Bento Box お弁当

1. Miso Marinated Salmon 味噌サーモン (miso sāmon)

Ingredients:

• 2 salmon fillets

• 3 tbsp miso

• 2 tbsp sake

• 2 tbsp mirin

• 1 tbsp sugar

Instructions:

1. Create marinade and marinate fish - mix miso, sake, mirin and sugar, combine marinade and salmon in a container or sealable bag and store in fridge for at least 30 minutes to overnight

2. Cook salmon - wipe off marinade from salmon (it will burn!) then cook salmon on medium heat until nice grilled color and cook on both sides

3. Serve it up - plate and enjoy with warm bowl of rice

4. Enjoy!

2. Japanese Rolled Omelette だし巻き卵 (dashi tamago)

Ingredients:

• 3 large eggs

• 3 tbsp dashi

• 2 tsp sugar

• 1 tsp soy sauce

• 1 tsp mirin

• a pinch of salt

• 3 sticks kanikama (imitation crab meat)

• 1 stalk green onion

Instructions:

1. Make dashi eggs - whisk up eggs, combine dashi, sugar, soy sauce, mirin, salt, shreds of kanikama and chopped green onion

2. Cook rolled omelette - heat pan over medium-low heat, dip paper towel in oil and coat pan, pour thin layer of egg mixture, once egg starts to set, roll into a log shape, then repeat process, lifting the log to spread mixture underneath as well, until all the mixture is used

3. Serve it up - slice omelette log into half-inch pieces and serve on a plate

4. Enjoy!

3. Boiled Okra オクラ (okura)

Ingredients:

• 5 pieces okra

• 1 tsp soy sauce

• roasted seaweed (for garnish, optional)

• sesame seeds (for garnish, optional)

• katsuobushi (for garnish, optional)

Instructions:

1. Boil okra - boil water, add some salt, add in okra and boil for ~8 minutes

2. Serve it up - season with soy sauce, and garnish with seaweed pieces, sesame seeds, and/or katsuobushi

3. Enjoy!

4. Sausage Octopus タコのウィンナー (tako no uinnā)

Ingredients:

• Japanese sausage

Instructions:

1. Prepare sausage - sausage should be ~3 inches, cut into ~3 inch pieces, then make 4 cuts to make four legs (around half the sausage)

2. Cook sausage - in a pan, add some oil and pan fry the sausage until cooked

3. Serve it up - can add nori or anything else for eyes/mouth decoration

4. Enjoy!

5. Pickled cucumber きゅうりの漬物 (kyuuri no tsukemono)

Ingredients:

• persian/japanese cucumbers

• 1 dried red chili pepper

• 1 knob ginger

• 1 tsp salt

• 4 tbsp soy sauce

• 2 tbsp rice vinegar

• 2 tbsp sugar

Instructions:

1. Make soy sauce mixture - combine soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sugar in saucepan, bring to boil over medium heat, mix until sugar is dissolved, then let cool

2. Prepare ingredients - slice cucumber into quarter-inch slices, sprinkle with salt and let sit for 15 minutes (then rinse with water and dry), remove seeds to chili pepper and cut into thin slices, cut ginger into julienned pieces

3. Combine to make pickles - place cucumbers, ginger and chili pepper in mason jar, fill with soy sauce mixture, store in fridge for at least 3 hours

4. Serve it up - serve on a side plate or on a bed of rice

5. Enjoy!

6. Japanese Mixed Rice 五目ご飯 (gomoku gohan)

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup julienned carrot

• 1/2 cup gobo (burdock root)

• 1/2 konnyaku

• 1/2 pack shimeji mushroom

• 1/2 canned tuna or salmon (tuna used here)

• 1 cup dashi

• 1/2 tbsp soy sauce

• 1/2 tbsp mirin

• 1 rice cup of short-grained rice

Instructions:

1. Prepare dashi & ingredients - prepare 1 cup of dashi, cut carrot, konnyaku, shimeji mushroom, break canned tuna into pieces, wash rice

2. Soften vegetables & ingredients - boil the carrot, gobo, konnyaku, shimeji mushroom in the dashi broth to soften, and add in tuna

3. Prepare & cook rice - add soy sauce and mirin to rice and mix, then add in dashi + ingredients from previous step on top (do not mix with rice on bottom), add more water if necessary to reach designated line on rice cooker

4. Serve it up - once rice is cooked, fluff it up and mix it up

5. Enjoy!