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Korean hotpot bento dinners

Once a week I pack bentos to eat for dinner while we’re out at our running club. I started doing this when my son graduated to solid food and I realized that we might have to stop going to this event that happens at Bug’s dinnertime. My son has become so attached to this weekly ritual that even when we’re off schedule and I offer him dinner at home beforehand, he tells me that he’d rather have a bento there instead. Of course, his eating alone isn’t much fun for any of us, so I started packing meals for myself and my husband too. Our friends are always curious to see what this week’s meal is, and it’s always more satisfying and better for us than the chips and cheese puffs that are there (okay, okay, I eat some of the snacks too).

Contents of my husband’s dinner: Korean vegetable hotpot (with carrots, daikon, zucchini, bell pepper and greens), white rice with wasabi furikake and seasoned Korean seaweed, yellow plum tomatoes, assorted banchan (ggakdugi daikon kimchi, spicy fish cake, sweet/spicy tiny crabs) and daikon and spinach namul (Korean seasoned vegetables served as a side dish). This meal was an antidote to all of the barbecue and fried food we’d been eating in Oklahoma when we were on vacation in December — I came back with a serious craving for fish, vegetables, and rice (nothing oily). Kukje Market’s big panchan bar and fish hotpot packs saved the day when we were still unpacking.

Morning prep time: 10 minutes, using all leftovers from a previous dinner. In the morning I preheated the thermal lunch jar with hot tap water while I microwaved the soup and frozen rice.

Packing: I chose a thermal lunch jar (mine’s a Nissan Stainless, often cheaper than the Mr. Bento) because of its ability to effectively hold warm soup, but left out one inner container because it was just a bit too large for this meal. The soup was originally a fish hotpot at dinner, but I left out the actual fish when packing as I was concerned that the fish would become hard and rubbery when held at higher temperatures over time. Draining the side dishes helped keep flavors from mingling, and packing the daikon kimchi in an aluminum food cup kept it from staining the inner container. I added extra hot pepper paste to the soup, basically giving up on containing strong smells, and the whole family reveled in the garlicky spice (food smells are less noticeable if you all eat the same thing, right?). (Click to read the full post with two additional meals…)

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Published by Biggie on January 7th, 2008 tagged fish or seafood, food jar, for kids, lactose free, rice, soup or stew, thermal lunch jar, tofu | 19 Comments »

Frozen rice bento lunch

Freezing cooked rice in plastic wrap One of my main goals in starting this blog was to show other lunch packers ways to speed up their morning lunch prep, based on the popular speed bento movement in Japan. You know, to prove that you can still make an appealing bento lunch even if you don’t spend hours making decorative food art. One important basic is having frozen stapes like rice on hand, no matter how you’ve frozen the fresh, moist rice: as shaped onigiri rice balls, shaped to fit your bento box perfectly, inarizushi stuffed sushi, in a freezer container, or even just wrapped in plastic wrap. This provides great flexibility in the morning when you remember that you’re not tied to using the rice in the shape that you originally froze it. After you warm the rice in the microwave (turning it over halfway through for even defrosting), feel free to reshape it, plop it into your lunch container, make quick “mixed rice” dishes such as this or this or this, or mix it with other add-ins as I’ve done below.

Contents of preschooler lunch: Sliced fish cake (”minch ball”) on skewers, fruit cup with tangerine, blueberries and raspberries, onigiri rice balls mixed with pink sakura denbu and green hana-ebi, cherry tomatoes and steamed broccoli. Sakura denbu is a sweet powder of ground codfish that’s often used in chirashizushi and children’s bento lunches, and hana ebi is a savory shrimp powder from Hawaii that comes in either red or green. You can see the results of all three types here in an early snack bento for my son.

Morning prep time: 10 minutes, using frozen rice. In the morning I made the rice balls with the plastic wrap method, quickly cooked the broccoli in my microwave mini steamer, and sliced the tomatoes and fish cakes. The tangerine segment was leftover from the previous day.

Packing: This was a finger-friendly meal, so no separate utensils were necessary. The sliced fish cake went on animal skewers (bought at Daiso dollar store with branches internationally, US$1.50 for an assorted set of 10 or 12), the vegetables went in reusable silicone baking cup to keep them from the dry rice balls, and the delicate fruits went into a hard plastic food cup to prevent bruising. Lunch packed in one undivided 350ml tier of a Lock & Lock lunch set.

Verdict: I was overly confident about this lunch; I thought that Bug would eat it all up at preschool because it was cute and finger-friendly. Think again! He ate the onigiri, fruit and tomatoes, leaving the broccoli and most of the fish cake. At the playground after school, he ate the broccoli but gave the fish cake a thumbs down (sometimes he likes it, but not that day). I had thought that he’d reject the tomatoes if anything, but kids are full of surprises once you think you have them figured out! (Click for full details of the second lunch with mini bagel sandwich…)

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Published by Biggie on November 30th, 2007 tagged bento, fish or seafood, for kids, glutenfree, lactose free, onigiri or sushi, sandwich or wrap, tips, tofu | 15 Comments »

Triangular onigiri bento box lunch

Bento boxes come in all shapes and styles, from small and cute to big and mannish. I’ve been curious about the triangular boxes that are designed to hold triangular onigiri rice balls. I picked up a couple from local Japanese dollar stores, but so far I’ve only seen cheaper onigiri boxes without proper seals (fine if your lunch is not too moist). I’d welcome feedback from people with other versions, though; have you found one with a really secure seal? (Feel free to provide links to your photos or blog entries.)

Contents of preschooler lunch: Oinarizushi (sushi rice in seasoned abura-age tofu wrappers), fried fish fillets with built-in tartar sauce (Akebono Nichiro brand, reviewed here), edamame skewers, cherry tomatoes, kiwifruit, and pomegranate arils.

Morning prep time: 8 minutes, using homemade frozen inarizushi (freezing instructions here), frozen fish fillets, frozen edamame and leftover pomegranate arils. In the morning I microwaved the frozen items and assembled the fruits/veggies.

Packing: I threaded the edamame onto thin Anpanman food picks; if you try to do this with thick or wide skewers the edamame will split apart and won’t stay on. The fruit went into a medium-sized reusable silicone baking cup that I picked up at Daiso (Japanese dollar store with branches internationally, 3 cups for US$1.50), and the kiwi got a little dog-shaped pick with four prongs as legs (from Daiso).

Container: The lunch was packed in a two-tier Clickety Click onigiri bento box with the Mink Monkey character; the bottom tier is 230ml with a lid, and the 550ml top tier is large enough to hold two convenience-store-sized onigiri (rice balls). 780ml is way too big for a 3-year-old’s lunch, though, so I packed the upper tier lightly with three oinarizushi rice balls for an estimated total volume of 400ml or so (still slightly too large). I picked this box up for US$1.50 at Ichiban Kan in San Francisco, along with a matching dessert box and mayonnaise cups (shown below). Quality’s a little flimsy and the seal is not secure, but at that price who cares? (Just be sure to pack non-liquidy foods inside.) Store details at the SF Bay Area shopping guide for bento gear. There’s no real fastener on this box, so I used a mushroom-themed elastic bento band from Daiso (US$1.50) to keep it all closed in transit. (Click on any photo for a larger view.)

Verdict: Pretty good, but there was too much food. Bug ate all of the sushi, edamame and kiwi, and half of the fish and pomegranate. Tomatoes were a no-go, though. Sometimes he gobbles them up, other times not — I’m finding he has irritatingly good taste and will inhale ripe heirloom tomatoes in season, but reject tougher, less tasty tomatoes. Reminds me of the line on the cartoon King of the Hill, just before Hank Hill tastes organic tomatoes for the first time, “You two are just talking nonsense. Tomatoes don’t have any taste!”

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Published by Biggie on November 24th, 2007 tagged bento, equipment, fish or seafood, for kids, lactose free, onigiri or sushi, rice, sandwich or wrap, tofu | 21 Comments »

Bento lunch with ma po tofu

Contents of preschooler bento lunch: Ma po tofu, stir-fried snow peas and roasted bell pepper with Thai oyster sauce, white rice with Shinkansen pre-cut nori (full nori details here) and a side packet of individually wrapped Shinkansen furikake rice seasoning (bonito flavor). Asian markets often sell assortments of furikake packets in a variety of flavors, in either adult designs or cartoon character like Hello Kitty, Shinkansen, Anpanman, etc. (click on the photo below for flavor translations). A greener alternative would be to pack extra furikake in a little shaker, and refill it from a larger container of furikake (Amazon sources) when empty. In any case, adding furikake to rice at the last minute adds a little fun to a lunch (and some prefer the texture of fresh furikake).

Morning prep time: 10 minutes, using leftover ma po tofu and rice leftover from dinner. In the morning I quickly made the vegetables, and packed the lunch.

Cooking: To make the vegetables with oyster sauce, remove the strings from about 10 snow peas, cut them diagonally in half, and chopped a rinsed, roasted bell pepper (ready-made, from a jar). Heat a mini fry pan, spray with vegetable oil, and fry the snow peas until slightly softened (about 2 minutes). Add the bell pepper, 1 tsp oyster sauce and 1 Tb water, saute for an additional 30 seconds (or until the sauce has thickened). Let cool before packing in a bento lunch. I used Mae Krua brand oyster sauce, which I adore over Chinese or Japanese oyster sauces (my earlier rant on Thai oyster sauce is here).

Packing: I actually got five natural food colors into today’s lunch, so I was happy about the color/nutrition balance. My first step was to pack the warm rice in the bento box so that it could cool while I worked on the rest of the lunch (letting the lunch cool before putting the lid on reduces condensation inside the box, helps avoid food spoilage, and avoids creating a vacuum inside the box that makes it hard for a child to open). Tofu spoils easily because of its high water content, so I didn’t want to warm it before packing, and I tucked in frozen ice packs (cut from a flexible ice blanket) next to the bento box in Bug’s insulated lunch bag. Lunch packed in a 360ml Disney Cars bento box with one sub-container removed; veggies packed in a regular cupcake liner (Wilton brand) to keep the oyster sauce away from the rice and mapo tofu.

Verdict: Bug ate all of the ma po tofu and half of the rice at preschool, finishing the snow peas and rice in the car afterwards. For some reason the bell peppers didn’t go over well with my three-year-old. Oh well, at least he ate the other veggie, gleefully squeezing the snow peas until they surrendered their inner peas to his little teeth.

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Published by Biggie on November 1st, 2007 tagged bento, for kids, lactose free, meat, recipe, rice, tofu | 6 Comments »

Make-ahead lunch tips from Japanese magazine

A recent issue of Japanese cooking magazine Orange Page (529,447 circulation) featured a cover story on make-ahead bentos with zero morning prep aside from assembly. Now when they say make-ahead, they’re assuming that you have fresh rice, but you could also make this ahead of time and freeze in rice ball form or in the shape of your lunch container. Because the leftovers are already cold from the refrigerator, you can speed up your morning prep even more because you don’t have to let the entire lunch cool before closing the lid (for optimum packed lunch food safety). I’ve summarized the article below with general tips and recipe titles; click on either photo for an annotated view with English translations (edit: first photo link now fixed).

1. Retain flavor with oil-based sauces
(After cooking, cool, then store in the refrigerator together with the sauce. Drain before packing in a bento. Keeps for 2-3 days in the fridge.)

Mini hamburgers with oil-based sauce (salad oil, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, mirin and soy)
Beef and eggplant stir-fry
Chicken breast and green peppers grilled with sauce of miso, salad oil, sake and sugar
Stir-fry of pork and kinoko mushrooms with ketchup sauce (olive oil, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce)

2. Retain flavor with vinegar-based sauces
(Cook, cool, transfer to a storage container together with the sauce, and store in refrigerator. Drain properly before packing in bento lunch. Keeps in refrigerator for 2-3 days.

Japanese fried chicken (’kara-age’) with Asian pickling sauce (vinegar, soy, sesame oil, sake, sugar)
Swordfish with julienned carrot in curry pickling sauce (vinegar, mirin, soy, curry powder and salt)
Chicken breast with ume sauce (pickled plum, vinegar, mirin, soy)
Eggs simmered in abura-age soybean pouches (sauce: vinegar, Worcestershire sauce)

3. Make egg omelettes ahead of time
(Frittatas and tamagoyaki Japanese rolled omelette — make, cool, slice, and store in little containers in the fridge or freezer. To store in freezer, wrap individual servings in plastic wrap and put into a freezer bag. To pack a frozen serving, just you can either allow it to defrost in the refrigerator first before packing, or just pack it frozen in the bento box if you allow a few hours for it to defrost naturally. Will keep in the freezer for 2-3 weeks, or for 2 days in the refrigerator. Tamagoyaki tutorial here, and tutorial for a frittata using leftover pasta here.)

Tamagoyaki with sardines and mitsuba herb
Tamagoyaki with ’sakura-ebi’ dried shrimp and leeks
Tamagoyaki with flaked salmon and watercress
Frittata with ham and ‘eringi’ oyster mushroom
Frittata with ground beef and red bell pepper
Frittata with tuna and corn

4. Add volume with potato salad and pasta salad
(Pasta salad tip: After boiling the pasta, quickly drain and toss it with salt, pepper and a little vinegar to add flavor)

Potato salad with cucumbers, ham and onions
Potato salad with tarako (cod roe)
Potato salad with cream cheese and walnuts
Macaroni salad with cucumber, onions and sliced cheese
Macaroni salad with fake crab and broccoli
Macaroni salad with sausage and cabbage

5. Use dry pantry items for a “healthy, delicious menu”

Simmered soybeans (Japanese style, Italian style with tomatoes and sausage, “ethnic style” with green beans)
Simmered hijiki (Japanese style with carrots and abura-age soy wrappers, Western style with bacon and ‘renkon’ lotus root, or Korean style with tofu and nira leeks
Simmered daikon radish strips (Japanese style with carrots and kamaboko, Western style with corn and red bell pepper, or Chinese style with Chinese pickles)

6. Vegetable side dishes
(As with many bento cookbooks, these are separated by color for when you pack according to the 5-color rule of thumb.)

Red/orange: Marinated carrots with lemon and honey, pickled carrots with garlic, fried red bell peppers, red bell peppers with ground peanuts, cherry tomatoes marinated in herb oil, radish slices pickled with ginger
Green: Cole slaw, pickled cabbage and ginger, green beans with ground sesame seeds, long-simmered green beans, bell pepper strips with bonito flakes and soy sauce (’okaka’), fried bell pepper with shichimi pepper, broccoli with ’sakura-ebi’ dried shrimp, and Chinese cabbage (’komatsuna’) with spicy mayonnaise sauce

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