Archive for October, 2007

Rice cube lunches

Square onigiri lunch for preschooler

Contents of preschooler lunch: “Rice cubes” (cube-shaped onigiri, made with rice mixed with shrimp and nori-flavored furikake rice seasoning — furikake sold here), grape tomatoes, Chinese fried chicken leg, fresh black Mission fig, and steamed broccoli with red wine vinaigrette. At school, Bug ate all of the onigiri and the chicken, then finished the rest in the car when I picked him up. The teacher said he was excited about the rice cubes and ate them first, which is not surprising because I let him help me make them in the morning.

Morning prep time: 10 minutes, using chicken from a Chinese BBQ joint and leftover refrigerated rice that I microwaved to restore texture before shaping.

Rice cube press

Packing: I wrapped the end of the chicken drumstick in decorative aluminum foil from Daiso to create a clean handle, and arranged the broccoli stems in a reusable plastic food cup. Packed in my 470ml Afternoon Tea box (replaced for US$2 at Irving Housewares in San Francisco).

Gear: My friend Yuuko brought me back a fun little gadget from a recent trip to Japan; I’ve decided to call it a “rice cuber.” It’s a little press that makes cube-shaped onigiri rice balls, and the makeup is similar to the ice cream sandwich molds I’ve use as egg molds. It makes two different sized onigiri (2.5cm and 3cm), which can be arranged in a fun checkerboard pattern using different colored mix-ins with the rice. You could make a batch of these, wrap in plastic wrap, and freeze to have a nice stash on hand for busy mornings. Just be sure to microwave frozen onigiri before packing to restore texture (nuke until warm).

Rice cube press

To use, I mixed some furikake in with some warm rice for flavor and color contrast, and used the tiny textured paddle to gently spoon the rice into the cylinder with the cap on one end.

Rice cube press

After pushing the rice down loosely with the paddle, I used the little rabbit-shaped pusher to gently tamp the rice down into a cube. The trick with any onigiri mold is to use just enough pressure to give it shape and hold together, but not so much that you create dense little hockey pucks that are unpleasant to eat.

Rice cube press

Once the cube is formed, remove the bottom portion of the mold and use the pusher to slide the “rice cube” out the bottom. Voila! (Click for additional photos of the package, the Japanese directions, and the finished product.) You can also get creative and mold food other than rice (a la One More Bento Fan on Flickr). Think scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, steel-cut oatmeal, couscous, etc.

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Published by Biggie on October 5th, 2007 tagged bento, equipment, for kids, lactose free, onigiri or sushi, poultry, rice, tutorial or how to | 21 Comments »

Making lunch for the first day of preschool

Bug started preschool on Monday, which means packing a lunch every day for his morning program. He’s going to a Japanese immersion preschool, so bentos are the norm and I’m enjoying trading tips and info with the other parents. He was nervous about starting school, so I’m making a little extra effort this week with his lunches during the transition. The meal here was for his first day, and was comprised of all foods that Bug requested. Accordingly, I found it to be too much brown in the box (not enough green or darker colors), but he ate everything but a couple of the carrot slices so I’m content.

Lunch for first day of preschool

Contents of preschooler lunch: Inarizushi (seasoned sushi rice in abura-age tofu skins; recipe here), steamed carrots with mirin and soy, apple slice shaped like a bunny, quail egg shaped like a car, and a little fish fillet.

How to freeze inari zushi

Morning prep time: 20 minutes, which is simply too long. I’ve subsequently started pre-packing as much as I can the night before so my mornings go smoothly and I give off a calm vibe to my already anxious son. I made a batch of molded quail eggs and carrots the night before, using this egg mold and a tiny cutter from Daiso. I made the inarizushi in the morning with pre-seasoned wrappers after setting the timer on my rice cooker for fresh rice when I woke up. You can make up a batch of inarizushi ahead of time, wrap each one in plastic wrap, and freeze in a freezer bag. Microwave to restore texture before packing in a lunch.

Packing: I dipped the apple slice in orange juice to keep the fruit from browning, and put the drained carrots in a mini silicone baking cup to keep the apple/egg/carrot flavors separate. Everything was finger food except for the carrots, which got a tiny pick for little hands. Packed in a 350ml Power Rangers bento box.

Oshibori wet hand towel sets for packed lunches

Gear: Because I’m no longer there with Bug when he eats to provide wipes, I’ve started sending along a damp oshibori (hand towel) in a little case so my neatnik child can wipe his hands and face. I like these as they’re fun and more environmentally friendly than paper napkins or wipes. The day before school, we practiced with all of his lunch gear (box, lunch bag, oshibori case) to make sure he could open and close everything by himself. The latch on the yellow case (US$1.50 at Daiso) was too hard for him, so we’re sticking with the Shinkansen washcloth for the time being. I’m also finding it helpful to show him his lunch once it’s packed and point out what needs utensils. This gives him confidence as well as gets him excited about eating lunch by himself. We won’t need to do this every day going forward, but it’s a reassuring touch during this transition time.

Frozen fish for microwave

Cooking: I tried out some Akebono Nichiro frozen fish fillets for bento lunches, where you just microwave as many as you like in their individual trays. One of Bug’s little friends had shared some of his the week before, so Bug requested this for his first lunch. They also sell pre-cooked croquettes (”korokke”) in similar packaging to give a ‘fried’ food option without firing up a pot of oil in the morning. Although they were certainly convenient, the flavor was just so-so and I’m not happy about all of the excess packaging or microwaving in plastic. I’ll run through these and another version with built-in tartar sauce (!) that I picked up, but I’m dubious about buying more.

Inarizushi lunch

My lunch: The contents are the same as Bug’s, plus chopped broccoli with bottled Korean barbecue sauce (’yakiniku’ sauce) in the sub-container topped with a utilitarian but cute “surprise animal cap” to keep the broccoli from flying all over the inside of the box during transit. Hey, I mentioned that I was rough on my lunches, right? Packed in my 470ml Afternoon Tea box (replaced for US$2 at Irving Housewares in San Francisco).

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Published by Biggie on October 4th, 2007 tagged bento, eggs, equipment, fish or seafood, for kids, freezing, lactose free, onigiri or sushi, parenthacks, rice, tips | 13 Comments »

Delay of Ichiban Kan online store launch

Molds for hard-boiled eggsBack in July I wrote that Ichiban Kan, a Japanese-style dollar store in the San Francisco Bay Area, would be opening an online store in November 2007 that would sell inexpensive bento gear. I checked in with them today to see if they were still on schedule, and they tell me there’s been a delay. They now hope to open their online store by the end of the year, but sounded tentative. More details as I get them.

As I wrote in the Bay Area bento gear shopping guide, Ichiban Kan is an excellent bargain store with an ever-changing selection of matching bento boxes, insulated bento sets, bento accessories, collapsible sandwich cases, bento bags (kinchaku, insulated bags), egg molds (2 for US$1.50), rice molds, character bento goods (Cinnamoroll, Hello Kitty, Shinkansen, Pokemon), cute food cups, chopsticks and utensils with cases, etc. Most products are US$1 to $1.50 in the store.

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Published by Biggie on October 3rd, 2007 tagged SF Bay Area local, shopping | 6 Comments »

Empanada & curry lunches

Bug actually started preschool yesterday, but this lunch is the last of my photo backlog before I switch gears. I tried out some frozen empanadas that were pretty good heated in the oven, not much good heated in the microwave (soggy steamed crusts, blech). Now that I’ll be packing a lunch for Bug every morning, I think I’m going to give in and get a convection toaster oven so that it’ll speed up cooking of convenience food (both homemade and store-bought) like the empanadas — faster cooking than conventional heating, more energy efficient, and less time to preheat than a big oven. Time to cash that birthday check from my Dad! If you have any feedback on convection toaster ovens, please feel free to comment before I go out and plunk down money… I’ve looked at ratings from Consumer Reports and Cooks Illustrated so far.

Curry & empanada lunch

Contents of my lunch: Thai red curry (with chicken, eggplant and red bell peppers), papaya chunks, dolmas (in this case, seasoned rice wrapped in grape leaves), beef empanadas and dipping sauce that went unused. Master recipe for the Thai curry is here.

Morning prep time: 17 minutes, largely inactive prep time heating the frozen empanadas in the oven. The Thai curry was leftover from an earlier dinner, and the dolmas were from a can (given, not the most amazing taste sensation ever, but a quick pantry item that easily adds variety to a lunch).

Packing: I preheated food jar with hot tap water while I microwaved the curry and heated the empanadas. I used a 560ml insulated bento set (240ml rice jar and 160ml side dishes), which is handy in that the lid of the thermos lifts off instead of screwing off, so it’s easy for little hands to open. As long as you pack the jar inside its carrying case, it’s just as secure as a regular food jar with screw-on lid (I did an experiment by filling the food jar with water, putting it on its side in the trunk of my car while I drove around, and shaking the set upside down). Although similar sets sell here and here for about US$40 (ouch), you can duplicate this setup on the cheap by using a thermal food jar and separate bento box packed in an insulated lunch bag to take both hot and cold foods at the same time.

Curry lunch under

Contents of husband’s lunch: Same as mine, but with a folded slice of ham (a la my earlier “salami curls”) and yellow rice packed in a layer on top of the Thai curry.

Morning prep time: 6 minutes, using leftover curry and rice, plus canned dolmas. In the morning I heated the curry/rice and sliced the papaya.

Packing: I used the “rice lid” technique described here to keep both rice and curry warm in a single container. Packed in a 300ml thermal food jar and 190ml metal side dish container.

Empanada lunch for toddler
Preschooler lunch: Wrapped cheese triangle, empanadas and papaya. Packed in one 350ml tier of a Lock & Lock lunch set.

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Published by Biggie on October 2nd, 2007 tagged bento, curry, dumplings or buns, food jar, for kids, lactose free, meat, poultry, rice | 22 Comments »

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