silver chopstix

I was a Sanrio fan as a child and still is. Sanrio is the name behind Hello Kitty, My Melody, Little Twin Stars etc. They have created more than 400 characters and one of these is Keroppi. Keroppi or Kerokerokeroppi was introduced in 1988 and was one of the popular characters in my generation. He is a frog who lives with his family on Donut pond according to the official Sanrio website. This Keroppi bento is easy to make. You only need steamed white rice, white cheddar cheese, nori and…read more

This bento proved to be more difficult that I expected. This is not my original creation by any means. I was inspired to make this from the blog littlemissbento and after watching the movie again with my girls last night. Making the hair for Elsa and Anna was the most challenging part. You have to make the egg crepe first, making sure it does not tear in the process. Then dyeing the egg to achieve the reddish brown color was trial and error. I added a bit of soy sauce…read more

Before we say goodbye to Fall, I wanted to make one last bento that is inspired by this season. Chestnuts are usually harvested during the months of September and October and are out in the market in the Fall through Winter. These are usually added to soups, salads, main course and even made into desserts. To make the chestnut rice ball, roast some sesame seeds in a pan until it turns golden brown. Set aside to cool. You then make your onigiri by using a triangle mold or a plastic…read more

This is my second Halloween themed bento for this month. I made a pumpkin and mummy onigiri. As I have mentioned before, getting the right ingredient to color your rice is the most challenging part in creating a character bento. I recently discovered “decofuri” which made this task a lot easier . Decofuri is a rice seasoning mix which adds color to your rice. The packet comes with 6 different hues: orange, blue, red, green, pink and yellow. To make the pumpkin onigiri I just added the orange decofuri to…read more

Halloween is almost here and it’s really been a long while since I made a bento. I decided to make one that is fitting for the season. I made a witch onigiri which I decided to call “Wicked” since it’s my girls favorite broadway show. For the rice ball, I used Nori, green tea udon, cheese and ham. Nori and cheese were used to make the hat. The udon was for the hair and the ham and nori for the face details. This was really fun to do and I…read more

Sakura or Cherry Blossoms symbolizes Spring. They bloom for a very short period of time, around 2 weeks. In Japan, cherry blossom viewing or Hanami is a tradition that has been practiced for centuries. They usually go with family and friends to view the flowers and celebrate by picnicking under it’s branches. I was fortunate enough to experience this when I became an exchange student to Japan during my Junior year in High School. Cherry blossoms are not indigenous to Japan, they grow and flourish in countries in the Northern…read more