Rainbow Rolls and Other Treats

A couple of recent food purchases.The rainbow rolls below contain avocado and cream cheese among other ingredients.














This lunchbox contains a small green salad on the left hand side.On the right are some spicy chicken knuckles while above these are three salmon rolls containing cream cheese and lettuce.

Friday Flash...Yet more food photos

A typical lower end bento thats available year round.In the top left is a black mass of pickled eggplant and is surprisngly tasty.

















The photos above and below show some handmade sweets.Of the two I found the apple ones had a more appealing taste than the bitter lemons.

















The final shot is of a bento available over the New Years break.At the bottom you can see shredded salmon pieces on rice.The centre contains a small portion of chicken and a crunchy shrimp together with a baby potato and a small slab of omelette by way of contrast.

Buying Bentos

It seems to be getting harder and harder these days to find a reasonable bento or lunch box around the 500yen mark.Instead of increasing the price,some shops opt not to fill one of the sections or partitions in the boxes.Or they choose to use cheaper ingredients and provide less in each section.Either way I find it discouraging to buy a half empty box or one that wasnt as generously filled as before.
My only choice then is to spend a little extra in the hope I can be satisfied.The lunchbox above was in the 600-700 yen price range.
In the top middle section one can find a few shrimps while directly below are some spicy chicken pieces.To the right of these chicken nibbles are two small Chinese like dumplings filled with minced beef and vegetables.Two small offerings of rice help to bulk out the box.
What it lacked in quantity it made up for in variety and to my mind was reasonable value for money.

Friday Flash...Bento

A more expensive bento from a chain of lunchbox shops in a local supermarket.
Top left are a couple of potato croquettes.Below the croquettes are two slices of meat atop small helpings of potato salad.
Bottom right are three chicken nuggets complete with lump of cream cheese sitting on a bed of lettuce.
The original asking price was 780 yen but was reduced later in the day to 680 yen.

Friday Flash..Tuna Bento and Green Tea Cake

Thick slices of tuna sitting on a small finger like portion of rice.The tuna is adorned with mayonnaise and chopped spring onions.










A slice of green tea flavoured sponge cake.On the top left is a green tea meringue biscuit which is quite chewy.The biscuit and the dollops of cream sit on a green tea cream like filling.Wedged between the green tea cream layers is a thick green tea flavoured sponge which provides some stability to the whole structure.
The green tea flavour is quite smooth and mild compared to other green tea products such as chocolate that Ive tasted.

Friday Flash...UpMarket Bentos

Having received my first full monthly salary since September after the demise of Nova Corp,I decided to celebrate.I purchased these two lunchboxes from a shop in the Mitsukoshi Department Store basement foodcourt.The one above contains potato and ham salad and a small serving of coconut and mandarin dessert.The six sushi rolls include a variety of fish,seafood and cream cheese.










This second bento is also colourful and has a number of different tastes and textures.
Under the fried lotus root rings in the centre of the lunchbox there are three medallions of meat surrounded by a spicy Chinese vegetable salad.At the back in the purple patty pan there is a mouthful size offering of seaweed and mushrooms.In the foreground,the crimson-reddish patty pan contains some pickled vegetables.
While a little more expensive than their supermarket equivalents I feel its worth it in terms of the presentation,care and attention that distinguishes them from their run of the mill counterparts.

Friday Flash..More Bentos

I spent the best part of Friday morning at the local city tax office trying to explain that I havent received a full salary since August and wont be getting another till mid January.Yet I still found myself having to pay a late penalty despite my pleading for some kind of waiver or compassion.
Anyway to cheer myself up I visited the basement of Mitsukoshi Department Store in Sakae,Central Nagoya.
The bowels of the Mitsukoshi Building(which may not be the most apt adjective) contain a huge food court.Fresh produce and vegetable stalls are jammed up against other small counters serving a virtual myriad of foods and sweets.
Not only can you see fresh bentos being made up as you watch,dazzled by the rainbow of colours and ingredients on display but one can also purchase many different types of confectionery such as cakes,cream rolls,pastry,traditional sweets...the list is endless
The bento above contains all sorts of beans and things to nibble on.Theres a small portion of hamburger meat next to a small serving of spicy tomato sauce containing chick peas.The yellow patty cup in the centre contains some shiny mushy black beans.
The whole bento is very eye-catching,moderately priced given its contents and quite filling.







I was also attracted to the small pack above which was sold at another busy stall on the basement floor.
These four rolls contain a wedge of avocado,crab and a small slice of cream cheese surounded by rice.Obviously the avocado and cream cheese are not traditionally found in such rolls but their colour,taste and texture make them suitable companions for the crab and orange roe.An agreeable and adventurous snack.

Friday Flash..Some recent Bentos Ive eaten..

Having enjoyed the recently rare pleasure of actually being paid for my labours I expanded my spartan diet to include the bentos or Japanese lunchboxes Ive photographed below.The first bento has a mixture of rice and various meat servings including a small saveloy or red hotdog together with a less than tradtional dollop of mustard and tomato sauce.










This second more traditional bento below illustrates what for me are important factors when considering bentos...the colour and presentation.It is very attractive with a variety of autumnal colours.The egg yellow omelette(top left),compliments the orange pumpkin in the mid foreground while being separated by the diagonally arranged rice servings.There are also a variety of tastes and textures included in this offering.Crunchy carrots.Fibrous mushrooms.Smooth tofu.Pickled ginger.












While this third and last bento is less visually compelling than the vegetarian offering above it still contains assorted tastes and different servings.Top left there are bite size offerings of fish while bottom right there are shrimps marinated in a spicy chilli sauce.Also offered in this bento are vegetables and egg omelette decorated with a couple of mushrooms as a garnish.

Obon and The Eel Days of Summer

Obon is the annual Buddhist event held to remember ones ancestors.Its celebrated from the 13th to the 15th of August so we are right in the middle of it as I blog this.
In a nutshell or more appropriately an urn, it is believed that each year during Obon ones ancestors spirits return to visit their relatives.Why they return during the hottest time of the year remains a mystery to me.
Obon is one of the three major Japanese holiday seasons,the others being New Years and Golden Week in May.
Basically its become a week long family break from work where people return to their hometowns and visit and clean their ancestors graves.

If you watch the news or read the papers its also the time where almost lemming-like, families choke the roads to major holiday destinations.Bumper to bumper traffic for 60 odd kilometres on expressways and interchanges isnt uncommon.
There is both an increase in domestic and international travel.Accomodation rates double while marine accidents such as drowning triple in numbers.
The number of heat related cases and heatstroke deaths also increases as mid August temperatures soar around the country following the end of the rainy season.
One way of fending off the heat and maintaining ones energy levels is to partake of eel which is said to fight off summer lethargy.Ive put an example of an eel bento or lunchbox above which is very popular at this time of year.

Doyou No Ushi No Hi..Eel Day

Today,Monday 30th July marked Doyou No Ushi No Hi or National Eel Day.Based on the lunar calendar "doyou" is an 18 day period before the change in seasons.Thus there is a doyou prior to the start of winter,spring,summer and fall.
Since the Edo period eel has been seen as a cure for natsubate or summer lethargy. (see below for more regarding natsubate).
Eel which is rich in vitamins A and B1 is thought to restore and provide energy during the dog days of a Japanese summer.
Different areas have different ways of preparing and serving eel.Unagi or eel is usually served atop a bed of rice in a ceramic bowl and is known as unadon.When served in a squarish,lacquered box similiar to those used at New Years the dish is known as unaju.As well as unagi, three other kinds of eel are regularly eaten in different parts of Japan; anago,hamo and dojo.
In the Nagoya area however it appears that unagi is the most popular and there are apparently a number of unagi restaurants in the region.

Friday Flash..Nagoya Summer Sumo Tournament

I went along to the thirteenth day of the Nagoya Grand Sumo Tournament held in the Nagoya Prefectural Gym adjacent to Nagoya Castle.
I had the above bento mid-morning as I'd woken up late and skipped breakfast.
The bento came in a bag which contained the two polystrene boxes above.
The left hand box contains various vegetables and pickled food as well as a huge prawn lurking on the bottom of the box.The right hand box contains rice on which is shredded egg,a small piece of eel which I almost choked on,pink ginger and orange salmon roe.All of which add flavour to the somewhat overcooked and otherwise bland rice.Not really a bargain at 1500 yen,more a part of the ritual of going to the sumo.
As for the sumo itself,well that can wait till Monday.

Friday Flash..Cheap Snack

Too hot and tired to cook or indulge in the fast food of the Kentucky Fried Chicken outlet that spews out its fatty fumes daily from 7:30am to 11pm at the foot of my apartment building I happened upon this lunchbox at a local supermarket.Seems a relative bargain at 298yen.Certainly more colorful and nutritious than the oil saturated offerings five floors below.
Thirty odd degrees celsius today and very humid with omninous clouds building up.Theres a likelihood of a brief respite from the sticky weather if it rains.Though its only passing relief as the temperature and humidity rise to evaporate the puddles from the spent shower clouds.

LunchBox Snack

A small bento or lunchbox from the local Daiei supermarket.As well as being colourful I liked the polystyrene container with its cane basket like pattern.If you look carefully the small red saveloy has small zig zag cuts in it so someone took time to assemble and make the bento.

Soba Bento

Similiar to the lunchbox I put on here last week this bento features soba as one of its main ingredients.Once again the bento contains various packets of sauces and garnishes to add flavour.

Friday Flash...

Fine clear weather for the first of June.I ate this bento from the corner store in the sunshine.In the left section you can find(left to right) meguro or tuna atop a finger of rice and a dash of wasabi.Nestled in the middle is tai or snapper (white flesh and kind of rubbery) and on the end ebi or shrimp.The middle section contains various sachets and garnishes to mix with the sushi rolls and soba noddles which occupy the right hand side of the bento.The blackish sachet in the centre contains a watery vingeary sauce which you drizzle over the noddles.Sitting on the noddles as a garnish are radish like sprouts.Eating the cold noddles is refreshing on such a warm day.

Friday Flash....Food Photos

I bought this bento in London near the Embankment tube station on my vacation last month.The shop belonged to a chain called Wasabi.The website helpfully printed on the paper bag is www.wasabi.uk.com if you are interested.Price wise it worked out similiar to what I`d pay here in Nagoya.There was a good selection of lunchboxes on the shelves including some non strictly Japanese fare such as California type rolls sporting avocado filling.From my brief sojourn in London it seems Japanese food is popular if the number of chains is any indication.










There seems to have been a rash of different kinds of KitKats available recently.The upmarket brandy and orange kitkat is a little more expensive than the other two recent additions to the range.The kitkat which proclaims to contain 72% cocoa is definitely more bitter than its 61% counterpart which I found milder and more to my taste.Im not sure what the marketing strategy is but I wouldnt be buying the higher cocoa containing chocolate again.













Haagen Dazs have also been busy.I noticed two new flavours in a newly designed 110ml container.The tiramisu and creme brulee flavours cost a little more than the usual red tubs.












Finally I spotted these mini lemon flavoured KitKats in a convenience store on Wednesday.The lemon smell is quite strong once you open the bag.I found them a little too sweet being reared on lemon acid drops.A colleague thought they smelt and tasted like the citrus lozenges you see in mens urinals but I cant vouch for that...

Spring has Sprung

As well as cherry blossoms a number of other trees and shrubs put in an appearance this time of year.
Above is a star magnolia or shidekobushi.This is one of several species of magnolia that grow in Japan.Apparently it can grow up to four metres tall.It has either white or pink flowers.Each flower has twelve or more petals on the end of leafless branches.















Above is a mass produced bento or lunchbox available at a convenience store adjacent to Tsurumai Park,one of the big cherry blossom party sites in Nagoya.The shops were doing a roaring trade in food and beer when I bought my bento.

Japanese Bentos

A couple of bentos I recently sampled.The first below is from a supermarket in Tokoname City on the way to Centrair International Airport.It contains roasted chicken on a bed of rice. Also included are small containers of seaweed and ginger on the left.












The second lunchbox below contains crabmeat and salty fish eggs.On the right bottom are two sticks of green,white and pink sticky rice mochi balls.Top left is a small wrapped egg parcel which has rice inside it and tied together with a grass-like herb.

Hina Matsuri Crab Meat Bento

Another colorful Hina Matsuri lunchbox from my local bento shop.The orange fish eggs nicely complement the pink and white crab meat in the middle of the bento.On the right are a variety of vegetables and the odd mushroom.Its all sitting on a bed of rice so the bento is quite filling as well as being eye-catching.

Friday Flash...Hina Matsuri Bento

I bought this colourful offering from my local bento shop.Its a special Hina Matsuri or Hina Doll festival bento.
Green,pink and white feature prominently.From the broccoli to the shrimps and white bed of rice on which the ingredients lie.
The yellow circle in the middle which features the figures of a boy and girl is made of egg.Like the rest of the dish its really edible.
Finally in passing if you want to check other bentos enter the word "bento" and hopefully eight or so Ive put up should appear.
Alternatively Ive got some bentos on my flickr page..just click on the Flickr badge on my front page.