24.5.12

Hello Kitty Kyaraben (character bento)

My homemade Kyaraben (character bento) again. 
This is Hello Kitty 2D type version.

Face:goat cheese
Eyes and whiskers: Konbu seaweed
Nose: egg
Rice: fried rice of curry flavor
Decoration:  carrot
Others:  snacks from super market, cherry tomato, broccoli
Nori-omelet, lettuce, sausage

You can use daily ingredients from supermarkets in your neighborhood

22.5.12

Bowl of salmon, cabbage and rice with garlic soy sauce


"Donburi (丼)", or "don" is a Japanese "rice bowl dish" consisting of fish, meat, vegetables or other ingredients and served over rice. We have many kind of don and new don are generated day by day in Japan.
Today I introduce Sake to Kyabetsu no Ninniku Shoyu Don (鮭とキャベツのにんにく醤油丼, Bowl of salmon, cabbage and rice with garlic soy sauce). This dish became the talk of the cooking site in Japan.

1.Bake salmon and cabbage by sesame oil in a frying pan.
2.Place them on steamed rice.
3.Heat frying pan again, add sesame oil and sliced garlic, bake 2 to 4 minutes.
4.Pour this garlic sesame oil and Japanese soy sauce on a rice bowl.
Mayonnaise is an option if you like,

21.5.12

Okonomiyaki (Japanese pancake, or Japanese pizza)


Okonomiyaki (お好み焼き) is a Japanese savoury pancake. There are a variety of ingredients and toppings for Okonomiyaki. You can make Okonomiyaki if you can make a pancake. Brief recipe is as follows,

batter
- all purpose flour
- Konbu or Shimaya dashi soup stock
- eggs
- finely chopped cabbage,

sliced pork

toppings:
- ao-nori (dried seaweed powder)
- Japanese brown sauce
- mayonnaise
- katsuobushi (dried bonito flakes)
- beni-shoga (pickled red ginger)

Mix batter with finely chopped cabbage.
Heat a frying pan and add some oils in.
Pour the batter into the frying pan and place a slices of meat on it.
Bake for about 6 to 10 minutes.
Flip the okonomiyaki and cook until cooked through.
Place okonomiyaki on the plate and spread sauce on the top.
Sprinkle Aonori, katsuobushi and beni-shoga on it.
Serve with mayonnaise.

22.2.12

Megurine Luka Kyaraben (character bento)

Megurine Luka is the third vocaloid from Hatune Miku.
I made a Kyaraben of her.

hair: ham
face: cheese
blue part: white of egg, food colour
dress: konbu seaweed
decorations: yolk (yellow part of egg)
others: Nori seaweed

To be honest, using food color is not so good solution but it was hard to find "blue" of Luka.
Please remember. We'd better to use natural ingredients as much as possible.

About Vocaloid, refer wikipedia article.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocaloid

Kyaraben:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyaraben

14.2.12

Hatsune Miku Kyaraben (character bento)

I made Hatsune Miku Kyaraben (character bento) again.

Ingredients:
Hair: spinach omelet
Skin: young Gouda cheese (jong Gouda kaas)
Dress: Konbu seaweed
Tattoo: surimi
I got most ingredients from Albert Heijn, a typical Dutch super market.
Bento box is from Blokker, a typical Dutch shop.

About what Kyaraben is, refer quotations from wikipedia as follows.
Kyaraben or charaben (キャラ弁), a shortened form of character bento (キャラクター弁当 kyarakutā bentō), is a style of elaborately arranged bento which features food decorated to look like people, characters from anime or Tokusatsu, animals, and plants. Japanese homemakers often spend time devising their families' meals, including their boxed lunches. Originally, a decorated bento was intended to interest children in their food and to encourage a wider range of eating habits. It has now evolved to the point where national contests are held. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyaraben
Kyaraben of charaben is een verkorte vorm van karakter bentō. Het is een stijl die veel voor kinderen wordt gebruikt. Het eten lijkt op mensen, populaire tv-karakters (Pokémon bijvoorbeeld), dieren en planten. Deze stijl werd vroeger gebruikt om kinderen beter te laten eten, maar tegenwoordig zijn er grote wedstrijden in. http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bent%C5%8D

Kyaraben (character bento) workshop

Kyaraben, a shortened form of character bento, is a very popular bento style in Japan which features food decorated to look like Anime or Kawaii characters. At the workshop you learn how to make authentic Kyaraben and the result you can take home. More info http://tokyodoll.web.fc2.com/workshop/bentoworkshop.html