Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Fuzzy Wuzzy Wuz A Bear

Thanks to Tona-mama of Kimi's Little Adventure blog, I now know what pork floss is, and have been able to track it down at my local asian market. Thanks Tona-mama!

I used pork floss, which was labeled as pork fu at the Asia Mart in Santa Rosa, to cover these three onigiri rice balls to make a little teddy bear. The pork floss has a kind of carpet like texture. I made the onigiri by hand, then rolled them in the pork floss. The details are made with nori seaweed and provolone cheese, and a little heart pick. The flavor of the pork floss is somewhat sweet, but also has a soy taste to it. It's kind of like those burnt ends of a pork loin or pork ribs.

Also in this bento: steamed corn on the cob from the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market, edamame, cherry tomatoes, a pineapple flavored jelly candy, a slice of purple sweet potato with a piece of provolone on top, and my first ever "rabbit" apple (it's supposed to look like a rabbit with his little ears, mine not so much). I used a Gravenstein Apple from Walker Apples. Gravenstein Apples are a special treat here in Sonoma County. They have been grown here since the early 1800's. We have a fair to celebrate the Gravenstein Apple each year in Sebastopol and this August 14th and 15th will mark the 100th Anniversary of the Gravenstein Apple Fair! I can't wait!

You may have noticed a few changes on my blog. I now have my own Etsy.com shop! I do a bit of crafting in my spare time and I made these cute little bento box felt straps to hold bento boxes together. This is a smiling onigiri. If you want to see more of my bento box felt straps, and perhaps get one for yourself, check out Sonoma Bento on Etsy.com.

20 comments:

  1. Eek I love that onigiri bento belt! Super cute idea! I never thought to look for meat floss, but it's good to know it's available here in NorCal. It really looks like it makes a fantastic fuzzy bear!

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  2. I've never had pork floss. I'm definitely intrigued! Your bear is so cute!!! :)

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  3. Thanks sheri! I see that you had an etsy store. What kinds of things did you make? And the bear was pretty tasty! :)

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  4. Thanks hharper6! I described it to friends as fuzzy jerky. :)

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  5. I'm not sure how I want to react to the idea of fuzzy jerky. I want to embrace the idea of meat that makes your food look cool, but in my head, I'm thinking it is pork flavored cotton candy.

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  6. So cute! I love your bento bunny! What a cute onigiri belt too. I'm going to have to check out your Etsy store. :)

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  7. What a cute bear!! Did u have any difficulty to get the floss to stick on? Hope your little girl likes the floss, we love it here is Asia!

    Super cute lunch box belt! I'll scoot over now to look see look see! :)

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  8. this is so cute. You always pack your bentos so nicely. And I love the belt too. Going to check out your etsy store!

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  9. Adora-bear! Love its perplexed expression, maybe its new to pork floss?--and the farmer's market you always brighten your bentos with. Yum. Fab bento crafts, too--they look cheerful and original like your bentos, SB!

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  10. Shannon, I don't blame you. It was not the easiest thing to try, but it grows on you. I think this is an ingredient I will use again, unlike the mango rice cake in an early post that kind of turned me off.

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  11. Thanks Susan! It means a lot to me that you compliment my charaben!

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  12. Hi Tona-mama! The rice was warm and fresh from the pot when I made the onigiri, so it stuck pretty well. Thanks for the great idea!

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  13. Thanks Kelly! I hope you like my etsy stuff!

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  14. Thanks so much bentobird! Yeah, I think my bear was a little nervous about the pork floss too. :) But really, after some initial awkwardness, it tastes pretty good! And what a cool bento ingredient. Thanks for checking out my bento felt straps. They are really fun to make.

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  15. I love pork floss! I remember eating them when I was little. I eat them by itself as snack. It's pretty much finely shredded pork jerky...i think. In Hong Kong, they used to put them on top of rice porridge (kinda similar to green onion garnish). I visited there and brought some for my coworkers to try. they thought it looked like hair and refuse to try thinking I'm weird. What a great idea to use it to make into teddy bear onirigi! sure has that soft cuddling feel to it! :)

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  16. Thanks homekinegrinz! It does taste good! I like your description: finely shredded pork jerky. It has a bit of a sweet taste to it as well. I think I will try it next inside of an onigiri rice ball. Thanks for checking out my blog!

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  17. Oh wow! You can definitely sew well!
    In fact I have wanted to do similar thing (already bought my stack of felts) but still can't find the time to do! My boy just pestered me to do that baby Elmo for him after he saw one in the store last weekend.

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  18. Thanks so much Angeleyes! It's a fun hobby and I really like how these bento box felt straps turned out.

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  19. Wow, you sew nice bento belts! I love that little octopus so much! :D

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  20. Isn't that octopus hilarious?! I tried to make him look like a stylized hotdog octopus. Hee hee! Thanks for your kind words and for checking out my etsy store, Kids Dream Work!

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