The Missus might be right after all when she throws the epithtet, “jiji”, at me when she gets exasperated at me.
“Jiji” means “Grandpa” when muttered by kids when they are seeking further treats, and downright “senile old man” when proffered by my supposedly better half.
After using my hi-tec Japanese mobile phone camera, I finally discovered I had picture size options up to 2 MB! I had been using the 30KB option until then….

The pics are truly enormous now, but reducing them to this will mean a finer grain and an enhanced picture.
The only problem is that it takes ages to download and upload!

The Missus has been experimenting of late.
Today she steamed plain rice before mixing it with roasted sesasme seeds and finely chopped pickled wasabi leaves.
She then made large musubi she rolled inside thin pork slices. She fried the the rolls first with a little sesame oil, and then some tare/Japanese sauce.

She is going to kill if she finds out I handled them with my bare fingers!
As for the garnish, she fried some ready cooked sato imo/taro roots seasoned with black sesame seeds.

She also included a soft-boiled egg of hers (she never revealed the full recipe!) and boiled spinach seasoned with gomadare/sesame dressing.

As for the side dish, she prepared a salad-dessert with lettuce, mini tomatoes, boiled broccoli, cheese and orange wedges.

A true winter bento, “jiji”!

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet

Please check the new postings at:
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The Missus was into her “colourful” mode in spite of all the grumbling today!

The rice was plain steamed rice sprinkled with roasted sesame seeds with enough peeping out for the looks (and photograph!).
Chicken was “karaage”/Japanese-style deep-fried chicken agremented with pimento pieces in sweet and sour sauce.. and a another sprinkle of roasted seame seeds.

As for the garnish it was a bit of an embarrassment of choices as where to start eating!
Tamagoyaki/Japanese omelette 8 ab it on the sweet note this time), lettuce, mini-tomatoes, Boiled carrots, romanesco broccoli and Brussels sprouts, with some dippping sauce under the the broccoli.

And for dessert?
A big orange from Shizuoka!

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

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Yesterday I had to go to that disliked city called Tokyo for a Cricket AGM and had to ride the Shikansen Bullet train from Shizuoka City.
It was an incredibly clear windy day. Mount Fuji was magnificent.
Back in the evening I enjoyed the rare sight in Tokyo of a dark Mount Fuji in the distance silhouetted by fiery skies.
I managed to take some pics on the way to Tokyo with my mobile phone camera. Look at the pictures at the end of this posting!

The Missus (who now takes her own pics) pointed out I should take the pic of the bento with the rice in the background, not in the foreground… Who can argue?

So I will start with garnish:
Soft-boiled egg/han-yude-tamago, later marinated in soy sauce, sake and mirin (and probably a little ginger).
Alabcore tuna/tonbo magura (the cheaper kind) first marinated for a little while in soy sauce then fried (with the lid on) topped with cheese and served topped again with some home-made wasabi leaves and flowers pickles (verystrong!).
Lettuce for balance and decoration.

For the slad and vitamins part, mini-tomatoes, home-made pickled carrot salad with black olives and black sesame seeds, na ho hana/rape blossoms salad seasoned with goma dare/sesame dressing.

The rice was steamed together with tinned shijimi/basket clams. These small mollusks are very popular in Asia. Check Wikipedia for more information! She had adde thin strips of fresh ginger to them.
Once the rice was cooked, she mixed the lot before placing it in the bento box and sprinkling it with roasted sesame seeds.

A simple dessert of local straberries and ornage wedges.
Nice bento, I agree!

Mount Fuji Views:

I took the pics with the camera almost aginst the window for clarity. The mobile phone camera has enough speed to obliterate all interference.
This pic was taken before reaching Fuji City, the first stop on the way.
The river in the foreground is the Fujikawa River. Because we are in the middle of winter all grass looks brown.

Another pic taken just before entering Fuji City JR Station.

Mount Fuji again caught just after leaving Fuji JR Station. Sorry for the smudges!

Now that pic was taken as we approached Mishima City which stands at comparatively high altitude surrounded by all kinds of mountains.

Last picture taken just before reaching Mishima JR Station.
After that you have to wait a long time (ifyou are lucky!) to see again over the horizon!

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet

Please check the new postings at:
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After the deluge we bore yetserday, clear bright skies were welcome today. The drawback is that I had to ride of those stuffing buses to work as I had left my bicycle at work last night. Don’t worry, it’s safe and nobody wills steal it. This is Japan! I still marvel at the patience shown by the Japanese in their common transport. Not a single complaint….

The Missus was quickly back into her meat mode today. I suspect that she is planning well ahead as she has started taking regular pictures of her concoctions!
“I will start a notebook when I have one hundred of them!, she said.
It’s about time she started her own blog!

The rice was steamed together with shredded carrots on top, then mixed before being served with a sprinkle of black sesame seeds and some shredded takuan/pickled daikon.

The garnish consisted of meatballs fried coated in cornstarch first in oil then with a sweet and sour sauce of the Missus’ invention. It was complemented with half-boiled eeg, boiled na no hana/rape flower seasoned with sesame sauce, and beans (canned) and cucumber salad.

Dessert was benihoppe/red cheek strawberry like yesterday with orange wedges.

Hearty, healthy and yummy!

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet

Please check the new postings at:
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“You must eat more fish!” said the Missus this morning.
Alright, I love any fish as sushi or sashimi, but when it comes to cooked fish, The Japanese tend to include too much salt for my own liking with the result of emphasizing the “fishy smell and taste”.
I suppose I will have to hold myself on a leash for some time to come!LOL

The positive side of this morning’s (grumpy) conversation is that the Missus is planning to buy a cedar wood bento box for better presentation!

Today’s rice was her specialty: Steamed together with hijiki/sweet seaweed and tinned beans and their juice. It does make for good diet balance and colours.

My compulsory tamagoyaki/Japanese omelette, crucnhy sauteed renkon/lotus root and a sprig of fresh cress for the looks and Vitamin C.

Mini tomatoes for more Vitamin C, Na no Hana/Rape flowers, boiled and seasoned with sesame sauce and seeds for iron, and the fish: salted salmon the Missus fried with soy sauce and other seasoning.

And more Vitamin C with Benihoppe/red cheeks strawberry from Shizuoka and kiwi fruit.

Well-balanced bento, I agree.

RECOMMENDED RELATED SITES:
Warren Bobrow, Bread + Butter, Zoy Zhang, Hungry Neko, Think Twice, Frank Fariello, Mangantayon, Hapabento, Elinluv Tidbit Corner, Tokyo Terrace, Maison de Christina, Chrys Niles,Lexi, Culinary Musings, Wheeling Gourmet

Please check the new postings at:
sake, shochu and sushi

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