Not quite so fishy Bento

I've had some complaints that my bentos have been of the fishy variety this week so I decided to go for some pork.

I used some thin cut pork loin steak that I smashed the living daylight out of with my meat mallet. ;) Once it was thin enough I dipped it in some beaten egg and then into some breadcrumbs. Once I was satisfied with the coating I put it into the fridge for 10 - 15 minutes. After that it went into the frying pan on a medium heat until golden brown on both sides. The Japanese recipe I found for this told you to use your deep fryer but I am still to collect mine from my old landlady. To compliment this I went for some boiled rice and pickled red cabbage.

The fruit for tomorrow will be some pineapple chunks and the treat is some unnamed peanuts. ;)

Forgive him, Father, he knows not what he does ;)

I've been trying to educate my housemates in the noble art of cookery but it is not easy.

The picture below illustrates my housemate Arron's idea of a nice dinner. There's some improvments I guess. These days he adds water, and of the boiling variety to boot! ;)

Seafood salad with pickled vegetables

Another day, another bento...

The top tier will consist of a seafood salad with pickled vegetables. I started by using a Y-peeler to make ribbons of cucumber and carrot. I marinated/pickled those in rice vinegar. At the same time I sliced radishes quite thinly and cut crab sticks into smaller pieces. When the vegetables had marinated for about two hours I put them into a sieve and let them dry for a while. After that I mixed the vegetables with the radishes and crab stick pieces and added some mussels.

The lower tier has bite size pieces of salami and hot 'Mexican' cheese as well as a egg that has been marinated in tea and soy sauce.

The treat of the day (looks like it is) prawn flavored jumbo peanuts.

I've included a picture of my cable tie solution due to popular demand :)

In the pictures you can also see my groovy chopsticks with their transport case. A good find at Muji! ;)

Added Ingredients

I started my new job a week and half ago and today was the first day I took a stroll into the nearby town of Abingdon.

I might come to regret this because I found an awesome little shop called Added Ingredients. It seems to be a mix between a delicatessen, a cafe and a specialist cookshop.

The shop is quite small but they do stock some really nice stuff. The staff seemed very nice and friendly. If you happen to travel to/through Abingdon I do recommend a visit.

I can see myself wasting far too much money in there... ;)

Teaser: I'm soon posting a review of a restaurant where I had one of the best eating experiences for a very long time...

First try with one of my new bento boxes

This is tomorrows (Wednesday) lunch.

It consists of mackerel in spicy tomato sauce and rice with sushi spice on top. The lower tier consists of cucumber, radishes and a boiled egg. My treat for tomorrow will be a small bag of wasabi peas.

It should hopefully feed me tomorrow.

I managed to misplace the elastic band that I was going to use to keep the two tiers closed properly. But no need to worry, I used some cable ties instead ;)

It gets worse...

I somehow managed to end up at Japan Centre again yesterday. Not only that, I managed to buy even more stuff from them. I'll try and post some photos tonight when I get back from work.

I should not be allowed to travel to London two days in a row.... ;)

UPDATED! Now with photos ;) UPDATED!

Oh dear...

I think I might have overdone the shopping a bit today... ;)

As you can see from the pictures below I did find some cool stuff for my Bento making at Japan Centre.

Then I found quite a few strange and interesting cookbooks as I wandered around the bookshops in London.

Hopefully all this stuff will generate some cool Bentos for these pages.

There will be updates!

I'm sorry for the lack of updates recently but I'm kept busy at my new job.

However, there are updates in the pipeline. I got some grand plans for a shopping spree in London this coming weekend where I'll try to get hold of some authentic, some would say kinky, ingredients for Bento boxes etc.

Please be patient and you shall be rewarded. In one way or another. ;)

Stupid challenge

People who know me knows that I am very competitive and can't live down a challenge.

As if that wasn't enough I have now come up with my own challenge. Since I haven't trained or exercised properly since the mid/late 90's I thought it would be a good idea to partake in the Reading Half Marathon on the 2nd of March next year!?!?

To put more pressure on myself I've started to challenge some of my friends as well.

Posting it on my blog now will also add pressure on myself to actually start training for this event.

You might notice somewhat healthier recipes here in the near future, as well as the occasional update on my progress. If there is any progress...

Stupid me....

Bento - Part Deux

Yesterdays little experiment turned out just fine so I thought I'd give it another try.

Todays Bento consists of teriyaki marinated beef, fried vegetable rice and pickled beetroot.

For the rice I started with frying up some mushrooms, red onion, garlic, spring onions, red chili and ginger. In the meantime I boiled my rice and let it cool down. Once it was cool I turned up the heat on the pan and fried the rice together with the vegetables until it had turned a nice color.

The beef is marinated in teriyaki marinade, chilli sauce and some sesame seeds. Then I fried it until it turned nice and crispy.

Once again - let's hope it tastes ok! ;)