The homey art of bento, like major gastronomies in Japan and France, is not so much the art of coming up with all kinds of creations and new ingredients, but to accomodate what’s available in an elegant and delicious manner. (Never complimented the Missus so much! I will have to tone down my comments! LOL).

So, after a good look in the fridge and in the pantry, the Missus prepared “mazegohan/混ぜご飯/mixed rice” with a small tin of high-quality scallops preserve a friend had brought some time ago, and some soy sauce, Japanese sake and dashi/Japanese soupstock.

Once properly steamed she mixedthe whole to uniformity, and filled the first box, topping it with tobikko/とびっこ/flying fish roe and finely chopped ciboulette/French chives. Great colors!
The pickle are home-pickled wasabi stems and leaves.

The Missus complained she should have introduced more colors in the side dish, but it was fine by me!

The red turnips/kabu/蕪, Brussels sprouts/mekabetsu/メカベッツ, white asparaguses, “snap green peas in pods and rape flower/na no hana/菜の花 are simply boiled.
The shuumai were (home-) madewith minced pork, “oba” perilla, and sesame oil.

For dessert, separated from the rest with lettuce, tamagoyaki/Japanese omelette/卵焼き with boiled black beans inside!
They look as so many eyes…

I certainly needed all that for a long work day!

Clumsyfingers by Xethia
Adventures in Bento Making, American Bento, Beanbento, Bento No1, Bento Wo Tsukurimashou, Cooking Cute, Eula, Hapabento , Happy Bento, Jacki’s Bento Blog, Kitchen Cow, Leggo My Obento, Le Petit Journal Bento & CO (French), Lunch In A Box, My Bento Box, Vegan Lunch Box; Tokyo Tom Baker, Daily Food Porn/Osaka, Only Nature Food Porn, Happy Little Bento, The Herbed Kitchen, J-Mama’s Kitchen, Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat; Bento Lunch Blog (German); Adventures In Bento; Anna The Red’s Bento Factory; Cooking Cute; Timeless Gourmet; Bento Bug; Ideal Meal; Bentosaurus; Mr. Foodie (London/UK); Ohayo Bento

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Last night I had the extreme luck to be offered a “Madai/ Red Sea Bream” by a friend whose father is a dedicated angler!

A human-raised red sea bream is already an expensive fish to buy, but a real natural specimen is extravagant. And it was at least a two hand-span long fish (the Missus’ hands! Not a “fishing story”!)!
The Missus (most of it) and I dressed the fish after dinner to prepare it for today’s lunch box. We were left with two large fillets and flesh-covered backbone and tail. The Missus is sun-drying the latter as himono/dried fish/干物!

As for preparing the “Tai Mashi/Sea Bream Rice”, the technique is quite simple:
The Missus steamed the rice in water with a little dashi/fish soup stock, a little soy sauce, pieces of konbu/seaweed and the two sea bream fillets on top of the rice.

Once the rice was ready, she broke the fillets of sea bream (after peeling their skin off) and mixed them gently with the rice.
She then placed plenty of the same rice in the first box and decorated/seasoned them with real ciboulette/French chives.
The fish is so tender nad soft that it reminds of high-quality crab! No wonder it is expensive!

As for dessert, she included some sweet-boiled black beans and as condiments her own home-pickled red daikon.

As for the “granish box” she interestingly enough found herself with too many ingredients, She decided to concentrate on colors, arrangemant and balance.

From right to left:
Pieces of ripe avocado in tartare sauce.
Large prawns she boiled/steamed in shallow water with a dash of Kirsch (Cherry Liqueur/from SSwitzerland!)
Plum tomato
Lettuce and wasabina (a lettuce calles such because its taste reminds of wasabi!)

From left to right:
The same lettuce (belaow) and wasabina.
Soft-boiled egg seasoned with roasted black sesame seeds.
Fried green and red pppers.

Don’t tell me I’m lucky! I know it!

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Adventures in Bento Making, American Bento, Beanbento, Bento No1, Bento Wo Tsukurimashou, Cooking Cute, Eula, Hapabento , Happy Bento, Jacki’s Bento Blog, Kitchen Cow, Leggo My Obento, Le Petit Journal Bento & CO (French), Lunch In A Box, My Bento Box, Vegan Lunch Box; Tokyo Tom Baker, Daily Food Porn/Osaka, Only Nature Food Porn, Happy Little Bento, The Herbed Kitchen, J-Mama’s Kitchen, Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat; Bento Lunch Blog (German); Adventures In Bento; Anna The Red’s Bento Factory; Cooking Cute; Timeless Gourmet; Bento Bug; Ideal Meal; Bentosaurus; Mr. Foodie (London/UK); Ohayo Bento

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The Missus said this morning as she woke up that she would have to tackle other ways of preparing my bentos and came up with the idea of introducing tako/蛸/octopus.
The first thing I told her was to serve it in as small as possible bits, but I might have made a mistake!

The accent was very much on balance and color once again!
“Don’t make any mistakes when you explain my reciprs!” she warned me… Now, I have found a way to unveil her “secrets”! LOL

The rice was first steamed with thinly chopped carrots than mixed with chopped parsley, sliced rice vinegar-pickled octopus and cucumber (they come out great home-pickled together!).
She topped the lot with thinly sliced red pimentoes, pimento-stuffed black olives and lemon and more parsley.

The side dish included both salad and dessert as I consider tamagoyaki/卵焼き/Japanese omelette as such although it was not sweet.

Now, the tamagoyaki had a foreign accent as it included ciboulette/French chives, cheese and kanikama/fake crab.
Absoultely delicious!
The green leaves are ice-plant, a vegetable which has recently received recognition here.

Now, for the salad:
the two daikon, one gree and the other red, were picj\kled by the Missus with amazu/甘酢/sweet rice vinegar.
The greens are boiled na no hana/菜の花/rape blossoms seasoned with two French mustards, one plain and the other including the seeds.
The Missus added some walnuts for much needed oils, fibers and other nutrients.

Who said I’m lucky? LOL

Related favorite websites:

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It seems we are going through an unusual cold wave these days in Shizuoka Prefefecture. Even Hamamatsu and Shimada Cities woke up under snow! Mind you, it will take a bit more for snow to fall on Shizuoka City, but the day it does, we will be able to say that it is really cold as Central Shizuoka Prefecture is the “mildest” region after Okinawa in Japan!

This time, the Missus prepared one of her favourites: Karaage Chicken/唐揚げ鶏肉/Japanese-style deep-fried chicken.
To tell the truth, I can’t remember the last time I ate deep-fried chicken in one of those notorious eateries.
The point is that the chicken, after being sprinkled with “a bit of this and a bit of that” (the Missus’ secret that I am not even privy to! I know it includes panko, conrnstarch, sometimes eggs, but she has many recipes!), has to be deep-fried into two stages to keep the meat soft, tender and juicy, even after it has cooled down.
So, after after steamed plain white rice she filled the main box with, she placed the karaage chicken on top of the rice and and seasoned each piece with a little wasabi dressing, roasted yellow and black sesame seeds, and some cress/cresson (Shizuoka-grown).

As for the side dish she aimed at combining ingredients and colors.

The little white “blobs” are boiled 百合の根/yuri no ne/ (edible) lily bulbs! Very tasty, seasoned with gomadare/胡麻ダレ/sesame dressing. The soft-boiled eggs had been “pickled” overnight for better taste (hence the brownish color of their whites) and sprinkled with black sesame seeds. The (Shizuoka-grown) red daikon had been pickled in amazu/甘酢/sweet rice vinegar. Some lettuce was used for the partition and more vitamins and fibers.

More fibers, vitamin C and iron were contributed with Shizuoka-grown (raw) plum tomatoes and (boiled) Brussels sprouts.

More welcome nutrients and colors with green kiwi fruit (Shizuoka City) and Red Pearl Benihoppe strawberries (Fujinomiya City)!

Perfect bento before going out into the cold again!

Related favorite websites:

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Adventures in Bento Making, American Bento, Beanbento, Bento No1, Bento Wo Tsukurimashou, Cooking Cute, Eula, Hapabento , Happy Bento, Jacki’s Bento Blog, Kitchen Cow, Leggo My Obento, Le Petit Journal Bento & CO (French), Lunch In A Box, My Bento Box, Vegan Lunch Box; Tokyo Tom Baker, Daily Food Porn/Osaka, Only Nature Food Porn, Happy Little Bento, The Herbed Kitchen, J-Mama’s Kitchen, Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat; Bento Lunch Blog (German); Adventures In Bento; Anna The Red’s Bento Factory; Cooking Cute; Timeless Gourmet; Bento Bug; Ideal Meal; Bentosaurus; Mr. Foodie (London/UK)

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I thought it was grand time to pay my respects to the Missu who prepared all those bentos last year!
Here are arguably the best 10 of them!
The top 1 is on the above picture!

No 2!

No 3!

No 4!

No 5!

No 6!

No 7!

No 8!

No 9!

No 10!

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Clumsyfingers by Xethia
Adventures in Bento Making, American Bento, Beanbento, Bento No1, Bento Wo Tsukurimashou, Cooking Cute, Eula, Hapabento , Happy Bento, Jacki’s Bento Blog, Kitchen Cow, Leggo My Obento, Le Petit Journal Bento & CO (French), Lunch In A Box, My Bento Box, Vegan Lunch Box; Tokyo Tom Baker, Daily Food Porn/Osaka, Only Nature Food Porn, Happy Little Bento, The Herbed Kitchen, J-Mama’s Kitchen, Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat; Bento Lunch Blog (German); Adventures In Bento; Anna The Red’s Bento Factory; Cooking Cute; Timeless Gourmet; Bento Bug; Ideal Meal; Bentosaurus; Mr. Foodie (London/UK)

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Today’s bento was not only the frist one of the year, but it could have been called the “’11/1/11” Bento too for being the 11th of January 2011!

Once again, the Missus made a good use of what she could find inside the fridge:
She steamed the rice with sakura ebi/桜海老/cherry shrimps (they are found only in Shizuoka Prefecture!) she later mixed with some sesame seeds. She seasoned the whole with home-pickled wasabi stems (from Izu Peninsula).

As usual, plenty of colors with the main dish!

Carrot tagliatelle, black beans and celery leaves salad with home-pickled violet daikon and more lettuce.

As for the meat she prepared slices of pistachio soft ham in tonkatsu style! A little lemon, a great trick!

For dessert, a home-made compote of apples and kiwi fruit!

Simple and healthy, and delicious!

Related favorite websites:

Clumsyfingers by Xethia
Adventures in Bento Making, American Bento, Beanbento, Bento No1, Bento Wo Tsukurimashou, Cooking Cute, Eula, Hapabento , Happy Bento, Jacki’s Bento Blog, Kitchen Cow, Leggo My Obento, Le Petit Journal Bento & CO (French), Lunch In A Box, My Bento Box, Vegan Lunch Box; Tokyo Tom Baker, Daily Food Porn/Osaka, Only Nature Food Porn, Happy Little Bento, The Herbed Kitchen, J-Mama’s Kitchen, Cook, Eat, Play, Repeat; Bento Lunch Blog (German); Adventures In Bento; Anna The Red’s Bento Factory; Cooking Cute; Timeless Gourmet; Bento Bug; Ideal Meal; Bentosaurus; Mr. Foodie (London/UK)

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