens and carrot namul

Rice, giant strawberry

[sansbento]

No. 318 Chicken, Brussels sprouts, cherry tomato, egg salad

Today's lunch:

Pan-grilled chicken breast marinated with yogurt, honey, salt, garlic, ginger and turmeric

Steamed Brussels sprouts with ponzu and sesame seeds

Egg salad, cherry tomatoes

Rice with furikake

[sansbento]

No. 317 Chicken, kabocha, cucumber, daikon

I've allowed this work-from-home thing to mess with my eating habits quite a bit. I tend to eat whatever's convenient, instead of putting thought into what would make a well-balanced meal, like I did when I was regularly making bentos to bring to work. I want to pay more attention to what I'm eating once again...

Today's lunch (the fact that everything is orange shows how out of practice I am XD):

Chilli-mayo chicken

Kabocha pumpkin salad with cheese and cucumber

Pickled daikon radish and carrot

Rice

For the main dish, cut chicken breast into strips and marinate with salt, pepper and a dash of sake. Drain the excess liquid after a while, toss with cornstarch and fry in a little oil until browned on both sides. Don't over-cook, so the chicken stays tender. Toss the hot chicken in a mix of sweet chilli sauce and Japanese mayo.

[sansbento]

No. 316 Egg, bell pepper, tuna, hijiki, baby spinach

Today's lunch:

Rolled omelette with spring onion

Red bell peppers dressed with shio kombu

Hijiki seaweed and tuna mayo salad on baby spinach

Rice, five-colour sesame seeds

Clearly not actually a bento, but it's basically what I would have put into a bento if I were packing lunch for the office. XD;; For the bell pepper dish: thinly slice any colour of bell pepper, microwave to cook and dry well. Toss with shio kombu (salty preserved kombu) and a little chicken stock powder, then drizzle sesame oil and sesame seeds.

[sansbento]

No. 315 Tuna, carrot, egg, broccoli

Today's simple lunch:

Ninjin shirishiri sautéed carrot, tuna and egg (Cooking With Dog's recipe)

Steamed broccoli with sesame miso

Rice, shibazuke pickles

I hope everyone's keeping well in these trying times.

[sansbento]

No. 314 Salmon, egg, carrot, edamame, cherry tomato

Today's lunch:

Shiozake salted grilled salmon

Rolled omelette with spring onion

Sesame-sauteed carrots

Edamame, cherry tomatoes

Rice, shibazuke pickles

[sansbento]

No. 313 Chicken, carrot, bean sprouts, avocado

Today's lunch:

Torihamu homemade chicken ham

Sesame-sauteed carrots

Bean sprout namul

Sauteed avocado

Rice

I had to sauté the avocado because it was underripe. XD; Otherwise, I would have simply dressed it with ponzu (citrus-flavoured soy sauce).

This is the same batch of torihamu as my previous lunch, made with Justbento.com's recipe. I'm looking forward to trying different variations of my own.