Korean Stew / Buns

This was one of those mornings that I almost ran out of time preparing the bentos. Big fat rush steaming the stuff up and packing them. All right, I admit I wasn't functioning on full capacity and was being a bit of a sloth.

Takoyaki had leftover stew (with both doenjang and kimchi, it was kind of weird but still very tasty).

The boys brought pork buns.

Natto again

So Takoyaki came home yesterday to discover that the boys had natto and she wanted HER turn today. Ok lah, I give lah, as long as I have. And Mouse was just too happy to get it again with his rice.

Takoyaki brought some leftover Mille-Feuille Nabe in her thermal jar. This is something we love, that is in our regular rotation of soups/stews for dinner. It takes a little time to prep, but the steps are really easy. And leftovers are always fought over the next day!

Sardine Corn Don + Herbal Chicken Soup

What a fancy name when all you have to do is scatter the toppings on top of the rice.

Gosh! I am SO sick of corn, but it's all the Mouse wants, plus it does come in a big packet.

So guess what's sitting on top of Takoyaki's rice as a garnish...

That's right! Just to use the packet up, haha!

BTW, that there's a new cutlery set I found during our recent vacation to Taiwan. I had actually been keeping an eye out for cutlery sets with fabric covers, given that bento culture is much more prevalent there, and boy was I pleased to find this! Of course I bought 2 sets, was there a need to ask?

Last Bento of 2016!

I am looking forward to taking a goooooood loooooong break these upcoming holidays because once school begins next year, Mouse will be in Primary School and with his food allergies (and most of all, knowing his shy nature), I have good reason to believe I have to bento EVERYDAY.

Kimchi-jjigae for Takoyaki. Poor Sec 3 girl has extra lessons during her end of year holidays, so they can get started on next year's topics.

Macaroni Bolognaise

For Takoyaki, who loves pasta in meat sauce, and is willing to bring a (heavy) food jar despite her heavy bag. Bless her heart and stomach.

The Only Common Thing is Rice

Welcome back to another episode of Same Day, Different Bentos...

On top we have Takoyaki's bento which is simply a repeat of Soegogi-guk (Beef and Radish Soup). The girl loves this so much even I am a little taken aback.

And for the fussypot who doesn't like the soup (why are my children such extreme opposites), I had to fry some rice for him. Since I had to drag the wok out anyway, I went (what I consider the whole hog) and made one of his favourite ones - Shrimp Paste Fried Rice with chicken cubes. 

One thing about these Zebra bowls is, I can't do much fancy presentation in them, or at least I don't have the kungfu yet. Maybe I'll go work on this after PSLE, which begins next week *shudder*

Chicken Macaroni Soup

This is possibly one of the favourite comfort foods of Singaporeans. We eat it when we are unwell (thanks to loving mothers), when we are craving a filling hot chicken soup, when the weather is cold and rainy, and when we don't know what else to cook.

I am thankful to have at least one child who, despite carrying a heavy school bag, is still willing and happy to bring hot soup to school on cold days such as today. The other one... I don't know why he doesn't want to bring.

Under the chicken and 菜心 (caixin) are large macaroni elbows, while in the sauce cup is some sambal belacan, which girl loves (like me) to dip her chicken into.

Soegogi-guk

The new food item is actually that unimportant-looking jar of soup. It's a lovely beef radish soup I learnt from Maangchi.com, pronounced "swe-go-gi-gook".

The rice is topped with soy sauce omelette and vegetables. So filling.

Chicken Spaghetti Bolognaise

... deconstructed.

Girl reported that this was awesome. Guess pasta sauce from a jar is still fine once in a while...

Kimchi Stew is back again!

This has been a very rainy year - May, June, July have all been wet and cloudy months. Takoyaki has often asked me for hot soup/stews to bring to school. And I'm more than happy to oblige if we have it the night before for dinner.

Mille Feuille Nabe

I learnt to make this dish from JustOneCookbook (click for link to recipe). It's quite fun to make, requires some work but nothing elaborate, and cooks up within 15 min. And it looks awesome!

I've made this two times, and this time I was even able to fill two Dutch ovens with what I had (one and a half large napa cabbage + 2 trays of belly sukiyaki). Our family of five polished off the first pot within 15 min so the other pot had to be put on to cook.

Thankfully, we had some left over for RM to bring to school the next day. Hmm... if I recall this right, this is the first time he's bringing hot soup to school. He's always resisted bringing a food jar, no idea why. But he couldn't resist the mille feuille nabe d:)

Baked Cajun Chicken Rice + Winter Melon Soup

Delicious, juicy chicken thighs, baked the same way as my Roast Chicken, deboned. Hot steamed rice tossed with the chicken drippings. Crunchy vegetables to add some freshness to the meal. And hot, stewed soup to warm the palette and moisten the mouth... Aaahhh... my kind of meal. Takoyaki's lunch.

And here's the no-soup version for RM.

Mee Sua Tng (Rice Vermicelli Soup)

Takoyaki is super thrilled to bring this today, cos this is absolutely one of her favourite foods of all time. Especially topped with crispy, crunchy, slightly sweet anchovies contributed by her Ah Ma... summer weather or rainy weather, she will always accept this. I bet she'd even eat this in the desert.

A traditional dish my family loves, method courtesy of my mum, who is a Teochew. The mee sua tng that my Hokkien MIL makes is very different, and involves frying lots of ginger in lots of sesame oil. We like that too, but I don't know how to cook it. This method is healthier but no less yummy.

Nabe (Japanese Hotpot) On The Go

This was packed right before everybody was seated for dinner last night. It was really nice to get the bentoing settled early.

What's in it:

Chuka kurage (jellyfish)

Shabu-shabu pork slices

Enoki mushrooms

Choy sum (菜心) vegetables

Rice

What's not shown:

A steaming hot jar of the soup, packed this morning.

Everyday Bento Week Day Two - Japanese Curry

Other than my having to wake up at 5.45am just to heat the curry and pour it in, today's bento was easy peasy.

The meat this time is pork shoulder/collar, which stands up to slow braising (1.5hrs). Cooked with carrots and potatoes. Yum.

Happy Sweet 15th birthday to Takoyaki!

She brought kimchi soup and rice to school this morning, but she didn't know what was coming.

I'd planned a surprise birthday celebration in school for her, and colluded (haha) with her best friend to get her clique to the canteen to celebrate together.

I baked her a Devil's Food Chocolate Cake with water ganache icing. This was my first time using a water ganache and I think the result turned out better than the cream ganaches I've made in the past. The recipe is from David Lebovitz. The "Eat Me" was written with a little melted white chocolate I had left over. Girl loves the Alice in Wonderland movie (starring JD).

Chicken Breast Spaghetti Two Ways

Chicken Breasts were baked the day before specifically for use in bentos and also for my breakfast today. Ave chicken breast!

Aglio Olio for Roast Meat

Bolognaise for Takoyaki

Herbal Chicken Rice Bento

It's turning out to be thermal week for Takoyaki, who enjoys having some hot soupy or saucy meal (she's really very afraid of cold, unlike me) when she has a long recess period at school. Seems the queues are super long on combined recess days, so she's glad to be able to just sit down and start wolfing food down while her friends are queueing up to buy food d:P

This Herbal Chicken is not Chicken Soup, which comes with lots of... soup. This is a chicken double-boiled or steamed with only the chicken's juices and some Shaoxing wine so it's really thick and flavourful.

When I first started cooking Herbal Chicken, I bought a packet of spices usually called Emperor Chicken Spices 帝皇鸡. But these packets of spices (across the brands) all contain MSG, and I always felt rather guilty using them for my family. After all, it's home-cooked food so there really should be as few additives as possible, right?

Then one day my Chinese cuisine sifu (master) served up her own version of Herbal Chicken and told me that that delicious dish was NOT made with those spice packets. Instead, she used commonly found herb packets for herbal chicken soup, except instead of following the instructions and using enough water to cover the chicken, she only added a little bit of water and wine to achieve the same result as the double-boiled dish. And to my conundrum, there the solution was.

Recipe for Herbal Chicken 药材鸡

Ingredients:

One whole chicken about 1.3-1.5kg (I always buy Sakura)

Two packets of 炖鸡汤料 dun ji tang liao (Stewed Herbal Chicken Soup), whichever brand you like

Extra goji berries (optional)

Half to one cup of Shaoxing wine

Half cup water

Half teaspoon salt

Method:

Wash the chicken well, pat dry if you wish (I don't) and rub all over with salt.

Place chicken feet and neck (if you like them) in bottom of Dutch oven big enough to hold chicken with some extra space.

Place chicken on top of feet and neck. The makeshift "rack" made up of feet and neck help prevent the chicken from sticking to the pot and potentially burning.

Rinse all the herbs (it says so on the packet - Wash before using), drain well and scatter all over the chook. Stuff a few inside the cavity. Add extra goji berries if you have them and like them.

Pour water and wine over, put the lid on and cook on low heat. 

Set timer for one hour.

After one hour, remove the lid and gently poke the chicken meat with a fork. It should be almost falling off the bone or at least, shred very easily. If not, replace lid and cook an extra 15 min.

Serve hot with rice.

台湾卤肉饭 Taiwanese Braised Pork Rice Bento

We love this once in a while and there are always leftovers because I cook a huge pot. Takoyaki is a huge supporter of this. And of course it must always include a braised hardboiled egg.

SHG Chicken Bento

SHG stands for Soy Sauce, Honey, Garlic (didn't know what else to name it, haha). One of our regular favourites and definitely always in bulk so there are planned-overs for bento (and my lunch) the next day.

First up is Takoyaki's bento which includes Fish Maw Soup in a thermal food jar.

Then we have Roast Meat's which is missing the soup (cos he doesn't want the extra weight, the lazy bum).

I had wanted to add some cucumber to add some green and crunchy fibre, but unfortunately, we'd just run out.