Bento of Recent Article

Today's main side dish is "Grilled fish".

I make nearly every day "Bento(弁当)".

And, I eat the bento in my company at noon everyday.
Bento for lunch made by oneself is low cost and low calorie.

The Japanese bento box ensures that lunch is both healthy and trying to save money on lunches.

Well, I explain you the content of my today's bento.
Can you see the alphabet on my bento's photograph?
I explain in the alphabetical order of the photograph.

 

The side dish of today's main is "Nishime".

I make nearly every day "べんとう/弁当(bento)".
And, I eat the bento in my company at noon everyday.
Bento for lunch made by oneself is low cost and low calorie.
The Japanese bento box ensures that lunch is both healthy and trying to save money on lunches.
You don't need to cook Japanese food to pack your lunch.
Use the foods you already enjoy but in healthy portions.

Well, I explain the content of my today's bento to you.
Can you see the alphabet on my bento's photograph?
I explain in the alphabetical order of the photograph.

 

A is 赤飯(sekihan).

Japan's Retort pouch Sekihan

Sekihan, literally red rice, is a Japanese traditional dish. It is sticky rice steamed with azuki beans, which give a reddish color to the rice, hence its name.
Sekihan is often served on special occasions throughout the year in Japan, for example, birthdays, weddings and some holidays, such as Shichi-Go-San.
It is believed that sekihan is used for celebrations because of its red color, symbolic of happiness in Japan.

It is usually eaten immediately after cooking but it may also be eaten at room temperature, such as in a celebratory bento (boxed lunch). Sekihan is traditionally eaten with gomashio (a mixture of lightly toasted sesame and salt).

Because retort pouch Sekihan is sold at a supermarket recently, we can easily eat Sekihan.
This is a type that is heated up in a microwave oven and eats.

Amazon USA: Instant Japanese rice(white)	Amazon Japan: Instant Japanese rice(Red)

 

 

B is "Pickled ginger" that is called "ガリ(gari)".

Gari

Gari is a type of tsukemono (pickled vegetables).
It is sweet, thinly sliced young ginger that has been marinated in a solution of sugar and vinegar.
Gari is often served and eaten after sushi, and is sometimes called sushi ginger.
Gari is usually eaten between dishes of sushi, as it is said to help cleanse the palate.
Gari is also called "甘酢生姜(anazu shouga)".
In general, the color of Gari is palish yellow or pink.
Those differences are only the colors, they don't have the difference of the taste.

Palish yellow gari	Pink gari

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C is "玉子焼き(Tamago yaki).

Tamagoyaki or Atsuyaki tamago

How to make Tamagoyaki

C is "玉子焼き(Tamago-yaki)(also called 厚焼き玉子; Atsuyaki tamago)".

The Tamagoyaki (also called Atsuyaki tamago) is a type of Japanese omelette, which is made by rolling together several layers of cooked egg.
It is served as a Japanese breakfast dish, and often included in bento boxes as well as being a popular sushi topping.

It's also great as a side dish for any meal.
There are several types of tamagoyaki, both sweet and savory.
Once you get the hang of making the multilayers of egg, it's very easy to do.

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D is Hourensou's おひたし(Ohitashi).

"ほうれん草(hourensou)" is the Japanese word for spinach.
It's a common spinach dish cooked in Japan, and this recipe is very simple.
Ohitashi is a traditional side dish, and various leaf vegetables are prepared in this way.

Hourensou ohitashi	How to make Hourensou ohitashi

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E is 煮しめ(nishime).

Nishime or Onishime

E is 煮しめ(nishime), also called お煮しめ(onishime).
* Onishime is formal lines.

Nishime is a Japanese dish of braised vegetables that is slowly braised until the liquid has all been evaporated.
Nishime's ingredients are Large chunks of root vegetable(Carrots, Burdock, Lotus root, Bamboo shoots, Butterbur, Bracken etc.), Yaki doufu, Aburaage, Konnyaku, Konbu(Seaweed) and Kouya doufu etc..

The seasonings such as Shouyu (soy sauce) and the salt, Dashi, and Mirin are used for Nishime.

焼き豆腐 (Yaki doufu) Yaki Doufu (lightly-grilled tofu which will hold its shape well). Yaki Dofu is a Japanese term for firm tofu that has been lightly grilled or broiled on both sides, so that both sides are slightly browned.	こんにゃく (Konnyaku) Konnyaku is a traditional Japanese tough jelly-like health food made from a kind of potato called "Konnyaku potato" and calcium hydroxide or oxide calcium extracted from eggshells.
油揚げ (Aburaage) Aburaage is a Japanese food product made from soybeans. It is produced by cutting tofu into thin slices and deep frying first at 110~120 °C then at 180~200 °C again. Aburaage is often used to wrap inarizushi, and is added to miso soup.	高野豆腐 (Kouya doufu) Kouya doufu is Tofu, dried-frozen. This type of tofu is usually bought dried, in packets, and must be soaked in warm (not hot) water. Next, Kouyadoufu is drained and cut into cubes. If you cook kouya doufu, be sure to heat the liquid to boiling.
干ししいたけ(Hoshi shiitake) Hoshi Shiitake are large, flat, dried shiitake mushrooms. They have a meaty flavour than fresh shiitake mushrooms, and cook up chewy. Hoshi shiitake is pricey. Many of these are exported from Japan rather than other parts of Asia.	だし(dashi) Japanese dashi is light but packed with umami. These ingredients can be soaked more than once. The stock from the first soaking, the ichiban dashi, has the finest flavor and is mixed with a little miso paste to make miso soup. Instant dashi powder can be bought in Japanese grocers, but it's easy enough to make at home.

 

Hararie

 

 

The side dish of today's main is Yakisoba.

I cook nearly every day bento.
And, I eat the bento in my company at noon.
Bento for lunch cooked by oneself is low cost and low calorie.
In addition, it is very good for "my health and food cost".

Well, I explain the content of today's bento to you.
Can you see the number on the bento's photograph?

 

A, B, and C are おにぎり[Onigiri].

Tawara: the bag of straw to wrap farm products

These おにぎり(Onigiri) is very small.
And, this Onigiri is shape that is called "Tawara type", it is called the "俵おにぎり(Tawara-Onigiri)".

*Tawara;
Tawara is a bag of the straw knit for the column type.
Tawaraha is used to wrap farm products chiefly, and indicates the straw rice bag.

Tawara: たわら(tawara in hiragana)/俵(tawara in kanji)

I cooked three kinds of Tawara-Onigiri today.

A is Twara-Onigiri of the black sesame and the salt.

B is Tawara-Onigiri of Ume-Katsuo.

C is Tawara-Onigiri of Nori and the salt.
The triangle and the circle of the shape of Nori-Onigiri are general.

D is Ohitashi of the chrysanthemum.

*Ohitashi;
おひたし(ohitashi in hiragana)/御浸し(ohitashi in kanji), boiled vegetables seasoned with blended soy sauce.

Medamayaki

E is Tsukemono of Hakusai.

*"Hakusai" is a Chinese cabbage.
In general, because Tsukemono has a strong smell, "Tsukemono with a faint smell" is suitable for Bento.
Because Takuwan is Tsukemono with a very strong smell, it is unsuitable to Bento.

When the temperature and the room temperature are high, the stink of Takuwan becomes strong further.
Therefore, if you brought Takuwan with Bento to your office, the stink of Takuwan might be filled in the room.

 

F is a fried egg.

The fried egg is "目玉焼き(Medama-yaki)" in Japanese.
"目玉(medama)" is meaning "Eyeball".
"焼き(yaki)" is meaning "frying with pan".

 

G is Benishouga.

Benishouga is used as the most general Yakisoba's garnishes in Japan.
It is especially garnishes to "焼きそば(Yakisoba)" and "牛丼(gyuudon)".

*Benishouga; べにしょうが(benishouga in hiragana)/紅生姜(benishouga in kanji)

Yakisoba source

 

H is yakisoba.

Yakisoba, literally "fried noodles", is a dish often sold at festivals in Japan, but originates in China .
The dish was derived by the Chinese from the traditional chow mein.
And, the Yakisoa's noodle has been gradually changed by a Japanese culture.
Even though soba ( noodle s made from buckwheat ) is part of the word, yakisoba noodles are not made from buckwheat, but are similar to ramen noodles and made from wheat flour .

Yakisoba is usually seasoned with the Worcester sauce (source for Yakisoba).

Japanese Yakisoba is prepared by stir-frying ramen-style noodles with bite-sized pork , vegetables (usually cabbage , onions or carrots) and flavoured with yakisoba sauce, salt and pepper. It is served with a multitude of garnishes, such as aonori (seaweed powder), benishoga (shredded pickled ginger), katsuobushi (fish flakes), and Japanese mayonnaise.

Medamayaki

Yakisoba is loved as the main dish or a side dish by Japanese people.

By the way, Yakisoba of today's Bento is Yakisoba with the easiest recipe in Japan.
It is a chow mein set of the manufacturer named "Maru-chan" of Japan.

There is steaming noodle and powdery Yakisoba sauce in this bag.

The steaming noodle is stir-fried with meat and the vegetable, a powdery source is sprinkled at the end, and this Yakisoba is stir-fried further.

The recipe is only that.
It is very inexpensive.

It is about two dollars per three food.

Moreover, it is sometimes sold cheap for about one dollar in the supermarket.
Moreover, it is very delicious.

And, this is Yakisoba that sells most in Japan.

 

 

Hararie