The Japan Blog List

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

—————————————-
日本語のブログ
—————————————-

Some friends of have wondered what the Missus’ sandwich bento would look like. For once I relent and will show what she concocted for me today!

The sandwiches part definitely looked American (British?). Secured inside their kitchen paper back, the toasted bread contained raw ham and lettuce with a little mustard.

Two salads: the first one composed of lightly boiled renkon/lotus roots, lightly boiled goya, tobikko/flying fish roe and mayonnaise-based dressing should tempt Bentoist again!

The second salad consisted of two halves of hard-boiled egg, luccola, cress, boiled broccoli, cherry tomatoes and plums. I added dressing kept at work.

This time the Missus did not forget the dessert!

The Japan Blog List

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

—————————————-
日本語のブログ
—————————————-

Today’s bento could be called “back to the basis”!
The truth is that the Missus iapparently went on a diet (actually I’m the one on a diet) and decided to lighten my bento! I don’t really complain as long as she keeps her standards as far as taste is concerned!

I admit that the “nigiri/rice balls” were a bit of an artistic affair inside their paper box:
Three of them contained fried salmon, were topped with “tobikko/flying fish roe” and partly envelopped in a shiso leaf. The one at the top, middle, contained sweet seaweed/”konbu”.
The one on the left, bottom, was topped with Japanese cucumber pickles and the one on the right, bottom, contained “takuan/Japanese pickled daikon”.

As for the salad, it came as a mixture: boiled and sliced goya, lettuce, half a boiled egg, three small asparaguses rolled and sauteed in bacon, finely chopped greens and cherry tomatoes.
I added dressing kept at work.

No dessert, but I bought myself a few nuts to munch on!

The Japan Blog List

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

—————————————-
日本語のブログ
—————————————-

It must be the first this year that I requested a bento on a Saturday! Usually I have time to come for lunch (I work on Saturdays), but not this time as I had a lot to catch up with after our (short) summer holidays!

Usually the Missus prepare curry or stew on Saturdays. Accordingly she steamed rice mixed with mild curry paste and finely chopped red and green pimento. On top of a generous portion she placed “tonkatsu/pork schnitzels. She always makes plenty of them as they freeze well. She brushed them with “katsu tare/bulldog sauce” and added some cress for the greens.

The salad was a bit unusual: slightly boiled “renkon/lotus roots” salad with “Tobikko/Flying fish roe”, a half boiled egg, cherry tomatoes and plenty of mini cress. Hearty and well-balanced, I must admit!

The Japan Blog List

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

—————————————-
日本語のブログ
—————————————-

Thursday is a bit unusual for the Missus making a bento for my lazy person, but she had to go to the beauty parlor and what with all the shopping she was planning to do on that day, it was certainly easier for her to make a bento for two (she ate her own at home) and get me out of her legs!

For the first time in a long while she came up with a favourite of mine, namely “soft ton”/very tender boneless pork cutlets. She fried them in shallow oil after after having prepared them in the “tonkatsu”/schnitzel fashion and seasoned them with white and black sesame seeds.
She put them on top of rice mixed with sweet seaweed and decorated the whole with edamame (out of their pods) and “shishito”/Japanese japalenos.
Some pickles and a salad side dish, and that was it!
She had forgotten the dessert again, but I had some ice-cream (made from soy beans, no milk whatsoever from Shibakawa Cho!) handy in the fridge!

The Japan Blog List

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

—————————————-
日本語のブログ
—————————————-

This week, I will have (the pleasure of?) more bento than usual because of the preparations for our trip next week to Hokkaido. The Missus is only too happy to get me physically away from her, busy as she is with the luggage and all that!

This time the combination should tempt solid male eaters more than figure-minded ladies!
The main dish consisted of boiled “ramen/Chinese noodles” for which I had cold stock soup in the pouch featured in the pic at the beginning of this posting. The Missus decorated it with all kinds of vegetables, having my line in mind as ever:
From top, clockwise=soft-boiled egg, vinegared cucumber salad, cut “yama imo/taro roots”, edamame out of their pods, boiled brocoli, carrot salad, and a sprinkle of chopped thin leeks in the middle.

The “accompaniment” consisted of chicken nuggets. Now, these have nothing to do with the frozen horrors served in notorious junk food eateries (no names, alright?). The Missus used “tori no sasami/Chicken breast fillets”, the tenderest and leanest part of the chicken, which can be bought separately in Japan. A bit extravagant, I must admit. They needed no seasoning as their batter was already spiced up. She included plenty of lettuce to wrap them in, as she knows I’m a bit of a savage, eating with my fingers whenever possible!
A few cherry tomatoes and home-made baby melon pickles.
No dessert again! LOL.

The Japan Blog List

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

—————————————-
日本語のブログ
—————————————-

This week being particularly busy due to the preparations for our trip to Hokkaido next week forcing me into putting two weeks’ work into one, I will have to write quite a few articles about the Missus’ bentoes (that is, if there is no repeat or sandwiches. LOL)

Yesterday’s was more of the “expat’s variety” which should tempt big eaters like Foodhoe and Gaijin Tonic again!
the “nigiri”/rice balls were made of rice steamed with mushrooms and cockles (small clams) soup.
The Missus later added some curry paste to shape those brown balls. It made for a welcome change!
She added boiled broccoli, carrot salad, French pickles/cornichons, a half-boiled egg, some edamame out of the pod and “amera rubbins tomatoes”, a variety only grown in Shizuoka. Very small and sweet, they could be served as dessert with red berries!
Some cut “nashi”/Japanese pear and plums for the real dessert.
Just enough to last the day! LOL.

The Japan Blog List

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

—————————————-
日本語のブログ
—————————————-

Yesterday, the Missus had to go home and visit her parents for the O-Bon Festival (Japanese Mid-Summer Festival when the deceased are being venered). She made a bento not only for me but for her siblings.
It is both seasonal in the sense it includes eel and tradiional as it is “Chirashizushi”

“Chirashizushi” could be roughly translated as “mixed sushi”. It is very popular with families as large quantities of it can be made. Allison will be glad to know you can also use it for the base of home-made sushi rolls!
The Missus mixed the “shari”/vinegared steamed rice with Japanese sweet scrambled eggs and pickles. She filled the box with one layer and covered it at radom with pieces of broiled eel. She put one more layer and topped it again broiled eel, scrambled eggs and boiled string beans.
She added some home-made baby melon pickles and cucumebr pickles.

The salad was pretty straightforward: Chopped fresh vegetables and boiled shrimps to which I added dressing at work.
She forgot the dessert!

The Japan Blog List

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

—————————————-
日本語のブログ
—————————————-

I must admit that today’s bento was a bit of an overkill!
The Missus asked me as I was going for the shower if I fancied “temaki” (make your own maki) bento for my lunch. “Sure”, I replied.
I was looking forward to eating plenty of greens as I knew it would come with lettuce I would use for making my own maki instead of the usual dry seaweed.

She had been hassling me recently on my weight (which has not changed for at least three months…), stressing that I should cut on my food intake. Well, the “shari”/flavoured sushi rice was certainly succulent, but there definitely was a lot of it, mixed with finely chopped cucumber and daikon pickles and “tobikko”/flying fish roe. I ended up with not enough lettuce and had to finish up the lot with chopsticks. Incidentally this was more a full lunch than a bento. I do not know if I would dare make all these maki one by one in front of an audience (I always eat alone in my private classroom!). LOL.
Fresh cucumber, home-made pickled cucumber and a tiny “umeboshi”/pickled Japanese plum completed the “staple part”.

As for the “o yatsu”/accompaniment, a lot of it, she included smoked salmon seasoned with tartare sauce and capers (East meet West?), cut avocado dipped in lemon juice, soft boiled egg, plum tomatoes, processed cheese, sliced and boiled goya and fresh cress.

A grape jelly was added for dessert.
It certainly took me some time it to finish it, which should make her happy as she always complains I eat too fast!
Great bento, but a bit too much of it. Mind you, I don’t complain as I have a long day!

The Japan Blog List

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

—————————————-
日本語のブログ
—————————————-

This is mid-summer in Shizuoka, and as far as the weather is concerned it is a bit too hot (over 35 Degrees Celsius) and humid (over 85%)!
Light meals have suddenly become more welcome than those “stamina” lunches!

It actually also means more boxes and equipment. I have mentioned before tah Japan has come with some great Tupperware-style boxes. They are very light, rigid, solid and easy to close with a single push. Perfect for picnics, too!

Instead of rice, the Missus prepared “soba/buckwheat noodles”. The cucumber are home-made light pickles. The chopped leeks are for the soba dip/”tsuyu” inside the small round box. The tube contains yuzu/lime-flavoured wasabi paste to be mixed with the tsuyu, too. A hard-boiled egg was provided for needed calories,

with a green salad topped with “shabu shabu”/thin slices of pork poached in slightly salted water, cooled and seasoned with sesame dressing and sesame seeds. Some sliced home-made mini melon pickles and more home-made cucumber pickles.

The dessert consisted of “nashi/Japanese pear” slices. Crunchy, bursting with juice and delicious, they make for the perfect Summer dessert!

The Japan Blog List

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

—————————————-
日本語のブログ
—————————————-

Back to work after a long week-end holiday (yestrday was a national holiday). This is real time for simple “stamina” bento, what with the heat (over 35 degrees Celsius) and humidity (over 80%). One has to make sure to stock enough fuel for the day, and that does not entail fluids only!

Consequently, the “main dish” consisted of loosely packed sushi balls/nigiri containing deep-fried pork/tonkatsu, the whole rolled inside perilla/shiso leaves. As for the rice itself, it had been steamed with home-made pickled Japanee plums/umeboshi. The pickles in the centre are home-made cucumber pickles.
Plenty of greens for the side dish, and a fresh, very large, apricot from Nagano Prefecture (They apparently are grown here yet!) for the sugar fix!

Took some time to eat, though!

The Japan Blog List

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

—————————————-
日本語のブログ
—————————————-

Tuesday! After yesterday’s spaghetti Lunch Box, it was back to rice and Japanese-style today!

It certainly was a copious one!
Apart of the “salad side dish” to ensure I got enough greens to go with it, the Missus ventured into small meat rolls this time:

Two types: pork slices rolled around in shiso/perilla leaves and pork sices again rolled around softened home-made fresh ginger pickles. She had dipped them in a mixture of water, cornstarch and spice mix before coating them with breadcrumbs and “shallow-fried” them.
She included lettuce to rol them into before eating.

She is a specialist when it comes to soft-boiled eggs that she cooks at low temperature for quite a while (another secret?). The yolk stays liquid and does taste beautiful with a little soy sauce and black sesame seeds.

The “nigiri/rice balls” had been steamed mixed with home-made “umeboshi/pickled Japanese plums” and topped with home-made (again!) sansho/Japanese peppers seeds.

I can assure I was full (and satisfied)!

The Japan Blog List

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

—————————————-
日本語のブログ
—————————————-

In the heat of the Summer, the Japanese make a point of serving hearty meals and bento as this is a time when you lose so much energy. As they say in this country, this is “stamina meals time”!

To that purpose the Missus had marinated chicken in sake, oyster sauce and probably rice vinegar (that is all I could extract from her!) for a whole night.
She fried them all with baby carrots, leeks and home-pickled Japanese pepper/sanshyo and placed the ot on top of a bed of rice steamed with finely chopped fresh ginger roots (she probably added some dashi/Japanese stock soup and a little sake to the water).

Served with homemade cucumber pickles, boiled brocoli, fresh plum tomatoes and a salad “side dish”, I reckon it was plenty!

Nota Bene: No dessert was included this time as “punishment” for having eaten it during the night!

The Japan Blog List

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

—————————————-
日本語のブログ
—————————————-

Today’s bento had a definite Shizuoka Summer flavour to it, even if it meant I had to carry three boxes and empty two dressing bottles at the office! LOL.

The Missus prepared “Tchya Soba”/Tea soba noodles from Shibakawa Cho at the foot of Mount Fuji. having boiled and washed them under running cold water, she drained as much as possible before putting them in the box topped withfinely cut “nori”/seaweed.

As for seasoning she had chopped some leek and myoga fine, which I added to the soba before pouring some “tsuyu”/clear cold stock soup (larger bottle) and gently mixing the lot as I ate them.
The other seasoning was “goma tare”/Thick sesame dressing (vert tasty! do try it!) for the salad part:

On a bed of finely chopped vegetables, slices of raw ham, spicy cheese and “candy tomatoes” from Kakegawa City.
For once I noticed that she had not included any dessert. Need I lose weight?

The Japan Blog List

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

—————————————-
日本語のブログ
—————————————-

Today’s (Tuesday!) bento was almost a classic as it included my favorite: Japanese-style fried chicken. I think I finally broke the Missus’ secret when I took a sneaky view of her craft when she thought I was away in another room!
Rowena, I promise I will disclose it, especially knowing that Taste Memory Girl and Bill (and some others) are interested!

The staples were represented by four nigiri/rice balls which for once were loosely packed and made for a lghter fare. The toppings are from top clockwise: yuzu kosho furikake/dried lime pepper seasoning powder, wasabi konbu/wasabi-flavoured seaweed, umeboshi/pickled Japanese plums and kyuri tsukemono/finely chopped Japanese-style “green” cucumber pickles.
Add to this home-made cucumber and ginger pickles, and fruit (pinepapple and American dark cherries)

The “garnish” consisted of deep-fried chicken (“thighs”), half a soft-boiled egg atop plenty of greens I seasoned with sweet wasabi dressing I have andy at work.

A comparatively light bento in spite of all the rice and very well-balanced I must eckon as I was hungry until late in the evening!

The Japan Blog List

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

—————————————-
日本語のブログ
—————————————-

Today’s bento was more suited for the solid appetites of Foodhoe and Gaijin Tonic, although a big man like Bill may be tempted to emulate to feed his family!

The “main dish” consisted of nigiri/rice balls made with rice steamed with home-made umeboshi/Pickled Japanese Plums in shiso/perilla leaves, and Pork fillet slices shallow-fried with bredacumbs, each skewered on a toothpick to make it easier to dip in a mayonnaise and sweet miso I was provided with. The pickles are home-made cucumber and ginger pickles.

The “side dish” was a very simple assortment of raw vegetables (chopeed cabbage, plum tomato, stringbeans, carrots,…) and fruit. I used the wasabi dressing at the office to season it!

Plenty to last the whole day!