Saturday, May 24, 2008

Wholesome Lunchbox : Onigiri with Katsuobushi Bentou

Not all kindergarten in Japan prepares lunch meal for the children. My youngest son's, "P", school is among those who requires moms to prepare meal for their children. Lunch box is called obentou (おべんとう) in Japanese. However, unlike any ordinary lunch box, bentou is usually prepared in such a way which makes look like a piece of rather than a regular lunch box. So I learn the trick from the bentou books which are widely sold in any bookstore in Japan.


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Bentou for kids usually do not contain any sweets. The school encourages mom to prepare bentou from fresh materials. Onigiri bentou is the most popular one. It is a rice ball which is can be mixed with fish, egg, konbu, or katsuobushi, and wrapped with nori. Nori is seaweed, which is a must companion for onigiri. Katsuobushi is Japanese name for dried and smoked tuna.


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Katsuobushi (鰹節 or かつおぶし?) is the Japanese name for a preparation of dried, fermented, and smoked skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis, sometimes referred to as bonito). Katsuobushi and kombu (a type of kelp) are the main ingredients of dashi, a broth that forms the basis of many soups (such as miso soup) and sauces (e.g., soba no tsukejiru) in Japanese cuisine.
Source : Wikipedia


Kombu or konbu (Japanese: 昆布 IPA: [kombɯ]), also called dashima (Korean: 다시마 dasima), or haidai (traditional Chinese: 海帶; simplified Chinese: 海带; pinyin: Hǎidài), are edible kelp from the genus Laminaria widely eaten in East Asia.
Over 90 percent of Japanese kombu is cultivated, and most is harvested, in Hokkaidō. It is cultivated as far south as the Seto Inland Sea.

Source : Wikipedia



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Today, I make onigiri with katsuobushi, chicken katsu, egg roll with kani, grape, cherry tomatoes and cucumber.

You can make katsuobushi onigiri by yourself. First, mix a bowl of rice with a little bit of salt. Put small amount of katsuobushi and mixed with the rice. Then put them into the onigiri template. You can buy the template from any local japanese store. This bento idea is my entry for Wholesome Lunchbox, hosted by Margot - Coffe and Vanilla.

26 comments:

Ira Rodrigues said...

i do Love making bento too! hygienic-healthy-fun-showing off to another and proud that ever have the best bento specially made by lovely mom like you!

lovely presentations els!

sefa firdaus said...

cantik bentonya.. warna-warninya cerah banget

aku mau loh Els dibikin bento juga *mupeng*

Elsye said...

to ira : kekeke thanks ra....:D *i'm blushing now :P*

to sefa : kapan dong loe maen kesini tar gue bikinin..wakakkakak

sefa firdaus said...

kapan yaaaa... kalo ada uang mah sekarang juga gue packing deh Els, hihihihi

janji loh nanti gue dibikinin bento cantik kayak gitu *berdoa*

Rita said...

cantik ya...jadi mau juga..ga nolak kalau dibikin juga...*komat-kamit baca doa berharap*

Coffee and Vanilla said...

Beautiful and colourful lunchbox, thank you for your entry :)

Coffee and Vanilla said...

... and thank you for such a informative post... I learned something new today :) Thank you!

Unknown said...

that bentou looks sooooo colorful and yummy.

Anonymous said...

Elsye, emang kalau di Jepan yg namanya bento sangat populer yah. gw juga suka banget liatnya.
Temen gw pulkam singgah di jepan sebentar, dia bilang kalap liat peralatan bento.

Kalau disini bento gk terlalu populer apalagi kalau buat anak laki. kecian bisa2 diketawain ama temen2nya. reseh yee.

Elsye said...

to sefa : qiqiqi gue tunggu fa, sebelum gue kabur dari jepun..:P

to rita : sama kayak sefa tak tunggu disini rit...LOL

to margot : you're most welcome margot :D..thanks for dropping by and nice comment :D

to mindy : heheheh....:D...thankss mindy...:D

to dwi : wah disini gur tiap hari bikin bentou Dwi...pernak perniknya juga banyak banget ditoko..:D..

temen lo pasti kalap hahahah, gue aja kalap yang udah disini, cuma harganya lumayan mahal say, gue cari waktu sale aja...wakakkaka....

Elsye said...

iya ya disana ga terlalu populer..disini mah wajib b ow..sampe orang kantoran juga suka bawa bentou, cakep2 lagi hiasannya...qiqiqiqi...

duhh kacian amat kalo digodain gitu..

Anonymous said...

Elsye, bentonya simple and cakep amat....! asik yach di Japan banyak bento pernak-pernik...saya lagi di Singapore, liat Daiso sini, kalap deh! :) abis lucu2....

Anonymous said...

bener Sye, bentomu cantik banget. rajin sekali ya ibu2 disana bikin bentonya. aku memang bikin lunch box utk anak, tapi gak secantik & selengkap itu :D

mae said...

Duh enak ya disana byk buku2 ttg bento, kyaknya ga mungkin bs punya deh, hiks :(

Mbak Elsye kapan pulkam ? (maksudnyaaa.... ????)
Hak..hak..hak.. :D

Lydia said...

colourful... looks nice!
it reminds me of those days I had to prepare obentou for my hb.
btw, can I link you to my blog?

Anonymous said...

Els...

bentonya cakep amat..Aku mah kalau bikinin suami ala kadarnya doang...hehehhe

Retno Prihadana said...

Gimana nggak bikin selera makan nambah, wong bentonya cantiiik banget :)

Elsye said...

to manyaro : thankss ! :D...iya pasti kalap deh liat perlengkapan bentou..hihihihi

to eliza : hehehe..thankss mbak :D..soalnya disini ibu2 pada kreatif bikin bentou, jadi aku suka rada minder nih :D

to mae : kayaknya di indo juga ada kok mae...cari aja di toko buku jepang, pasti ada..:D, duh aku ga tau pulang kapan..qiqiqiiq

to lidya : thankss lidya..:D

to ienas : hihihihi...soale ini buat anak2, kalo buat suami sih aku juga males..wakakakka...

to mbak retno : thanks mbak..:D..

Finla said...

I came across you blog through Retno Prihadana's blog.
You havve a really wonderful selection of recipes.
I am glad i found you.

Lina W. said...

Kereeen banget Elsye...., coba ya kalo aku rajin begini...

Judith said...

Sye, cantiiiik banget bentonya! mengundang selera euy. Aku bikin begitu kali 5 untuk 5 anak, jadinya aku puyeng 5 keliling! Hwoaa...

Happy cooking Elsye ^_^ ...

Elsye said...

to happy cook : thanks !! :D and thanks for stopping by :D

to mbak lina : hihihi soale buat anakku...:P

to mbak judith : hahahah bener juga ya kalo 5 kali 5 bentou pusing juga...:P

Yeni Yulinda said...

say,gile itu bento bikin lapar gw dah,hehhhehee...

Elsye said...

hihihi...bikin dong sayyy..:P

Nilmandra said...

What a lovely lunch! The kani eggrolls look really pretty, I got to try that for my bento lunches.

Elsye said...

Thankss Nilamdra :D..

The kani eggroll is easy to make and fit for lunchbox :D