bento practice

The appropriate bento is made to the standard 4-3-2-1.  Four parts rice, three parts vegetable, two parts protein, and one part treat (so I have read).  Tonight, I started what I hope to be a very happy relationship with my tiny kitchen:

Yes, that's it.  Well, really, there's counter space behind that counter, and I have racks for my dishes above it, but this is the most useful 3x3 spot in my apartment (the countertop).  I'm not sure why exactly, but I feel cramped everytime I'm in here.  There's got to be some better way for me to arrange everything (everything being my racks for dishes and my shelving thing in the corner) to make me like my kitchen more.  Maybe it just needs more love (and by love I of course mean kitsch).

Anyway, obento was made tonight, for tomorrow's lunch.

I followed rice cooking instructions on the back of the botan bag and made PERFECT rice, a feat among feats for me, as the "delicacy" of slightly burnt rice on the bottom of the pan is my specialty.  I let the rice cool while I did more interesting things (practice kanji), and then made a little bowl of water with rice wine vinegar. I dipped my hands in this (each time) and pat a little salt on them.  The salt pig made this very very easy, take that French-Asian cuisine.  I formed nigiri, and then cut strips of nori and wet them a little bit with the vinegar water for glue.  6 small onigiri= 4 parts rice.

I heated a little sesame oil in the rice pan (because there wasn't any rice burnt on!) and threw in frozen peas.  Once the peas had defrosted, I threw in sliced onion and a chopped clove of garlic, and fried until everything started looking glossy.  I then added two sliced up mushrooms and scrambled an egg with soy, to be added when the mushrooms started wilting.  THEN!  I chopped up the egg (and vegetables) with my super cool asian spatula, and set the pan on the back burner while I googled how to make a paper gift box, which is pictured inside my cheapo fake tupperware (soon I will afford a proper bento box).

Onion, garlic, peas, mushroom = 3 parts vegetable

Mushroom, egg (okay I cheated with the multipurpose mushroom) = 2 part protein

Treat will probably be super fruit frozy bar from campus store tomorrow.  I hope the fake tupperware holds up in my bag and somehow preserves all this until lunch.

Yay bento!  

I hope to get better at this, and not have to force myself to make lunches jsut to utilize my kitchen.