Food Ninja Bento

Today's bento is my entry into the Food Ninja contest. Three bloggers (La Fuji Mama, Salty Seattle, and bell'alimento) have put together a fun contest in which we get to show off our mad ninja skills. I chose to make a video with a trip to the Farmers Market (naturally), a stop off at Asia Mart, and then a big reveal of my Food Ninja Bento. It's quite silly with Japanese subtitles, ninja poses, and a (forced) cameo by my husband. I'll reveal the video soon. Heather of La Fuji Mama asked me to do a guest post about my Food Ninja Bento, and I was delighted to comply. Check it out here.

In this bento: a star onigiri, a quail egg ninja with radish weapons, slices of boiled lotus root, steamed yellow beans from Orchard Farms, edamame, cherry tomatoes from Middleton Farms, boiled purple potatoes from Orchard Farms, steamed broccoli, teriyaki chicken meatballs from Aidell's, and a few fried padron peppers from Crescent Moon Farms.

A special shout out to the AMAZING Sheri of Happy Little Bento for her ninja egg inspiration. I am sure many bentoists like me admire Sheri's crazy Food Ninja skills. You too can enter the Food Ninja contest! Entry deadline is October 24th at 10pm PST. There's awesome prizes, too!

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.

Under The Sea!

This bento box lunch is rather whimsical. I wanted to try my hand at octopus wieners, 1) because they are cool, and 2) because it is fun to say "octopus wieners." Then I had to keep the theme going with underwater creatures like fish and seastars. The wieners are cut about 3/4 of the way up the wiener into eight "legs" and then cooked in a frying pan. Their eyes are soy paper and black sesame seeds. The fish is a sauce container with some sriracha sauce inside (spicy!), and the three stars are made from steamed sweet potato, steamed purple potato, and watermelon radish on a bed of rice (painted blue!). I also used a bit of garlic scapes that I picked up at the Sebastopol Farmers Market. I cut the scape in the same way I cut the wieners, but then I put it in a bowl of ice water so it would curl and fan out.

These are garlic scapes from the Sebastopol Farmers Market. They are the stem of hard necked garlic, and they taste great: garlicky and green at the same time. They are delish in pesto.

My hubby thought I had gone off the deep end when I told him I needed food coloring to finish my bento box lunch. Yes, I "painted" the rice blue with food coloring to make a watery bed for my sea creatures. I wonder what my mouth will look like when I eat this?

It turned out great! Not pictured, but in the lower compartment of this bento box, I had some steamed edamame, a few slices of kumquat, and a mixture of dried cantaloupe and walnuts. The cantaloupe and walnuts are from the Santa Rosa Original Certified Farmers Market.

And, my brilliant friend Coco said that because this is Sonoma Bento, I should recommend a wine pairing for my bento! I love it! Not that I am going to break out the booze at work, but I think this whimsical, nautical bento box lunch would go well with some bubbles. The richer flavors of the wieners, and the spicy sriracha will benefit from the lighter pairing. And the walnuts, dried fruit, and bold citrus kumquat flavors will also pair nicely with bubbly. My go to choice for sparkling wine is Korbel Natural, made with Russian River grapes. It cuts heavy foods and works well with citrus.

Mother Daughter Bento-ing

I introduced my 9 year old step daughter to Bento Boxes this weekend, and she was a little skeptical at first, until we started talking about different colored foods. Once she saw some of the pictures of the bento box lunches I have made, she was ready to make one herself. My step daughter's bento includes: heart shaped quiche (recipe here), edamame (she loves saying this word!), yellow and orange bell pepper slices, and a heart shaped onigiri rice ball inside of which we hid an edamame bean. We also added a heart cut out of orange soy paper on the top of the onigiri. In the lower compartment, she arranged mandarin oranges, cucumbers, and a steamed purple potato in the shape of a heart.

My bento lunch uses many of the same ingredients: steamed purple potato hearts, red bell pepper slices, cucubmer slices, heart shaped onigiri, and grapes in the upper compartment. In the lower compartment, I have edamame, a heart shaped quiche, steamed broccoli, and carrots. I tried to eat my bento lunch right before our broadcast today, but got totally sidetracked, so I guess it is now a late afternoon snack.

My daughter mapped out what she wanted in her bento box. I helped her respell the words she had trouble with. It's a great plan!