Tutorial Thursday Bento Uncle Samosa

Yesterday Mr Bear and I had an Indian home delivery for dinner. The portions were surprisingly big and there was quite a lot of left overs. There was a big samosa that we couldn't finish and so I decided to make a tutorial on how I bento-fy (is there even such a word?) something as challenging as a irregularly shaped Samosa.

Bento Uncle Samosa

Because the samosa does not really have a smooth surface and I was feeling lazy, I decided to put the decorations on the OUTSIDE instead of directly on the samosa.

What I did was to just wrap the samosa in saran wrap (aka glad wrap, food wrap). Next I fill up the rest of the space with cucumber and tomato. I didn't use any dividers in this bento because the saran wrap would already prevent the samosa from coming in direct contact with the cucumber and tomato. As a final touch I just use a marker to draw in the eyes on contruction paper and stick it on. Uncle Samosa's moustache is made from a brown piece of contruction paper, so I didn't have to do any colouring myself. hehe.

If there is stickers lying around in the house, it will be even easier. You just have to draw in the eyes and stick it on the saran wrap.

Hope you like this easy time-saving tutorial and have a good laugh at silly Uncle Samosa!

Tutorial Bento Time Saver Carrot Kinpira Meatfree

Today I will share with you how I make a bento space filler that also happens to be a bento time saver, my own Carrot Kinpira. Many people have asked me recently, how on earth do you find time to make all these bentos. Well, let's say that making bentos does take a bit of effort. BUT sometimes I do get lazy, that's why I have to devise ways and means to make things more efficient. hehehe!

Kinpira 金平, きんぴら is a japanese style of cooking that can be roughly translated as "sauté and simmer". This technique can be used with many different types of root vegetable, such as carrot, burdock and lotus root. Sometimes the kinpira technique is also used on other foods such as tofu, wheat gluten and also meats like chicken, pork and beef. So in a way, I guess you can also call it Japanese stir-fry.

Carrot Kinpira Bento Time saver and Bento Filler

Ingredients
Half a carrot (julienne into strips about the size of matchsticks)
1 tablespoon Sugar
1 tablespoon Mirin
1 tablespoon Soy sauce
1 teaspoon of sesame oil
Dash of ketchup (you'll be surprise what this can do)
Sesame seed (optional)


Here's what I usually do

Carrot Kinpira - Julienne carrot

Carrot Kinpira - heat the sesame oil

Heat the sesame oil in a frying pan for less than 1 minute over moderate fire. Take care that the temperature does not get too hot, else the sesame oil will burn a little and it will taste bitter.

Carrot Kinpira - Quick saute and simmer

Add in the carrot strips and quickly toss it around a few times to make sure that they get evenly coated with the sesame oil.

Add in the sugar and give it a quick toss. If you like you can wait a little for the sugar and the sugar to caramalize a little.

Next add in the mirin and toss. At this stage, I will also add in a dash of ketchup. You will be surprised that an American invention such as the ketchup has made its way to a normal japanese kitchen (think omurice and spagetti Napolitan). The reason why I like to use a bit of ketchup here is that the tartness (sour-ness) of the vinegar and the tomato puree in the ketchup actually gives another dimension to the otherwise just sweet taste of the dish and it makes the carrot look good too!

Finally, I add in the soy sauce. I always add soy sauce the last because overcooking soy sauce changes the chemical content and also the taste of the soy sauce. Give it a quick stir and sprinkle a few sesame seeds and you are done!

This carrot kinpira recipe gives me about 4 side portions. I portion them out and place them all in a couple of silicon cake molds. This can be stored in the refridgerator for a few days and it means that everytime I want to make a bento with it, I can just take whatever I need and place it in the bento immediately. This is also great on the days when I run out of bento ideas and makes a great bento space filler too. I hope you like this bento time saver tutorial the meatfree Carrot Kinpira.