This bento box was made from left-over ingredients from my pantry and fridge. Since I just got back from a weekend trip, did not have time to do grocery. What is surprisingly tasty and original in this bento are the tom yum tuna spring rolls I made. Its a great recipe for serving as canapés or tapas with beer. Haha… sometimes, when I am faced with a food crisis when there is no plan or short of ingredients, crazy recipe ideas will just surface. Sometimes good, sometimes strange, but this time its great!

Box 1



Steamed Chicken with Ginger Sesame Topping

I marinated the chicken thigh with just salt and sake for 20 mins. Place it in a plate with the knob of crushed ginger and spring onion and steam it in a covered wok with some water until the meat is just cooked. The water in the wok must be gently simmering during the steaming, to ensure the meat is tender when cooked.As for the topping, just mix with the rest of the ingredients and if there is some tasty liquid from the steamed chicken in the plate, drizzle some into the topping mix. Dress the toppings all over the chicken when served.

Stir-fried celery, prawns and corn

A similar recipe can be found in Hubby Bento #10

Box 2

Crispy Tom Yum Tuna & Tapioca Springroll

Ingredients (makes about 8-10)

1/2 can of tuna (Tom Yam flavour)

Cooked tapioca mashed (equal portion to the tuna)

Spring roll pastry wrap

Basil leaves

Simply mix the tuna and the mashed tapioca together. Wrap the sping roll with the filling and 1 basil leaf (2 if the leaves are small) and fry in cooking oil until skin turns crispy gold.Nasu Dengaku (なす田楽) with chicken floss topping

I adapted this recipe from http://norecipes.com/recipe/miso-glazed-eggplant-nasu-dengaku/ (which is a great site for many Japanese recipes by Chef Marc) with a little change to the ingredients.

Ingredients

1 eggplant (halved)

1/4 cup water

sauce:

1 tablespoon hatcho miso

1 tablespoon white miso

2 tablespoons mirin

2 tablespoons sake

1 tablespoon sugar – granulated

toppings:

Dried Chicken Floss or any Meat floss (found in Chinese stores)

Chopped scallion

Cut criss-cross patterns on eggplants, about 1/2 or 3/4 into the flesh. Heat some olive oil in the pan and place the eggplant skin side up. Brown the flesh. Turn the skin side down, add the water and cover with a lid. Let the water simmer for a few minutes til the eggplant flesh is just soft. Meanwhile, mix the sauce ingredients and boil it over small fire and caramelise or thicken a little and turn off the heat. Brush the sauce paste over the browned eggplant and add the toppings on. The crunchiness of the floss and scallions give a nice balance of texture to the soft eggplant.

Sweet Potato Wagashi

I bought purple and yellow sweet potato wagashi fleshly made from Japanese supermarket. They come separate so I layered them. Pretty colour combination.