#Bento 135 - Yakitori, grilled scallops and pickled cucumbers

Ooohh...used my new "toy"- an over-the-stove grill pan - today to prepare some yummilicious yakitori for hubby and son.

Yakitori sauce for 2 deboned chicken thigh meat 


1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp sake
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp of grated ginger
1/4 tsp of honey

Place all the ingredients (except honey) into a pot and cook till the mixture boils. Let it boil for a minute or 2 and turn off the fire. Add in the honey and stir till it dissolves in the mixture and your yakitori sauce is done!

Cut the chicken meat into small chunks and skewer them.  Ensure that the chunks of chicken meats are about the same sizes so that they'll be cooked evenly.

Place the skewers onto your grilling pan and grill the chicken meats on low medium fire for about 10 min per side.

Keep the fire low and brush on the yakitori sauce onto the chicken meats, after brushing, turn over and brush on the other side. Repeat these steps for about 2 to 3 times.

Watch the fire closely after brushing on the sauce because the chicken meat gets burned easily with the sauce.

Continue grilling till both sides turn golden brown and your yakitoris are done!

Hubby's bento

Rayson's bento

Pickled cucumbers

Cut 1 Japanese cucumber into smaller chunks
1 tbsp vinegar
1/2 tbsp sugar (depends on your preference, if you prefer it to be sweeter, can adjust the amount of sugar accordingly)
1 tbsp soy sauce
Some garlic powder
Some sesame oil

Mix the above well and leave it in the fridge overnight. Sprinkle some white sesame when served.

#Bento 134 - Fried udon (Yaki soba style)

Am down with a cold but glad I still managed to wake up to cook lunch for hubby. Did not have much ingredients at home so grab whatever I have in the fridge.

I fried my last pack of udon Yaki Soba style but I still prefer my Chinese black black style fried udon.
Fried with seasonings Sake, Soy sauce, Mirin, Bulldog Tonkatsu sauce and topped with Katsuo bushi,

My hubby's favorite grilled saba and sweet corn, edamame beans and a supposed-to-be lava egg for his sides.

#Bento 133 - Little Chick Omurice

This little chick did not turn out the way I want....I've imagined the chick with very smooth skin but well.......

Rayson's little chick omurice

Hubby's omurice

Fried rice using the salmon and luncheon meat fried rice recipe which never fails. Do remember to add lots of fried garlic and ginger, You wouldn't get enough of it!

#Bento 132 - Pan fried salmon with butter and baked cherry tomatoes and eggs topped with mozzarella and cheddar cheese

Marinated salmon with 3 very powerful ingredients : ginger paste, sake and soy sauce. This is the perfect combination for the perfect marinade and my all time favorite. 

Decided to use butter today to pan fry the salmon for some crispy golden fragrant salmon. There's some splattering of oil here and there but still quite manageable. Added some crispy nuggets for some indulgence too!

Baked cherry tomatoes and eggs topped with mozzarella and cheddar cheese

This side dish is really easy to prepare and taste really delicious! Makes a good and presentable side dish anytime anywhere and is a hit with kids as well.

1. Cut 2 hard boiled eggs into smaller chunks and divide them into muffin cups 
2. Add in cherry tomatoes
3. Some black pepper and tomato sauce for seasoning
4. I like to add in my favorite Kewpie mayonnaise also
5. Top with mozzarella and cheddar cheese 
6. Baked in oven at 180 - 200 deg for about 15 min or till the cheese has turned a nice golden brown                           

Easy isn't it?

Hubby's bento

Rayson's bento has a Baymax hugging his nugget. Baymax is really the easiest character to prepare..keke..The head is actually a cuttlefish ball.

Rayson's bento

Baymax says hi!

I prepared a bento for myself too! I have been wanting a get a Magewappa bento box for myself for the longest time and here it is! I love it! The cedar wood smells great and the food looks so much more delicious when packed into this timeless beauty.

#Bento 131 - Pan fried ginger scallions fish slices and fried Japanese style curry flavored okra and mushrooms

Today's lunch is a fusion of Chinese and Japanese style food. 

Pan fried ginger scallions fish slices

Marinated the fish slices with some light soy sauce, pepper, wine, sesame oil and cornflour. Scald them for a minute in oil and dish them out. Leave some oil in the pan. 

Add in minced garlic, slices of ginger and chopped scallions into the pan and fry till fragrant. Thereafter, add in the sliced fish and toss till they are mixed well.

Add in the seasonings, 1 tsp of light soy sauce and 1 tbsp of water. Mix them well and the dish is done!

Fried Japanese Okra and mushrooms

Preparing the batter
1) 45 g of cake flour
2) 70 ml of water
3) 1/2 tbsp of curry powder
4) Some pepper and salt to season

Mix all the above ingredients well until they form an almost smooth paste.

Preparing the Okras

1) Boil a pot of water

2) Add in around 9 - 10 okras when the water is boiling and continue to boil for 2 min

3) Take out the okras and pat them dry. Use a toothpick to poke some holes on the okras so that they do not burst open when being fried

Place the okras and mushrooms into the batter and coat them evenly. 

Pour around 1 cm deep of oil into a pan, When the oil is heated up, add in the coated okras and mushrooms and fried till they are crispy. 

I added some purple sweet potato flowers to add to the colors.

Bento #130 - Baked Tonkatsu

I am so happy my loots arrived from Bento and Co! I didn't expect the delivery to take such a short time! Shipping is free if you hit 85 USD which is not a problem for me at all because I bought some lunchboxes for myself also.

For today, Rayson will be using his new Totoro lunchbox. Yea!

I was so excited to prepare this baked tonkatsu that I kept thinking about it even when I was already on bed the night before.

I used the recipe from JustOneCook which is really friendly and easy to follow, there is even a video demonstration which will give you a even clearer idea on the steps.

I am pretty happy with the results except that the chops turn out a bit tough, probably because I left it in the oven for a tad longer than the stated time as I am always paranoid that the meat is not well cooked.

Baked tonkatsu is healthier than deep fried ones and they taste really crsipy too, you can hear the sound "crick crack crack" when you bite into them. Shall try this method to prepare chicken cutlets in future. Of course, they lost their crispiness when placed in the lunchboxes for such a long time but Rayson feedback that they still taste great, especially with his favorite Kewpie mayonnaise.

Hubby's bento

Rayson's bento

Rayden's bento

Bento #129 - Fried ginger minced meat and fluffy omelette

Today, I tried to be funny and did a charaben for hubby as well. In the end, I really do not know what are those animals. I thought they look like dogs but Rayson felt that they are sheep and my hubby thought that his is a bear. Anyway...this is considered a convenient charaben to prepare, just 3 round shaped rice and some punch outs from seaweed and you are done. 

The secret to savory fragrant minced meat is to pan fry the meat till they are dry with at most a bit of oil. When they are dry and some have even browned, it is then time to add your seasonings and some water, depending on how much sauce you want. Of course I also added in the "secret weapon" = fried minced ginger and drizzle the ginger oil onto the minced meat. Add in the spring onions towards the end before dishing up the meat. Yumz!

Rayson's bento

Hubby's bento

Rayson loves the fluffy omelette which is only seasoned with some light soya sauce and fried with spring onions. So how do we achieve the fluffy omelette effect?

Heat up the oil in the pan, add in more oil than usual, not just to coat the pan...perhaps 0.5mm..hee. When the oil is hot, scoop up 1 tbsp of oil and add in the beaten egg. After pouring in the eggs, pour 1 tbsp of oil onto the egg and you will see the omelette puff up like magic.