Bento #85 - Oyako Don Bento

Recipe for Oyako Don Bento

1 Chicken Thigh
1 white onion
1 egg

Sauce:

1 tbsp of soy sauce
1/2 tbsp of mirin
1/2 tbsp of sugar
2 tbsp of sake
80 cc of water

Mix the above to form sauce A

Method:

1) Pour the sauce into a pan and bring to boil and add the onion, simmer until the onion is soft.
2) Add in the chicken (cut into smaller pieces) and cook it under medium fire for about 10 min or until they are cooked.
3) Drizzle the beaten egg slowly and evenly all over the chicken meat.
4) Simmer until the egg is fully cooked,

Cool down and put them into your bento box. Enjoy!

Bento #84 - Ginger Garlic Cod Fish and Chawamushi

After the somewhat unhealthy deep fried chicken kara-age,I decide to prepare something healthier this morning.

Recipe for Ginger Garlic Cod fish

1 piece of cod fish

5 slices of ginger cut into thins strips

3 cloves of garlic minced

1 tablespoon of soy sauce

1 teaspoon of mirin

A dash of sesame oil

Mix the above together to form mixture (A), personally I like to add more ginger and garlic.

Pour (A) into a saucepan and bring to a boil.Put the cod fish in and simmer for 7-8 min or until the cod is cooked.

Best served with hot piping rice!

I used Wokking Mum's recipe for my chawamushi.

Just another close-up shot of my cod.Enjoy!

#Bento 83 - Tasty Chicken Kara-age

Today, I decided to be more adventurous and tried frying some chicken Kara-age for my hubby instead. They did not turn out too bad and look just like the picture in my recipe book...haa. They taste really flavorful, thanks to the marinade which will make the chicken taste as good even if they are not fried. I'm a amateur in frying and I can never grasp the right temperature to throw in the chicken. So I think I will buy a thermometer to measure the temperature of the oil as my area for improvement. But overall, I'm pretty pleased with the results!

Trying to focus on my Kara-age after a food art sharing that I have attended at Canon yesterday. 

Recipe for tasty chicken kara-age

2 chicken thighs cut into chunks of about 5cm

Marinade (highly recommended!)

1.5 tablespoon of soy sauce

1 teaspoon of mirin

1/2 teaspoon of grated garlic (can add more if you like)

1/2 teaspoon of grated ginger (can add more if you like)

Marinade the meats for at least 10 min

Method 

1) Coat the meat evenly with potato starch flour

2) Heat the oil till it's 170 deg

3) Place the meat into the oil and fry for about 3-4 minutes and the outside looks crispy

4) Take out the kara-age and drain the oil 

Let the chicken pieces cool down and they are ready to be put into your bento!

#Bento 81 - Chicken wrap with grilled potatoes and vegetables

This week is a tiring but happy and fruitful week for us,I spent 3 days ferrying my boys to a Church camp and stayed there to wait till they were done. I was exhausted, perhaps driving really consumed a lot of my energy, as I have to be really focused while worrying about not able to find my route to the venue or being late. But it is all worthwhile as the 3 days camp has been such a nourishing session for my son's spiritual growth. It's a joy to see him enjoying himself so much. When he returned home after the last day of camp, and a long day that was, he headed straight for his Bible and started reading it quietly. It is a really touching moment, I hope he will keep up with this good work and place studying of God's Word as the top priority in his life.

So......this is the second bento that I made for hubby for the entire week as I really need the sleep to concentrate on driving for such long distances!

A simple chicken wrap and grilled potatoes and vegetables. Ta-da!

#Bento 82 - Udon in Spaghetti sauce and teriyaki salmon

Udon is our family's favorite. I think it is pretty versatile and can be cooked and easily cooked in many ways. I usually buy Sakura brand udon as its firmness is perfect for us. Today is the first time I tried cooking it with spaghetti sauce, I know it will turn out nice as accidents rarely happens with ready made pasta sauce, they taste appetizing on its own, you just got to buy the right brand. I added some Tabasco chilli for that extra zest and it really helped to bring the flavor up to a new level. So, the secret is actually the Tabasco.

Teriyaki salmon is easy to prepare, sprinkle some black pepper and coat it with some flour. Pan fried both sides of the salmon until it turns brown and then pour in the teriyaki sauce (homemade). Flip the salmon until it is evenly coated with the sauce and we are done!

After preparing the bento, I started to work on my photobook. I have 2 to prepare this holiday and I really got to speed up as there are still many items on my to-do list. Whew!

#Bento 80 - Yakitori

Yakitori for hubby's lunch today. Used dark soya sauce, wine, mirin, brown sugar, grated ginger and honey to prepare the sauce and brushed some onto the rice for extra flavor.

Feeling excited because we are going to watch "A Good Dinosaur" later, which I am sure my boys will love. Being a Mummy is wonderful because I get excited over little things like this, feel very much alive again..haaa...Holidays are great but the bad thing is we will all have a hard time adjusting when school reopens.

Bento #79-Chicken burgers with curry mashed potato

Prepared chicken burgers for all of us because I'm bringing the boys to Kiddy Fun at Grandstand today. Chicken patties and bread were all bought from NTUC, though I wish I can make my own burger breads one day. Egg with spring onions, chicken patties, cheese and lettuce for the burgers. Curry mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli and some fried scallops and nuggets for the sides. Oh dear, I kept forgetting the name of the cylindrical looking thing but they taste something like cuttlefish ball.

Wanted to fry some fries actually to make it an authentic fast food set..haa..but we have been feeling under the weather recently so nope, decided to replace the fries with mash instead.

My lunchbox is full after stuffing in the burgers, I need to really squeeze the sides in.

The lunchbox on the left is for #1 and the one on the right is for #2. #1 loves mash while #2 loves tomatoes, he can easily pop 20 into his mouth. So, we got to keep the tomatoes out of his sight else he'll be too full for his meal after all the tomatoes. It's a joy looking at my boys enjoying their lunch. After eating, they still have half an hour more to enjoy the indoor playground. Thank God for blessing us with a wonderful Friday and keeping us safe on the road. Love our dear Father in Heaven.

Recipe for Curry mashed potato 

1) 1 potato

2) kewpie mayonnaise 

3) salt and black pepper

4) Curry powder

Method:

1) Put the potato into the boiling water and boil for about 20 min. Let it cool completely because if it didn't, it'll turn oily when mayonnaise is added.

2) Mash the potato with a fork and add in the mayonnaise. The amount really depends on your preference. Add some salt and black pepper to season.

3) Add the curry powder which does magic and gives the mash a very unique taste. I like to add in some parsley too.

Very easy to prepare and convenient to pack in lunchboxes. My #1 simply loves it.