Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Three おべんとう obento lunches


Obento 1 (for こどものひ Children's Day). Imitation crab, rice, carrots, rasberries, grapes, broccoli

Obento 2. Hotdog, onigiri with nori and furikake, carrots, rasberries

Obento 3. Family Obento: Coldcut sandwiches, apple slices, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, carrots

Monday, July 15, 2013

First day of Japanese Summer Camp


It's the first day of Japanese summer camp here in Michigan, and both my six-year-old daughter and three-year-old daughter are old enough to go this year. It's a full-immersion environment, so I am eager to see how my youngest one enjoys it and makes friends.

Of course, I wanted to make them a cute obento (お弁当) for their first day. This is plain rice (ごはん) with nori (のり) "waves," fish-shaped omelet (たまごやき), broccoli (ブロッコリ), clementines (みかん), and grapes (ぶどう). A typical kids' lunch in Japan with five colors. Healthy and easy to make ... IF you have a rice cooker. I used a food coloring marker for the fish eyes and smile, which I'm sure will bleed and look terrible by lunch time. It's better to use a hole punch and nori to make little details.

I buy the obento boxes (お弁当ばこ) from www.jlist.org. They have a great selection of boxes, much better than our local Japanese store, and good prices as well. The heart one is here, but I can't find the other one anymore. Since the items are shipped from Japan, you do have to pay international shipping, but it's not that bad.