bentolog

A lunch-box-based conversation between Tokyo and New York. 東京ニユーヨークの弁当コミュニケーション

[tokyonyben]

shrimp etouffee 弁!  peep the little crawdude friend.  a mardi gras care package item from aunt susie & uncle carl whoooooo.  a happy mardi lunchtime!  letting the bons temps roulent....on a tuesday.

[tokyonyben]

Hanami in the hood. Mama’s Chinese chicken guys with eggs soaked in the jiuce (a revalation). Edamame tempura. Shiokara, natch. It’s mardi gras in Nakameguro!

[tokyonyben]

red beans & rice jar弁.  low-key mardi gras themed w the greens in the middle (the rice is off-white with some aggressive okoge i let happen).  happy mardi, yall.

[tokyonyben]

New Year ben! Note the homemade kinpira gobo and hakusai pickles. Best bento of the year so far!

[tokyonyben]

Standard maya-ben these days, ingen + nasu + butaniks with vaguely chu-thai condiements.  Sneaky egg action on top of the rice.  And even sneakier milk dud box for dessert (courtesy of Aunt Susie/Uncle Carl).

[tokyonyben]

An extra classy kaisen don bento (late night mark-down at the Tokyu Store, natch). Extra good this time of year because it’s rice harvest time -- super nice koshihikari shin mai.

grrrrrrrr...oishisou!  that shin mai though. I need me some Tokyu Store latenight markdowns to get my lunches right.

[tokyonyben]

Late night shopping ben... hit the Tokyu Store after 9pm, find the mixed veggie pack marked down 30% and you’re on your way. Add meat, daikon sticks with sansho miso, takana rice... done!

[tokyonyben]

ratatouille 弁! with grits instead o rice. it’s no uni-don or unagi/sashimi/whatever j-classiness yall been scarfing on but a righteous meal nonetheless. nuked the grits with salt/pepper packs and a bit o coffee creamer we had lying around the office (don’t tell jim). SOLID.

[tokyonyben]

Rats & grits: an instant classic!

[tokyonyben]

ratatouille 弁! with grits instead o rice. it’s no uni-don or unagi/sashimi/whatever j-classiness yall been scarfing on but a righteous meal nonetheless. nuked the grits with salt/pepper packs and a bit o coffee creamer we had lying around the office (don’t tell jim). SOLID.

[tokyonyben]

Yo, it’s unagi day. According to the TV, the fashion these days is catfish kabayaki, but this is the real thing -- endangered-species Kagoshima eel. Hotate and aoagi sashimi. Shiokara jyaga tsumami was snarfed up before the photo was taken.

[tokyonyben]

Okay, not a bento. But it is an uni-don... actually a genuine Tsukiji uni + negitoro don, and tribute must be paid. Nuff said.

[tokyonyben]

冷やし中華ふべんと! Getting warmer - actually rainy season starts officially today. Super-cool no-cook (just rinse and serve) noodles. Homemade(!) ごまどれ... Mama was actually grinding sesame by hand this morning. Hardly 不便 at all for me but a little labor-intensive on the prep side. Delish.

[tokyonyben]

this is lunch towards the end of the week when things get sparse/desperate out in these streets.  black beans that have been sitting in a jar in the fridge (dump em on just about anything), and my little quinoa cheese cakes.  that first photo looks a bit like an ad for hummus doesn’t it. Gotta start making my own, i thought i was safe with the tribe brand but just googled it and they also fund human rights abuses against Palestinians.... -__-

[tokyonyben]

Golden Week picnic in Nakame Park. Papa chahan with stinky Burmese fish stuff, pig strips on top. The little plastic tub on the upper right has kurogoma cubes in it for dessert.

yall brought the mugs out!  iinaaaaaaaaa~ so many deep nostalgic feels

[tokyonyben]

sashiburi real 弁!!  check out the koshihikariz hand carried across the pacific looking all mochimochi and delicious.  pork/egg jawn, string beans with my chinese condiments from flushing, and veg to be spring-like about it all.  peep the sakura coffee mug in the background!  my window into yalls 目黒川 yaezak vantage point.  

[tokyonyben]

花見丼on the veranda. Actually a jiangshao qiezi (that’s なす for you non-Chinese types) with lots of buta.　Spring has seriously sprung.

MAN that’s picturesque, oishisouuuuu

[tokyonyben]

Getting ridiculously complex... baroque almost. Tofu-age hockey-puck looking thing, mochi-gome dumpling thing, weggies, bits of pork, 照り焼きさば, looks like some 高菜 over there in the corner under the sesame seeds. I’m trying to find a theme here...