Onecould call today’s bento “Another Typhoon Bento”, as after almost 12 weeks of drought the rain is back with a vengeance! The notion of typhoon notwithstanding, the weather pattern are absolutely identical to that of the rainy season/tsuyu in June/July!

The beno the Missus prepared his morning was a very classi one, reminiscent of what children and students can expect from their mothers.

After she had steamed the rice, she mixed still hot with rice vinegar and other ingredients including white sesame seeds to make it sushi rice.
She fried minced chicken with finely cut mushrooms in a comparitively sweet sauce before covering half the rice with it.
She covere the other other with Japanese-style scrambled eggs and separated both with some freshly cut mitubs/trefoil making for an appetizing and colourful dish.

The salad consisted of shredded vegetables, smoked salmon, plum tomatoes, French pickles and black olives. I seasoned the lot with dressing kept in my fridge at work.

For dessert grape jelly.
Very healthy indeed!

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Today’s was also a “Working Man’s Bento”, and the Missus, grumpy as she was (rain outside and so on) certainly couldn’t help pointing it out (she is working, too…)!

It was pretty voluminous, too. I wonder why the Missus is always complaining b\about my bulging waist,…

Not only did she steam the rice this morning (complaining I was just lounging around,…) but she also deep-fried fresh Tonkatsu made with pork fillets. Tender and succulent. She topped the tonkatsu with sauce that helped give flavour to the rice, too. The same was underlaid with some shredded cabbage and white sesame seeds.

The salad part was the same as yesterday: potato, cucumber and egg salad with plum tomatoes on a bed of lettuce.

The dessert was the same as yesterday, too, but I’m not to complain as I love those Asian pears/”nashi” and ripe plums, both seasonal and so sweet and juicy!

Did I mention before that the grumpier the Missus, the better?

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I would call today’s bento/box lunch the “Working Man Bento”!
Simple, hearty and healthy!

Three large o-nigiri/rice balls made of freshly steames rice mixed later with umeboshi/Japanese pickled plums and aka shiso/red perilla leaves furikake/seasoning and wrappe inside large green shiso leaves (the latter are also caleed “ooba/large leaves”)

Meat garnish was chicken and mushrooms fried in tomato sauce, slightly spicy-style. Actually the Missus made a whole batch of these. I can expect to have some more for dinner!

The “salad” consisted of a bed of shredded veg topped with cress and plum tomatoes and a potato, cucumber and egg salad.

The seasonal dessert was fresh (and peeled) figs!

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I could with different names for today’s bento:
“Holiday Bento”-Today is a National Holiday, but I’ve found myself working!
“Leftover Bento”-This particular bento has been made up mostly with yesterday’s food cooked by the Missus!

Yesterday the Missus had made “kakuni/stewed pork”. She had added beans and chili pepper during the second cookin.
I inherited the leftovers with boiled brocoli (also prpepared yesterday and a little pasta, the whole in the middle of freshly steamed plain rice.

The salad included yesterday’s curry potato salad to which she added crumbled boiled egg, mini tomatoes and mixed samll leaves.

Simple dessert with cut plum and Asian pear/nashi.

Must admit I felt full and contented!

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The Missus was a “bit grumpy” today.
“Don’t take a photo of that!” she said…
It was a typical, if simple, Summer bento, more aimed at stamina than anything else.

The broiled unagi/eel bento in short!

The unagi had been bought ready-made at the local supermarket.
The Missus coorected the fishy taste by havin the broiled unagi rest in matcha tea for a while.

As for the broiled eel and steamed rice, they were laid in a two-tier style, very popular in Japan.

Plain tamagoyaki and home-made cucmber pickles for garnish.

(Shizuoka grown) cress, mini-tomatoes and walnuts for the salad, plums and grapes (grown in Yamamshi Prefecture, our neighbours) for dessert.

Simple but hearty!

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Two days ago, the Missus decreed that from now no I will take a bento to work on Saturdays as we are both too busy to bother with coming home for lunch.
I’m notone to complain as Saturday will see totally different bentoes form mondays and Tuesdays.

Like I said, Saturday bentoes will be different becaus this is the day of the week when the Missus makes a point to cook stews or curries.
Today’s curry was pork minced meat served with chopped okra from her family’s garden and a whole soft boiled egg on saffron rice.

As for the salad I was offered a selection of raw vegetables sticks with drssing as vegetables sticks. These are particularly welcome in this still hot season!

And ripe plums for dessert!

Next Saturday I will be flying to New caledonia for a few days. Therefore the next Saturday bento will have to wait till the 19th. LOL

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Today’s bento called be called “The Morning After” Bento!
Last night the Missus and I had a long celebration and we had som ediggiculty to wake uo this morning…
At first the Missus told me she would not mind if I bought and ekiben/Railway Station Bento, but she changed her mind after having a look at the fridge.

In the end, it turned out to be an easy classical bento:

The rice balls/musubi were made of rice freshly steamed together with umeboshi/Japanese pickled plum and then mixed with white sesame seeds and topped by small shiso/perilla leaves we grow on our balcony.

Simple unadorned tamgoyaki/Japanese omelette and a salad made of beans, hijiki/sweet seaweed and cucumbers/mini tomatoes.

Not “savoury” was chicken ratatouille she had prepared the morning before (not bad at all, actually!).
For dessert I had some cheese that I keep in the fridge at work.
Healthy and plenty actually!

here is another pic of my “roots”:
My 85-year old Dad cooking his favourite turkey steaks!

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When I came back home last night the Missus’ first question (she alway starts conversations with questions, LOL):
-Wha did you have for lunch?
-Ekiben Bento!”
-You went all the way to the station to buy one?
-Yup!
-Which one did you buy?
-Shizuoka Monogatari!
-Hummm….
She didn’t ask me if I enjoyed it, but she was certainly busy in the kitchen in the mirning, grumbling all the time. Well, if she grumbles, so much the better! (she more she grumbles, the better the food, didn’t I say before?)

She was still grumbling at her own “mistakes” when the bento finally came up. Taking pity of her, I assured her that her mistakes were delicious, that she should not worry…

The steamed rice was “maze gohan” style/mixed rice, including beans and sweet seaweed/hijiri carrots and thinly sliced aburaage/fried tofu sheets.

Now, the fried chicken stuffed goya and chicken balls with black sesame seeds were really good. She also made sure I had my favourite tamagoyaki to which she added okra, red pimento, brocoli and lettuce.

The salad/dessert included cress, mini-tomatoes, cheese cubes and grapes.

I’ll have to find another reason to make her grumble!

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If I had to give a name to today’s lunch box, it would be”General Election Bento”.
The campaign for the Japanese Lower Chamber general elections has just kicked off, and that means that no less than five candidates (in our constituency) criss-crossing in front of my office blaring their inane messages over their campaign car loudspeakers all day long for the next two weeks.
Was this the reason why the Missus felt grumpy this morning? LOL

Today’s bento was (only) slightly bigger than yesterday’s. Tuesday is the day off for my (?) half and she tends to cook more than usual as she prepares her own lunch at the same time.

The musubi were made of fresh steamed rice mixed with home-made ginger pickles (sliced thin beforehand), chopped shiso/perilla leaves and white sesame seeds.

For the meat part I got large shrimps wrapped into bacon and deep-fried with lettuce to wrap them in. Mini-tomatoes and beans and hijiki/sweet seaweed salad made up for the rest of the first box.

As for the salad and dessert: baby leaves for the greesn with boiled brocoli and gree asparaguses. Blueberries and fresh figs for dessert!

I suppose I’ll be able to ignore those silly politicians!

I take the opportunity of this bento to continue with “my roots pictures” started last week.
This particular picture was taken inside the Hospice de Beaune, a French National Monument in Beaune, Bourgogne. The big boy in the middle is our favourite nephew, Maxime (21), and you probably have guessed that the lady on the right is Mitsuko a.k.a. The Missus!

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Well, today we did not have to worry about typhoons or earthquakes, although the heat is becoming really severe.
The 20 minutes bicycle ride to work leaves in a pool of sweat.

The Missus fortunately reduced the volume of today’s bento, as I feel quite bloated with all those drinks I guzzled down during my 10-hour cricket umpiring stint yesterday!

The Missus prepared my regular tamagoyaki “fix” with vegetables including pimento and edamame.

I got my other favourite: Karaage chicken/Japanese style deep-fried chicken, seasoned with black sesame seeds before deep-frying. Some lemon for more seasoning.

The three musubi/rice balls containg white sesame seeds were wrapped in shiso/perilla leaves.

A very simple salad with “mixed baby leaves”, peach wedges, blueberries and walnuts.

Back to normal!

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August 11th, 2009, Shizuoka City, 05:13 a.m.
6.2~6.5 tremor with its epicentre bang in the middle of Shizuoka Prefecture.
Positives: Occured at the “best” time of the day when people wake up and react quickly, no one is cooking yet, and no communal transport is moving.
Negatives: some stupid “specialists” take the opportunity to announce this is still not the “Big Tokai Earthquake that we (?) are all expecting anytime!”
That did not prevent the Missus to prepare my (and her) bento!

So, this time it is not “Typhoon Bento”, but “Earthquake Bento”!

She used that bamboo box again with its soft lid.
She put in 4 musubi/rice balls instead of the usual 3. She probably though I needed some comfort! LOL

4 musubi then:
Top left: dried shirasu/sardine whitings
Top right: konbu/sweet seaweed
Bottom left: umeboshi/pickled Japanese plum
Bottom right: pickled cucumber

Tamagoyaki. Very simple and sweet. “Nashi”/Japanese pears from Yaizu which was hit by a mini tsunami at 5:30.

The side dish was one of the Missus specialties: Deep-fried chicken marinated with vegetables. She deep-fries the chicken first. Then she fries some thinly cut vegetables lightly. She dropped both into a large plate with rich vinegar, mirin, ponzu and I don’t know what and let the lot marinate for at least 30 minutes before transfering it into a tupperware.

A side view of the garnish!

Looking at, and eating this bento, I might be tempted to wish for a few more (very small) earthquakes!

Here is another picture of my “roots” taken outside my Dad’s house:

Myself (61 this month), my sister Laure (60), my brother Jean-Jacques (the chef, 59) my Dad Andre (85) and my other brother Francois (the one who works for AREVA and spends half of his time in Florida, 52).

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