We are going through a very trying period of the year as far as the weather in Shizuoka is concerned. It is either torrential rains or infernal heat. A small earthquake last night added to the general grumpiness.
That is when you need good sustenance!

Colours are as important as nutrients, aren’t they?
The Missus steamed plain rice with shredded carrots and served it sprinkled with black roasted sesame seeds and topped with home-cooked-pickled edamame and cucumber pickled with ginger from her home.

Considering all the beer I guzzled after cycling out yesterday in unprotected heat, the Missus kept the calories to a minimum.

“You always make mistakes when you describe my bentoes, so listen carefully to my explanations!” grumbled the Missus as she gracefully shot the pics. Interestingly enough, I was not supposed to learn her little secrets until now…

She wrapped black tiger prawns in thin pork slices dipped in miso, then wrapped them again with shiso/perilla leaves before rolling them in breadcrumbs and deep-frying them. She placed them in the box with lettuce to wrap around the prawns and lemon for extra seasoning.

She prepared an Oknawan-style “chanpuru” by sauteeing together thinly sliced goya and red pimentoes with eggs. The red mini-tomato provided extra vitamins on top of those found in the chanpuru.

Japanese cherries for dessert!

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I finally managed to have the Missus take all photos of her bentos according to my preferences and hope that BG will stop commenting on my general clumsiness and ignorance!LOL
It takes time even for dragons like me to tame btter-worse halves calling themselves rabbits (BG, spare me from the next question!)

As Tuesday is “Sushi bento day”, the Missus came up with the concept of sushi millefeuille, that is a multi-layer sushi.
She lined a terrine with cellophane paper before placing the ingredients in the following order (inverted!): sliced avocado dipped in lemon juice, sushi rice, cucumber strips, smoked salmon and rice again!

The same unwrapped.
Now, if you do not wish to press the sushi too hard like the Missus, keep it wrapped in the cellophane paper when you cut it to avoid unpleasant (crumbling away) surprises.

And you might have to wrap them again before cutting them a second time across!

Then she wrapped each sushi in lettuce for better handling and easier insertion into the bento box. That particular box is very practical for big bento rice balls or sushi!

For a closer cross section view of the sushi!

Mini tomatoes and the Missus’ mother’s home-made cucumber pickles for the finishing touch!

The Salad dish consisted of mixed boiled beans, hijiki/sweet seaweed, fresh celery, red trevise and lettuce.
No dessert? Oh well, the tomatoes are very sweet!

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The Missus Pic!

My pic….

Shizuoka Prefecture produces more than 45% of all green tea in Japan, and you are bound to find some interesting derivated products here.
Last wek I brought a small bag of rice which had been polished and coated with matcha! No need to wash it, just steam it right away!

Accordingly the Missus prepared some “Irish” (you know, the colour green! BG, I can hear you!) musubi/rice balls!

The daikon slices pickled in amazu/sweet rice vinegar made for a beautiful contrast in colours! The Missus is becoming artistic!

The “main dish” was both very seasonal and local as most ingredients were bought at the next door supermarket.

Fried red onion and eringi mushrooms with tuna steak (of the cheaper kind, but perfect for cooking!) fried with wasabi sauce and home-pickled wasabi stems for extra zip.

Boiled/stir-fried string beans and mini carrots are local. The Missus sprinkled them with roasted sesame seeds, a must ingredient.

And American dark cherries for dessert!

I will have to keep this bento out of the reach of the local pixies, brownies, elves, leprechauns and banshees (they have other names in Japanese, but the generic term is 0-bake!) until lunch time!

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Picture by the Missus!

When I took a sneaky peak in the kitchen this morning, I couldn’t help commenting to the Missus:
-Keep them rollin’!
-Do you mind?
-Sorry, sorry, Rabbit!
I made myself scarce and took my shower (the safest palce away from the real Dragon!).

My pic… Oh well… (ever heard of Fleetwood Mac?)…

She kept things very simple, healthy and light as you can see. Which suited me fine, as I ate a lot yesterday!

I’m trying hard not to make mistakes when describing the Missus’ bentoes as she will check later, and I can assure I’ll be in for some flak for the tiniest error! LOL
Anyway, she made two types of rolls.

One included home-pickled cuumber strips and surumi (the latter bought at the supermarket).

The other one contained processed cheese and o-kaka.
O-kaka is a mixture of dry bonito shavings, sugar, miso, soy sauce and ground sesame seeds you can easily buy.

The pickles included myoga ginger (home-made), Fresh ginger root (home-made) and yellow takuan/pickled daikon (bought).

As for the salad I was offered sweet tomato (“sweet enough for your dessert) and a soft-boiled egg on a bed of fresh coriander!

Very healthy again!

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Picture taken by the Missus!

I don’t have any special title for this bento although it does include some unusual pink potatoes (not sweet potatoes, normal potatoes!)
The Missus having grown proud of her own photography has started sending me her pic of the day’s bento as a matter of course!

My picture,… oh. well…

The “staple” dish was simple in concept but made for some good colours.

Just freshly steamed plain rice with a dash of green tea furikake and broken walnuts.

Meat balls first fried with a coating of cornstarch and finished with curry sauce. Some lettuce anf French cornichons/pickled cucumbers.

Good colours again for the salad and dessert box!

Salad of carrot tagliatelle, black olives, mini tomatoes and fresh coriander.
The large string beans are called “Morokko Ingen”, which probably mean they were first imprted from Morocco (I’m sure about that at all!). They were boiled before being seasoned with goma dare/sesame dressing.

The boiled pink potatoes actually sport red skin, and the flesh is white under the skin, but pink for the largest part of it. Taste like real potatoes!

Dark US cherries for dessert!

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The weather is perfect for sushi!
It has been raining non-stop, at times at typhoon level, for the last 24 hours and more rain is on the cards for the next two weeks!

The Missus seems to have got the mesage as yesterday’s university train bento consisted of large sushi roll (report prohibited! LOL). On top of that, I was invited to a sushi restaurant last night (report coming soon). And to finish it, I had musubi/rice balls for breakfast and now avocado rolls!

The rolls were hastily inserted inside that old box of mine made of bamboo fibers lined with a large dry bamboo leaf.

The Missus steamed some fresh sushi rice this morning although instead of adding the usual rice vinegar to the rice, she seasoned it with with a little soy sauce before rolling it around avocado.

Home-made marinated salad for the fibers and some Chilean grapes for dessert.
Simple, tasty and satisfying!

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Picture taken by the Missus!

The Missus has been less than happy with my mobile phone pics recently and she decided to send me the above pic for publication. After all, she said, I make the bento, so I have the right to choose the proper picture!LOL

That is my picture and I must admit it does look as good! LOL again!
As for the title, she had prepared a chirashizushi/散らし寿司/”decoration sushi” with broiled conger eels (not the unagi/鰻/common eel, but the anago/穴子/conger eel).

She lay the freshly steamed sushi rice into two different layers:

the first one topped with lightly pickled cucumber slices and broiled conger eel, and the second one again added with some home-pickled sansho/山椒/Japanese pepper for extra zip and some roasted sesame seeds.

And two more kinds of pickles (daikon) for extra colours and taste.

Now for the side dish: plenty of colours and variety once again.

Boiled violet sweet potatoes, cheese and walnuts salad flanked with lettuce and lightly vinegar-pickled vegetables: cucumber, carrot, pimentoes, celery and mini tomato.

And tamagoyaki/Japanese omelette containing shiso/perilla leaves.
Would you believe that the Missus had first forgotten to include it? LOL

Grapes from Chile and yellow kiwi fruit from Japan for dessert!

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The Missus’ family grows all kinds of vegetables both for the fun and the need of them.
They happen to live in an area of Shizuoka City renown for its farming products.
We were given some very interesting potatoes (please note, not sweet potatoes) of red (outside) and pink (inside, and black (outsid) and violet (inside) colours.
They certainly make for some great presentations and taste exactly the same!

The Missus seems never to be satisfied with the presentation of her bentoes and insists on a variety of colours, which I must say, I totally agree with!

The rice was steamed with a mixture of sanasi/山菜/mountain vegetables we had bought in Kawane, in the central nothern part of Shizuoka Prefecture.
Once the rice was steamed, she mixed the lot and place some inside the cedar wood bento box with a sprinkle of sesame seeds.

The pickles part was provided with yellow takuan/沢庵/pickled daikon and mome-pickled myoga ginger.

How many colours in this main dish? (I can already hear Bazooka Gourmet commenting!LOL)

Boiled pink and violet potatoes seasoned with a light vinaigrette, and boiled string beans seasoned with gomatare/sesame dressing.

The Missus took all fat and skin off the chicken for once before steam-frying (first steamed in sauce and then fried) it with carroit.
Her specialty, the soft boiled egg she later lightly fried with the chicken to add taste.

Chilean grapes for dessert.

Colourful, healthy, nutritious and artistic? LOL

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I did have to pedal fast to work this morning as I had decided to go to work by bicycle in spite of the threatening weather. After a hot and dry week-end, the weather has turned to the typically unpredictable rainy season, meaning cold and grotty days alternating with blasting hot clear skies.
At least my bento had enough colours to brighten the day!

Tuesday has become sushi bento day.
Today’s style was “chirashizushi/散らし寿司/loosely translated as “decoration sushi”. Actually it is impossible to translate as it sushi rice topped with all kinds of ingredients!

The Missus mixed the sushi rice with finely chopped home-pickled myoga ginger and sesame seeds, before topping it with finely shredded shiso/perilla leaves and a few sansho/山椒/Japanese pepper that she had pickled two days ago.

The main dish was very colourful and nutritious in concept once again.

The Missus fried some chicken breast after having dipped the pieces in a concoction of hers (she wouldn’t tell me, although I do have an inkling) and coated them with sesame seeds.
The green are wasabi na/a letuce named so for its taste reminiscent of wasabi. The sweet plum tomatoes provide the vitamin C!

As for the salad, the Missus’ specialty: yam (yamaimo) and pimentoes, fresh ginger all sliced and complemented with konbu seaweed.

No dessert, but the Missus said that the sweet tomatoes sufficiently made for it!

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