Panda Bento

Spotted a packet of pink/white somen yesterday, so I bought a pack to try for the boys' bentos today. But there was very little pink somen in the pack, so you can't really see it well. :(

The pandas I made today were copied from Mothering Corner's blog. She has a wonderful tutorial on how to make them. However, I do not have a small enough bear cutter, so I cut out the ears and face separately. I love her bunny too, will copy that another time. :)


This is for LT, in the bento are somen, nuggets, kamaboko, blueberries and strawberries. I made hot chicken and fishball soup for their somen, and kept it in a thermal container. It's not shown in pic, because I have to confess that I've not cooked the soup at the time of photo-taking. I only cooked the soup after sending LT off to School. :P


This is for IT, he's having the same stuff as above.


This is for IT's recess, in the bento are somen, blueberries, kamaboko and nuggets.


Somen, not with the usual dipping sauce, but with chinese style chicken/fishball soup.


I made chilled somen for myself, topped with kanimi and eaten dipped in sesame dressing. I've included recipe for the sesame dressing below, it is really fast and easy to make, and goes well with chilled ramen, soba and udon too. :)

SESAME DRESSING RECIPE

- 6 tbsp water
- 3 tbsp kinnogomadar (Japanese sesame sauce with roasted nuts)
- 1/2 tbsp sesame oil
- 3 tbsp Japanese rice vinegar
- 1/2 tsp brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tbsp shoyu
- 1 tsp grated ginger

Mix the ingredients for the sesame dressing in a bowl using a whisk or fork.