A Birthday Bento

My friend Amorette, who is a bento artist, made me a bento for my birthday.

A bento is a Japanese box lunch. These are sold in department stores, train stations, and by vendors who push carts up and down the aisles of the Bullet Train (Shinkansen) and other long-distance trains. (The vendors are too cute for words--they bow before leaving each train car, and apologize for having disturbed the passengers. They also wear white gloves.)

One of the best things about traveling in Japan is the boxed lunches. Different regions have specialty bento, and there is a bento that dates to World War II that is one red picked plum in the center of a bed of rice, and that's it. It resembles Japan's flag, the Hi no Maru. Think of it as the austerity bento.

The bento Amorette made for me is highly perishable, so I'm only feasting on it with my eyes. It wouldn't be safe to eat after shipping across the country. But I'm going to get her to make me another one if and when we ever meet face to face.

A question for the artist: What's the blue stuff? Is it ginger?

Thanks, Amorette. I love it.

Jeanne

Comments

[Amorette]

LOL! Ironically, umeboshi makes me gag. (umeboshi= the aforementioned pickled salty plum) Umeboshi onigiri (rice balls with the plums inside) are like a nasty surprise to me!

The "bottom blue" is homemade mashed potato, a drop of blue food color and a drop of black. I "chopped" in dabs of roasted yam to make reflections on the waves. (it looks better in person).

The "purple" is roasted Okinawan sweet potato, one of my personal favorites.

The "top blue" is more homemade mashed potato, marbled with a tiny bit of light blue food color. The seagulls are potato skin and the sun is steamed carrot.

The torii gate itself is red bell pepper.

A lot of people ask me about my use of food colorings (I also tend to color rice). It took a long time for me to come to terms with it...but really, if you read ingredients even in organic processed foods, you'll find food coloring in everything, in large doses. In comparison to that, a drop or two in rice isn't so very much. Obento portions tend to be tiny anyway.

I used potato extensively because I'm an admin for "Iron Bento", a group who does bento around a theme ingredient every week. This week's ingredient was potato, so I had a lot of potatoes on-hand! Gave my rice cooker a break for a week.

Happy birthday, Jeanne! Looking forward to making you a bento in-person someday.

[Amorette]

"makes"= "make"...wish I could go back and edit out my idiocy, lol

[jeanne]

I got the red bell pepper and the carrot, but sure couldn't figure out the blue mashed potatoes! I would eat them, no problem. It looks yummy. I like umeboshi also, though.

Amorette--would you put up the link to your bento slide show in a comment? I've been looking for it in my very crowded in-box, and can't seem to find it. Several of my friends want to see the whole gallery of bentos.

[Amorette]

Sure, no problem. Hope this link works...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kitsa_sakurako/sets/72157600857507834/show/