Hello Kitty Tea-Sandwiches

I was actually going to make a video for this one but I've been too busy working on a paper for next month. All you need for the great shapes is the bottom of a Hello Kitty egg mold (which I got online from Japan). Once you have that, everything else is a breeze, even though I obviously got the bows facing the wrong way.

Ingredients List:
1 tbl Hummus (spread 3/4 in the middle of each sandwich and the rest on the top)
2 Slices of Whole Wheat Bread
Baby Spinach Leaves or Other Small Fillings (for the sandwich)
2 Slices Mozzarella-Style Tofutti
1 Slice Orange Cheddar Tofutti
1 Small Patch of Nori
1 Small Patch of Red Pepper and Kamaboko
Cucumber Slices for decorating

Use your egg mold bottom to cut out the slices of bread first (side by side in Whole Wheat Bread) and then carefully spread some of the hummus on. Set it aside, add two small pieces of folded spinach and repeat with the other slice of bread.  You should get two HK pieces from each. Sandwich a naked bottom to a hummus-topped one and spread the rest of the hummus gently on top (not too much). Cut out your white cheese with the egg mold and carefully place it on top. Cut out your bows (make sure they'll face the right way) by cutting out one largish heart and a smaller heart, plus a little dot to connect them. Place them on the right side of HK's head and then cut out your nori with a very small hole punch. Add the eyes and then cut out six whiskers for each, using either tweezers or a bamboo skewer to adjust them. Add the nose with a lightly pinched straw (to give it that oval shape) and add cucumbers for decoration.

This dish is perfect for those with small children or for those who have a small appetite. I really hope that you'll enjoy this. Make sure to leave a comment to tell me how I'm doing! Enjoy!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3

Nacho Cheese Pretzels

I had planned on making some seitan bacon but I couldn't find a certain ingredient, meaning that the garbanzo flour I was going to make would be rendered useless. Instead, I made it into a creamy and nacho-cheesy filling for my delicious pretzels.

(Pretzel Dough Ingredients)

• 4 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
• About 1 and 3/4 cup Water
• 2 and 1/4 tsp Rapid-Rise Yeast
• 2 tsp Sea Salt + Coarse Salt for topping
• 1 tbl Vegan Sugar

(Cooking Water Ingredients)

• 10 Cups Cold Water
• 2/3 Cup Baking Soda

(Cheesy Filling Ingredients)

• 2 tbl Minced Red Pepper
• 1/2-1 tsp Chili Seasoning
• 1/4 Cup Nutritional Yeast
• 1/4 Cup Cooked Garbanzo Beans
• Salt to taste (if necessary)

(Directions)

• Pretzel Dough: Mix the water, sugar and yeast together and let them sit for about five minutes while you mix the flour and salt together in a separate bowl.
• Build a well in the salt mixture, pour in the water and mix it well.
• Knead the mixture for about 10 minutes or until it turns into a smooth elastic ball and place into a greased bowl. Cover it with plastic wrap and let it sit for about an hour in a warm place.


• Cheesy Filling: Puree the ingredients together and set them aside.


• Split your dough into equal pieces and then roll them out thinly with your hands, then take a rolling pin to roll the dough thinly.
• Spoon some of the cheesy mixture onto the middle of the dough (being careful to stay in the middle) and pinch the sides to reform it.
• Roll it out into a thin rope and make it into a pretzel (or whatever you want) shape. Set aside and put onto a rolled baking sheet. Let each rest for about 15 minutes.
• Preheat oven at 450 degrees.
• Bring your cooking water to a boil.
• Boil each pretzel for about 30 seconds and place back onto the baking sheet.
• Spread the coarse salt liberally to the pretzels and bake at 450 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until golden brown on top.
• Enjoy!

Sci-Fighters Themed Bento

Using my favorite character, Skip, from one of my favorite games on newgrounds, I decided to come up with a bento. Also - the game is made by one of my favorite groups, The-Super-Flash-Bros. Obviously this isn't the healthiest of bentos (or the most awesome) but I'm just experimenting right now so this won't be a total constant. I used the vegan kamaboko as well as the vegan egg sheets - aren't I awesome?

Sci-Fighters Ingredient List:
1 Green "Egg" Sheet (oval)
1 smaller Soy Sauce "Egg Sheet" (also oval)
3 small pieces of "Kamaboko"
1 Large Radish (cut into long fourths for the antenna and eyes)
Nori
Cheddar-Style Tofutti
Turmeric + Water (around the edges)
Spinach (underneath the egg sheets)
Sticky Rice


Enjoy!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3

Happy Birthday Cupcakes

These are even better than my fudge brownies - especially if you love mocha! The icing is some sort of caramel flavoring (as suggested per the birthday girl) and there are little chocolate chips through the cupcakes.

(Vegan Mocha Cupcake Ingredients)

• 2 Cups of Sifted Cake Flour
• 1 Cup Vegan Granulated Sugar
• 1/2 Cup of Cocoa Powder
• 2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1-2 tsp Baking powder
• 1 Cup of Vegan Buttermilk
• 5 tbl Strong-Brewed Coffee
• 1/2 cup Veggie Oil (1/4 Coconut, 1/4 regular)
• Vegan Dark Chocolate Chips (dusted in flour)

(Vegan Buttercream Ingredients)

• 2 tbl Non-Dairy Caramel Creamer
• 5-8 tbl of Coconut Oil or preferred Vegan Alternative
• 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
• 3 Drops of Preferred Blue Dye (India Tree is best)
• 1-2 Cups of Powdered Sugar

(Directions)

• For the Vegan Mocha Cupcake: Preheat oven to 375 degrees.Sift the dry ingredients together and add in the buttermilk and coffee. Mix well.
• Add in the veggie oil and stir, then once fully incorporated you can add the chocolate chips.
• Fill the oiled cupcake tins 3/4 of the way and bake at 375 degrees for about 25-30 minutes or until the middle is clean (after poking with a knife).
• Let them cool and prep your buttercream.
• For the Vegan Buttercream: Cream the coconut oil/alternative until just before fluffy and add in the liquid and powdered sugar.
• Cream and add in the blue dye and more powdered sugar until your liking.
• Place about three tablespoons of buttercream onto each cupcake and spread into a beautiful rose shape.
• Cool in the fridge until ready to eat and enjoy!

Vegan Kamaboko Exists

I've gotten some great suggestions for vegan kamaboko and decided to make this as firm as possible without it being like a rock. I used extra-firm tofu so that the vegan kamaboko wouldn't just be vegetarian jello and then I added exra beet juice after I fully blended the water together with it.

(Vegan Kamaboko Ingredients)

• Beet Juice for Color (you'll add it throughout)
• 1 Cup of Cold Water
• 1 and 1/2 tbl Agar Agar (soaked for 5 min. in 3 tbl of water)
• 1 tsp Sugar
• 1 tbl Mirin
• 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
• 1/3 Package of Extra-Firm Tofu

(Directions)

• Put the cold water in a medium-sized saucepan and add in enough beet juice for a dark pink color.
• Place the agar and the rest of the ingredients, except for the tofu in and boil it until it starts to firm up.
• Press your tofu until mostly dry.
• Crumble tofu into a large blender. Add in all of the agar and then liquefy until it is all a light pink color.
• Add in some extra beet juice to darken it even more and mix once more.
• Place into your preferred mold and let it sit for five minutes outside of the fridge, place into the fridge for about 15 more minutes or so until firm.
• Enjoy!

Ice Cream For The Birthday Girl!

Tomorrow is my sister's birthday so I decided to put in some of her favorite things for lunch today. She loves strawberries and she especially loves peanut butter with sriracha. It seems odd but it does work in small amounts - but all that matters is what she likes. I used my egg mold and the same "egg" recipe as usual to make Hello Kitty and then I pasted on the crust of the sandwich onto it with tahini.

Bento Ingredients:

Tahini

Frozen Strawberries

Vegan Hello Kitty Egg

White Chocolate Peanut Butter (from Peanut Butter & Co)

Sriracha

Spinach

Nori

Whole Wheat Whole Grain Bread

Happy birthday sis and enjoy!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3

Here Doggy Doggy!

This isn't a bento but it can be easily modified to be placed into a cupcake tin for a bento. It's a vegan egg from this recipe with sriracha and plenty of veggies on the bottom. The trick is to fill about 3/4 of the holder with vegetables and just to allow enough brown rice to cover a bit of the bottom of the "egg". I used the cheap (clean) egg used for pantyhose to make this so that I didn't have to cut anything in half. Then I added some sticky rice mixed with soy sauce around the edge to make it softer and more of a mound shape. Then I added some sliced spinach and spring onion. It looks kind of like something from the Yum-Yum Bento Box by Crystal Watanabe and Maki Ogawa doesn't it?
Obviously not as cute - but it's a first and unique try.
Dog Bento Ingredients:
Soy Sauce
Vegan Egg + Yolk
Nori
Sriracha
Spinach
Spring Onion
Brown Rice
Sticky Rice
Your choice of vegetables

Construct as you like and enjoy!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3

Anais Snack To Eat

Get it? A nice snack to eat? I just wanted to show you what you can do with the second batch of vegan Sakura denbu. It was just a mixture of sticky rice, extra beet juice, a bit of water and extra sea salt for the head. Cook the rice with the liquid and once it's fully cooked then you can add the salt and denbu. Shape it and add on some banana, radish slices and nori and you're done! 

Enjoy!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3

Paul and Percy Bento

If you haven't checked out the game on Newgrounds yet - this is a must. In the bento it's technically just Paul (or Percy?) and Carl because my first brown rice onigiri fell apart and it would take up too much space. I also wanted to dye Carl's radish wings but I didn't have any red cabbage to dye it with. What do you think?

Paul and Percy Bento Ingredients:
Soy Cheese
Nori
Lightlife Hot Dog
Cucumber
White Button Mushrooms
Spinach
Parsley
Brown Rice (with 1 tbl Soy Sauce, 1 tbl Beet Juice and 3/4 tbl Paprika)

Enjoy the game and the bento! I plan on experimenting more with treats based on this game.

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3

Vegan Sakura Denbu Part 2

I had been planning to do this for a while now since my other sakura denbu wasn't dry or flaky enough. I wondered what I could use - the answer was coconut! I had two bags of coconut flakes, one that was sweetened and the other was unsweetened and untouched other than being dehydrated. I couldn't find the later and so I went for the sweetened.

(2nd Vegan Sakura Denbu Recipe)

• 1/4 cup Coconut Flakes (Unsweetened would probably be best)
• 1/4 tsp Sea Salt
• 1/2 tsp Mirin
• 1/2 tsp Beet Juice

(Directions)

• Combine all of the ingredients together in order and place through a food processor until it all turns into small flaky bits.
• Place the mixture into a cheesecloth and tie it very tightly.
• Once that is done- begin to wring out any liquid as best as you can. If it's not dry enough for you, you can dot across the "denbu" once you open up your cheesecloth.
• Use in your favorite bento mixture.
• Enjoy!

Sugar-Free Chocolate Daifuku

Rushed perfection (aka - sorry for the blur)

Normally I'll only eat mochi if it has sauce with it (in the case of dango) but in my attempt at another Ghibli treat I discovered something absolutely delicious. It was a combination of chocolate, strawberry and marshmallow (flavor and texture). It only takes a few minutes to prepare and it's absolutely delicious!

Chocolate Daifuku Recipe:
1 and 1/2 Cups Mochiko
1/4 Cup Cocoa Powder
1/4-1/2 Cup Agave Nectar
1/4 Cup of Cold Water (plus more for boiling)
1/8 tsp Sea Salt

Mix the ingredients together with your hands until they become firm but still easily moldable. Wrap a piece onto one your cleaned strawberries and make sure that none of the fruit is poking out. Take a piece of cheesecloth and wrap it around the daifuku, making sure that it is in an upright purse position. Tye it with twine and begin to boil a small amount of water (enough to bobble in). Cook them for about 5 minutes on medium heat and then turn the heat up to high at the last 30 seconds or so. Remove them from the water and let them cool until you can touch the cloth, unwrap and then enjoy!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3

Princess Mononoke Bento

I wanted to make this bento very simple as my bentos are (mostly) already natural. I used some leftover black bean chili that I had for last night's dinner and a bit of white rice with some vegetables (I also had a seperate veggie platter). The "H" is made out of a nori and it stands for both Hime (princess) and Hayao Miyazaki. The recipe is a bit different than what I did because I just mixed corn meal (sub rice flour) with chili.

Black Bean Burger Recipe:
1/4 cup of Cooked Black Beans + Juice
1 Jumbo Garlic Clove (minced and cooked)
1/4 Small Onion (minced and cooked)
1/2 Green Bell Pepper (minced)
Cumin, pepper, salt and chili powder to taste
Cornstarch or other thickener mixed + water (depending on your allergies)
Corn Meal or Rice flour (enough to make a paste)

Mix the ingredients together until they create a paste and then lightly oil or spray your cooking pan. Place the mixture in the pan and then cover it with a top until the bottom has cooked, flip it and then repeat until it has cooked to your liking. Add it on top of rice colored with chlorophyll and brocolli then create your kodama onigiri.

Enjoy!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3

The Ghibli Bits (It's Snack Time, Princess!)



The tree bark/jerky scene between Ashitaka and Princess Mononoke

I love seeing food in cartoons as most people do. And I absolutely love recreating the food so it looks and sounds as it does in the cartoons. Sometimes it isn't easy and requires a lot of time and sometimes it can come out within a few minutes after drawing up the idea. In this case it was just combining ingredients that I already had.

Jerky Recipe:
Soft Tofu (I only had three medium-thin slices)
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
3 tbl Agave Nectar
2 tbl Olive Oil (from Sun-Dried Tomatoes)
1 and 1/2 tsp Black Pepper
A few tbl of Paprika (enough to coat it and change the color)
Red Pepper Flakes (optional)

Combine all of the ingredients after you've pressed your tofu and place on a baking sheet. I used my toaster oven and cooked these for about 15 minutes or so in a toaster oven. Afterwards, simply turn on the toaster oven to toast (if you're using one) and bake it for about 10 more minutes until it is darkened to your liking.

Enjoy this and the Ghibli-bits to come!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3

How To Make A (Vegan) Egg Sheet


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Four tofu sheets and one Lightlife Smartdog 

I mentioned this in my Adventure Time Sushi post but I decided to make a whole tutorial on it. Here is what you will need -

Tofu Sheet Recipe:
1/4-1/2 Block of Tofu (soft - not silken works best)
1/2-1 tbl Cornstarch
1/2-1 tbl Liquid Food Dye (I used chlorophyll for this example)
1/4 tsp Iodized Salt
A few teaspoons of Flavor-less Oil (to coat the bottom but not to make it oily)

Tools List:
1 Rubber Spatula (for lifting the sheet)
1 Rubber Spatula (used for mixing)
1 Food Processor
1 Medium-sized Pan (that heats well)
1 Lid for the pan (preferably clear)

Slurry for the Pig Face

Step 1. Mix your liquid food dye with the cornstarch. Put the liquid in a ramekin or cup first and then add your cornstarch. Stir it into a slurry and set aside.






Step 2. Break up your tofu but don't squeeze it out. Simply place it in a food processor and sprinkle with a bit of salt. Pour your slurry over it but just remember that the end result will be a much lighter color than what you started with. Get as much of the liquid onto the tofu and then puree it. There might be some color around the rim that hasn't been fully incorporated so you will need a small rubber spatula to mix it thoroughly. It should look like this -

Step 3. Oil your pan lightly and set it on the eye but don't light the fire yet. Spread your tofu around as smoothly as possible and if you have a large and round Wilton cutter then you can try to use it as your mold and guide. Just try to spread it as thinly and evenly as possible without having any holes. Place the lid on top of the pan and then set the heating level on low. Wait until it starts to steam and sputter a bit and then you can remove the top. Let that cook for a few minutes until the top has firmed completely. It won't be completely round, but if you want it to be you can take a smaller plastic top (as in from a crock pot) and place it in the middle while it is still steaming. Once the edges firm up you can remove it carefully and then cut it more easily from the ridges. If you're making the crown like I did, then you have to use water in place of the dye and add a bit of turmeric. Carefully scrape along the ridges with the bigger spatula, being careful with the center. Place it onto a plate and repeat the process until you have as many different egg sheet colors as you want.

Spreading the paste

Before cooking

Finished sheet

Enjoy!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3

Lunch With Totoro

I planned on making a bigger bento but forgot to buy a few things so I just stuck to some of the key characters and parts from "My Neighbor Totoro". Since I normally see Totoro made with black sesame seeds I decided instead to use cocoa powder and soy sauce (it tastes like coffee) to create a rather tasty Totoro. Next it was a vegan Chu Totoro egg. What? A vegan egg that isn't tofu? Yes, ladies and gentlemen - it's true. But first we have to get through the rest of the bowl. I made a catbus head out of couscous and store-bought hummus that was absolutely delicious, wrapped it up in plastic and stashed it in the fridge to keep it fresh. Next I added a nice English cucumber that you normally see in oi sun or Japanese pickles. I added radishes to symbolize the seeds and carrots for stability and a s a filler. As another filler and a double-agent I also used cauliflower for clouds. Nori and cheese made up the rest of the Totoros and then you're done.

I peered through two recipes for the vegan egg but ended up with my own combination. Because I didn't have soy creamer like most of the recipes required I ended up with an off-white egg instead. Still cute though, right?

Shin's Vegan Egg Recipe:

1 tbl Agar Agar

1/2 cup Soymilk

2 tbl All-Purpose Flour

2 tbl Cold Water

A pinch of Salt

Let the agar agar mix with the water for about 5-10 minutes and start to boil your soymilk with the flour, once that is done you can add the agar mixture and cook it for about 2-3 minutes. Whisk it together a few times and strain it into your choice of mold. I didn't have any actual egg molds that were shaped like eggs so I decided to use some of those 30 cent "eggs" used to hold pantyhose. After snapping on the tops and making sure that they didn't move, I stashed them in the fridge for about 2-3 hours and made my own Chu Totoro as per AnnaTheRed's instructions here, subbing soy cheese for the kamaboko and the whole egg for the agar mixture.



Other Recipes Links:
First Egg Recipe (that I found)
Second Egg Recipe (that I found)

Enjoy!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3

Sushi Time

Okay, I've been going a little crazy with tofu lately - I know. But there are so many things that you can do with it especially with the fatfree vegan recipe that I just used in my breakfast bento. I found that when you start the tofu omelette off in a cold pan and keep the lid on until the top solidifies - it's very similar to egg sheets used for kyaraben. They didn't turn out as smooth as normal egg sheets but I think that was because I didn't use silken tofu.

Finn's Face:
1/2 block of Tofu (of your choice)
1/2 tbl Tahini
1 tbl Cornstarch
1 tbl Beet Juice
1/4-1/2 tsp Paprika
1/2 tsp Iodized Salt

Jake's Face:
1/2 block of Tofu (of your choice)
1 tbl Cornstarch
1 tbl Water
1/4 cup of Nutritional Yeast
1/2 tsp Turmeric (I didn't have this)
1/2 tsp Iodized Salt

For Jake's face I had actually only used a fourth of a package of tofu, so if you follow the recipe exactly you may need to split it up into two batches. After you oil your medium-sized non-stick pan, spread in your tofu mixture and make it as round as possible and as smooth and even on top as possible. Turn on the heat and quickly put on a (hopefully clear) lid on top. Check it every so often and once the top solidifies, turn off the heat and remove the lid and use a rubber spatula to carefully scrape around the sides. Turn it upside down on a plate until it cools then pat it down once corrected.

Cut out and place on top of sushi rice and decorate with nori, soy cheese, carrots and sriracha as you like.

Enjoy!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3

A Day In The Garden Kyaraben

This was a simple bento full of fresh fruit that I ate for breakfast but it's perfect at any time! I used more lightlife sausage in this one and combined it with some cracked red pepper and agave nectar. I covered the cheeks with some sriracha and cut out some nori for the facial features. To top it off I made a sweet potato pancake hat and some chocolate potato hair. Tasty, right?

Pancake Recipe:
"It's Pancake Time" recipe + Mashed Sweet Potato (for the hat)
Pancake Recipe + Cocoa Powder


Prepare them the same way but make sure that they're like regular pancakes, flatten them a bit more if you can, cut in half and make one with an edge for the brim of the hat. Attach them to some a sausage ball of your choice (that had been coated with panko) with some raw soba or rice noodles. Cut out the nori and cheese and dot on the sauce.

Next, make your omelette (I used beet juice instead of soymilk) per the directions of the fatfree vegan recipe (not mine) located here.

Line the bottom of the box with some spinach and put in your favorite fruits and vegetables. If you like, you can attach a small strawberry or a slice of a banana to the pancake hat to make a cute little flower.

Enjoy!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3

Susuwatari Meatballs

Sorry that I didn't post this yesterday but happy late 4th of July for those who celebrate it! Last night's dish was another straight from Hayao Miyazaki's cookbook (okay, I made that up). Ever see spaghetti that had dark marks on it? Yeah, that's the soot sprites. I told them to try to clean up their mess this time though since it was a holiday and all.

(Ingredients)

• Lightlife Gimme Lean Sausage Style
• Pepper, Cracked Red Pepper, Garlic Powder, Rosemary, Oregano and Basil to taste
• Organic Red and Orange Peppers
• Olive Oil (to cook the meatballs)
• Soy Cheese
• Nori
• Spaghetti  + Sauce

(Directions)

• Fold the spices into about half of the package of veggie sausage
• Shape into balls. If it gets sticky you can use some water on your hands to prevent it.
• Fry them in olive oil to your liking and drain them on a paper towel while you cut out your cheese eyes, nori, and peppers in the shape of stars. .
• Cook your spaghetti and sauce.
• Arrange them as you like once finished.
• Enjoy!

A Bento For Mom

This is just one of the bentos that I made for my mom, cute isn't it? I'm so glad that I'm getting better and just wanted to show off my skills (and my love). Why not do the same or show your love with something a little different like Bento4Japan?

Ingredient List:

Brocolli

Radish

Spinach

Tofu + Beet Juice (for words)

Sticky Rice

Soy Cheese + Soy Sauce

Nori

Sriracha

Kale, Avocado and Sweet Pepper Salad

Enjoy!

Signed,

<3 Bou Shin <3