Toddler Bento (28 April): Tofu Chicken Nugget 

• Rice with soysauce seasoned dried bonito
• Chicken nugget
• Potato, bacon, carrot, zucchini butter saute  

Usually chicken nugget involves chicken breast. This time, I used thigh saved from previous dinner, chicken and cashew nuts stir fry with oyster sauce.

Adding tofu makes the nugget very soft.

Chicken nugget recipe:

http://www.instructables.com/id/Chick-nugget/

The recipe of Chicken and cashew nuts stir fry with oyster sauce will be introduced soon.

Ingredients

• Chicken thigh
• Tofu
• Onion
• Mushroom
• Salt 
• Paprika Powder  

Directions 

1. Blend all the ingredients until smooth.

2. Place in a cling film to spread into 1cm thin. Alternatively if not making heart shape, just make bite sized pieces then cook them immediately.

3. Keep the batter in freezer to shape. I used heart shaped mould this time.

4. Dust both sides of nugget with corn flour. Heat up the pan with oil and fry the both sides over medium temperature. Then turn the heat small and cover with a lid. Leave it for 3-4 mints to cook.  

5. Top ketchup to serve.

Timte to prepare: 20 mints

Baby Bento Archive (22-24 April) and recipe

22 April

• Rice with soysauce seasoned dried bonito and seaweed paper
• Teriyaki salmon with grilled mayonnaise
• Tofu with corn, shiitake and spring onion, miso sauce
• Avocado

23 April

• Curry and salmon stir fried rice
• sausage, carrot, peas, cauliflower satue with butter
• avocado and cucumber miso-mayo
• Sugar coated popped rice

Ingredients

The teriyaki salmon (top left in foil) and rice are the leftover from previous dinner 

Direction

Rice, salmon, chopped spring onion and tomato are stirfried with 1 table spoonful of curry sauce.

Diced avocado and cucumber are dressed with mayonnaise and miso.

24 April 

• Rice with dried sour plum leaves
• Ginger pork with carrot and parsley 
• Hash potato with sea weed
• Avocado with soy-mayo sauce

Baby Bento Recipe (16 April), Baby Finger Food: Grilled Rice Balls

This is the baby version of "Yakionigiri" (grilled rice balls) introduced:

http://japanesegourmet.blogspot.co.uk/2012/08/grilled-rice-ball-yaki-onigiri-saturday.html

Just making the rice balls in baby bite sized, becomes a good baby finger food.

Using a cling film is easy way to shape the balls. 

One piece is one teaspoonful amount of cooked rice (sticky Japanese rice).

Yummy and fun to play with.

Time to prepare: 15 mints

Baby Bento Recipe (11 April): Bolognese rice with white sauce toasted with cheese and broccoli

I used bolognese sauce and ketchup for rice. 

The combination of creamy white sauce and tomato rice topped with crispy cheese is delicious. 

Ingredients and Direction of white sauce

• 15g of butter (unsalted)
• 1 tablespoon of plain flour
• 200-250cc of milk
• a pinch of salt

1. Heat a small flying pan and melt the butter then add flour over middle-small heat. 

2. Keep mixing till the batter becomes smooth.

3. Once the batter is done, turn the heat off and let it cool down.

4. While cooling down the batter, prepare the rice. I added one tablespoon of bolognese sauce and 1/2 teaspoon of ketchup into 200cc rice.

5. Add the milk bit by bit to dissolve the batter over small heat. Keep mixing the batter to avoid forming lumps.

6. Once it gets smooth and rich, add salt.

7. Fill the rice in a baking tray (I made the bento sized cup with a baking sheet) and pour the white sauce. Top with cheese and chopped broccoli flower or parsley and then grill it over 200C for 5-7 mints.

Time to prepare: 25 mints

Baby Bento Recipe (8 April): Bihon and potato and cheese bun 

I slept over and had only15 minutes to prepare bento this morning.

Luckily potato and cheese bun with carrot and spinach (Right) was made previous night. 
The recipe was introduced here:
http://japanesegourmet.blogspot.co.uk/2014_02_01_archive.html


I opened the fridge and found chopped veggies (carrot, shiitake and spring onion), egg, minced beed seasoned with soy sauce and sugar. Even didn't have rice to stir fry. So I boiled water and soaked some amount of rice noodles (bihon) with it for 1 mint.

1. Stir fry the beaten egg. once it is done, set it aside.

2. Add the rest of contents to stir fry. Season the bihon with 1/4 teaspoon of soy sauce, oyster sauce and mirin. Add the egg and mix well to serve. Instead for the seasoned meat, thinly sliced polk or any meat will go with this recipe. Just Fry it with other veggies.

Time to prepare: 10 mints

Baby Bento Recipe (7 April): Tofu with egg and Potato Gratin 

Potato gratin was made at previous dinner preparation. 

Cook the sliced potato in microwave for 1-2 mints and place them into a baking cup, add milk, panko (bread crumble) and parmesan cheese. 

Grill in the oven at 200C for 7-10 mints.

As always, potato gratin is the essential side for our steak.
http://japanesegourmet.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/steak-date-sirloin-steak-tomato-salad.html

Tofu with egg recipe

This recipe is based on miso bean curd and is involving more veggies and set with an egg.

http://japanesegourmet.blogspot.co.uk/2012/07/miso-bean-curd-with-beef-peas-rice.html

1. Cook the carrot in a microwave safe container for 30 seconds. Chop shiitake, carrot and spring into small pieces.

2. Fry the veggies and 1/2 tablespoon of minced beef. I used soboro, soy and sugar seasoned minced beef this time. 

3. Add 1/4 teaspoon of soy sauce and miso as well as 1 teaspoon of mirin and 1 tablespoon of water. Once the contents boiled, add tofu and 1/4 teaspoon of sesame oil  and cook over small heat for 2 mints.

4. Add 1/2 portion of beaten egg and cover with a lid immediately. Then turn the heat off.

Timte to prepare for each dish: 10-15 mints

Baby Bento Archive (14-17 April)

14 April

• Rice with sour plum
• Potato gratin
• Veggie saute with butter and soy sauce (carrot, spinach, corn, tomato)
• Cucumber

15 April

• Panda Rice
• Karaage (Japanese style fried chicken)
• Potato, carrot and beans saute with miso+mayonnaise

16 April

• Grilled rice balls
• Ginger pork
• Spinach, shiitake mushroom and halloumi saute
• Carrot cake

17 April

• Fried rice with egg, pork, spring onion and beans
• Grilled veggies (Carrot, potato, broccoli) with mayonnaise and miso
• Grilled babanas with caramel

Baby Bento Archive 

My daughter is getting 12 months old. She got a big appetite. It is hard but fun to make bento for her every morning. I do not spend longer than 30 mints to prepare it. I use leftover of previous diner as well as ready made sauce.

3 April

Stir fried rice (egg, bacon, spring onion, shiitake mushroom, soy sauce)
Pork meat balls (Pork, onion, Shiitake mushroom, carrot, tofu, tomato)
Potato salad (potato, carrot, broccoli, maiyonaisse)
Avocado with mayonaiise and soy sauce

4 April

• Salmon and avocado rice rolls (rice, avocado, teriyaki salmon of leftover, seaweed paper)
• Cucumber
• Hush potato with sea weed
• Tofu with miso pork (spring onion, carrot, miso, pork, mirin)

7 April

• Panda rice (Rice and seaweed black paper)
• Tofu with egg (Tofu, egg, carrot, spring onion, shiitake mushroom, soy sauce, mirin)
• Potato gratin (Potato, milk, panko, parmesan cheese)
• Carrot cake

8 April

• Stir fried rice noodles (Rice noodle, egg, spring onion, pork, carrot, mushroom, tomato)
• Potato bun (Potato, spinach, carrot, cheese, potato flour)

9 April

• Salmon rice rolls (Rice, teriyaki salmon, black paper)
• Hush potato
• spinach and carrot butter saute
• Banana

10 April

• Rice with sour plum
• Spaghetti and spinach saute with curry (ready made) 
• Miso seasoned yam potato (leftover from previous day's miso soup contents)  toasted with cheese

11 April

• Bolognese rice with white sauce toasted with cheese and broccoli (ready made bolognese sauce is used)
• Spinach, carrot, corn and sausage saute with mayonnaise and oyster sauce
• Grilled apple with custard 

Some recipes will be introduced....