1/14/2010- Indian curries bento and Bento Resolution

There haven't been a lot of postings recently because I've not been packing a bento lunch, just stuff in a bag. Although it's been tasty, it's not really interesting to look at, and also outside of the scope of this blog. ANY-ways.

Lots of the blogs I read have been talking about New Year's Bento resolutions: make bento lunches for the first time, make bento lunches every day, try to post every day, stuff like that.

I decided that I, too, should have a New Year's Bento resolution. I know that my schedule will keep me from packing (and photographing) a bento lunch every day. I'm just too busy between work and school and life. But I decided, after reviewing my blog, to take more time in how the bento looks. I resolve to make "prettier" bentos this year. Maybe not charaben or anything like that, but with a stronger eye towards visual appeal. It has never been a challenge for me to pack a tasty lunch. I'm a pretty good cook (IMHO) and like good quality food. But I do tend to disregard how things look. No more!

The first bento of the resolution features Indian foods made by my housemate, who makes delicious Indian food. It's turmeric-heavy, so I busted out the old glasslock box. MAN, is it tiny. (407ml, baby)

Contents of bento: Kala Chana masala with potatoes, topped with a takuan star, steamed broccoli to keep the sweet things from being curry-ified, frozen sour cherries, and two small pieces of banana bread, curried green beans. The side car has basmati rice in it.

It may be tiny, but this was a very filling lunch. It ended up being more rice than I had thought. I pulled out the two silicon cups and microwaved everything else for max-tastiness and hotness. The takuan star was a little strange on the curry, but not unpleasant. The broccoli barrier also kept the banana bread dry. Sadly, I think my silicon cups will be stained with turmeric tie-dye for a little while.

I tried to use my new, awesome, bento-sized chopsticks (thanks, little mama), but they are white and I didn't want them stained yellow on their first use. I'll have to wait, I suppose.

In my effort to make "prettier" bentos I think I may need to build some kind of light studio. I had a heck of a time trying to take a decent picture of this last night. And I still think it looks weird and dark.

11/11/2009- New Bento Box and Pupusa Bento

Last weekend I was in Alexandria and while I was in Northern VA I took the opportunity to go and hunt up some awesome stuff at Super H Mart in Fairfax. This Korean grocery store carries all kinds of awesome international foods AND bento boxes. So, of course, I got a new bento box. Now I have three. Which is how it begins...

Leaflet Tight Box: came with a little green bag. Awwww, how cute! It is 500ml and has three lift out trays. One holds 175ml and the other two hold 80ml each, so with the trays it's a good size for me for lunch.

And here's the inaugural lunch I packed for it:
Contents of Bento: Pupusas with Zucchini and delicious cabbage salad with tomato sauce from South of the Border. In the big compartment: pineapple slice and frozen sour cherries, sungold cherry tomatoes (the LAST of the season), baby carrots, green olives, a prune, and a purple carrot cut up and stacked all pretty under the prune. The little side car has some hummus in it for the carrots.

Everything was delicious. The pupusas are not very good at room temperature, but I was too lazy to pick out all the little pieces and reheat. Eaten with the cabbage it was alright. Even though the box got tilted around a little bit, the pupusas did not get wet. There was some vinegar from the cabbage salad under the two containers when I washed it, but somehow it worked. The two pink cups are new from Super H Mart as well, they are heart shaped. I think they're going to be really awesome since they fit so nicely into corners. I also picked up a tube of Umeshiso paste so I will have umeboshi in my future!

Guest Bento- retro-posted from 10/26/2009

I mentioned in my last posting that my friend CB had started packing bento-lunch. I sent her a bento care package, with some small sauce containers and a furoshiki, because I thought she might need some cool stuff to get started. Here is her lunch from October 26th:

Contents of bento: "in case you want to know what's in my lunch- 1 cup of tomato/red pepper soup, box of salad with sesame ginger dressing (I might start putting it in one of the little containers...) and a cheese stick from TJs"

And here is what it looks like all wrapped up:


In her own words again:
"I'm not really doing pretty bentos, but everyone notices my tied up lunch complete with cutlery! I think it shows that even if you are lazy, you can still use bento elements. And there is something about having your lunch tied in a furoshiki that just makes it more like a meal rather than just crap in a box. :)"

Nicely done, CB! I don't think I could have said it better. CB uses her furoshiki as a placemat. Usually I use mine as a napkin, but that's because I'm too lazy to pack a separate napkin.

I especially like the use of regular-ol' containers to pack lunch. Though I love my Totoro bento box with a passion that will never die, I do often use other containers to pack lunch. Maybe I should take pictures of that too. Bah, there's always something I could spend more time on.

10/1/2009-Soba Noodle Stir-fry and HB bento

This posting is a kind of exciting posting because it features pictures from the first photographed HB-Bento! Woo! The very first bento I made for myself (long, long, ago) was accompanied by the very first HB-Bento (i.e., the first bento for HB). Well this posting contains the illustrious SECOND HB-Bento (the first one to be photographed). Back when I started I thought it was a little weird that people take pictures of their lunches. But then I got into reading bento blogs. Man, are those pictures key.

Contents of my bento: plum, 2 mini-peppers stuffed with garlic and herb La Vache Qui Rit; soba noodles stirfried with edamame, sweet-soy simmered tempeh, and topped with broccoli and turnip.

I simmered the tempeh with some kombu and dried black fungus (mmmmmm fungus) in soysauce, mirin, and a little rice vinegar. I also added in a big spoonful of brown sugar. Deeee-licious.

The whole reason why HB got a bento today too was because I bought him this swank new bento box. It's a tiffin-style container from World Market. And it's dishwasher safe, which I have tested out. Mostly, though, it holds a lot of food and doesn't look plastic or girly, which means there are more places he can take it. It also looks like it would hold up to some beating, which is also crucial.

Tiffin! Metal (stainless steel), Indian bento-style container. This one has two compartments and it snaps together nicely. It's pretty waterproof, though I haven't really tried testing the limits of that. The outer surface of the compartments has this nice dimpled pattern in the metal. It's really quite an attractive item. Purchased from World Market for the low, low price of $10.

And here it is filled with foods.

Contents of HB bento: on left, mini-pepper stuffed with La Vache Qui Rit (garlic and herb), some baby carrots, a plum, 2 toothpics of edamame, packet of miso soup, and a silicon baking cup filled with homemade spicy, salty cashews (I do them on the stove top with curry powder, salt, and cayenne). On the right, soba noodle stir fry (same as I got, just in a huge, HB-sized portion).

A closer view of the bottom container.

I did pack this the night before and stuck it in the fridge, as is my wont.

The verdict was very positive. Hooray! And he said he didn't mind the container, so I think there will be more HB bentos in the future. Excellent. The term that I found in this book I got from the library (The Food of Japan: Authentic Recipes from the Land of the Rising Sun, by Takayuki Kosaki and Walter Wagner) is aisai bento, or loving wife's lunch. Essentially, it's the lunch that a wife packs for her man, which may or may not embarrass him in its decorativeness. The book is, to my estimation, so-so. But it does have some nice narrative in the beginning about different areas they cover in Japanese cuisine.