Batman V Superman Bento

Sorry for the lack of updates again. It's the exam season and revisions with my boys is giving me a headache, lol. At the end of every day, I rather surf the net and do some online shopping, rather than to think of what to update the blog with. I do still have tutorials waiting to be updated, but that will be for another day when I'm feeling more hardworking, I shall just blog a short post today.


The two bentos I'm sharing today is inspired by the movie, Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice. This is not the first time I'm making Batman and Superman, have made them a few times before throughout my bento journey. I do however, like these two current versions the best so far.


Superman was made from rice, coloured with some ketchup. For the rest of the details, I used red bell peppers, fishcake(coloured blue using butterfly/blue pea flower), cheese, nori and ham.


Batman is easier to make and uses less ingredients. To make Batman, I used rice(coloured using ketchup), cheese, nori and ham.


It would have been nice to place both bentos together for a photograph, but unfortunately, I made them on different days, so it was not possible to do so.

Descendants of the Sun Bento

Have you been chasing the Korean drama, Descendants of the Sun (DOTS) for the past two months too? Sorry, if you are not, you probably won't understand what I'm rambling about in this post, lol. I've been addicted to DOTS for the past two months, I usually wait for the drama to be near the end before I start watching, so that I can be spared the agony of waiting for new episodes every week. However, I really like the two leads, Song Joong-Ki and Song Hye-Kyo, and I felt this story would be good, so I started watching from episode 1. I like Song Joong-Ki, and also Yoo Ah-In since SungKyunKwan Scandal, but sadly, I don't really like their subsequent dramas, so I never did finished watching those. As for Song Hye-Kyo, I like her since Autumn in my Heart, the very first Korean drama I watched and I always think she is the prettiest Korean actress.


Captain Yoo Shi-jin aka Big Boss bento, the soldier Song Joong Ki played in the drama. I was craving for korean fried chicken so I cooked some that day, just apt for this Korean drama bento, lol.


I edited the eyebrows here, the unedited version can be viewed on my Instagram. After completing the bento, I thought the eyebrows were not suitable and wanted to change it. LT asked me to help him with his work at that moment and I totally forgot about changing the eyebrows after I was done with helping him. *slaps forehead* Hiaz, since I have no intention of remaking this again, I decided to just edit the eyebrows for this post.


This version has the two leads in plush form. These two plush appears in DOTS too. They are from Bonicrew and can be purchase in soldier uniform, just like in the drama.


I really enjoyed DOTS, I think it's my favourite drama so far, although I know some people watched and still can't comprehend what the hype is all about, my hubby is one of them. -_- There are flaws here and there, but the leads played their roles so well, I guess I overlooked all those. I think the best parts of DOTS were all in Urk, the last 4 episodes could have been better written, especially so since it's pre-produced, I don't know why the writers don't develop some parts in those last few episodes better so it makes more sense. But never mind, the happy ending makes up for it, lol.


This last one was taken from a photo of the two leads after their Hong Kong press conference, when they were doing the fist bump. I made this breakfast for myself, not the boys. The boys were still at school while I was eating this.


There were so many cute moments between these two leads during the Hong Kong press conference, as compared to the Korean one, where they were so stiff and proper. They have so much chemistry and look so good together, I hope they date for real, though I think they most probably already are in secret. :)

Sleeping Rilakkuma Bento

Exams are coming soon again, time seems to pass so fast, we are almost halfway through the term, seems like yesterday the new school year just started. I dislike getting my boys to do revisions, they dislike it much more, but it's something we can't avoid and have to go through.


I was looking through some of my archive to see what  I've yet to blog, and decided on this sleeping Rilakkuma bento, which I took step-by-step photos of.

I feel like snuggling in bed with my blankets too, lol. Maybe I should go and do so after finishing up this post and leave the chores aside for a while. :P


I used ketchup to colour the rice here, if you prefer Rilakkuma to look brown, you can also use dark soy sauce/teriyaki sauce to colour the rice instead.


As with all my tutorials, I'm not claiming this is the correct or best way to make this bento, but I'm simply just sharing how I made it.


You will need a thin omelette, you can season it with a pinch of salt, and cook it over a low fire.


Add ketchup to rice and mix well.


Scoop rice onto cling wrap and mould out the head, ears, hand and body as shown in the picture.


Fill the base of your bento box with a layer of rice loosely, before placing the head and body onigiri on top. You can also arrange lettuce or your side dishes at the base instead of using rice.


Slice omelette into quarters.


Fold each omelette quarter and arrange around the rice.


Add in the hand and ears, you can use pasta stick to sercure the parts.


Using a round cutter or a pair of scissors, cut out the ears from cheese.


Using a round cutter or a pair of scissors, cut out the mouth from cheese.


Using a nori punch, punch out circles for Rilakkuma's nose, the other details can be cut out using a pair of scissors.


Dab on some ketchup using a chopstick and ta-dah, you are done.


Sorry, not too good with explaining, but hope the photos help you to visualise how I did this. :)

Star Wars Bento & Baguette

Star Wars are my boys' current favourites, thanks to The Force Awakens. These days all they watch are Star Wars related videos, so are the toys and video games they play. I'm not a Star Wars fan myself, but due to their obsession, I decided to make them some Star Wars themed food.


First up, I made this chibi Stormtrooper, ingredients used was just rice and nori. I also made a bb-8 out of quail eggs, nori and carrots.


Both the boys wanted their hands in the picture, lol. That's IT holding the bento, and LT holding the light saber bento picks.


I had placed the light saber picks in the bento, but my boys took them out because they said Stormtroopers do not use light sabres. -_-


Star Wars themed baguette, can you recognise the characters? I made Stormtrooper, Chewbacca, Princess Leia and Yoda. I wanted to make bb-8 and C-3PO, but was rushing that day, so I left them out eventually.


I was not even done making these, and my boys came over for a look and they could already guess the characters, shows how familiar they are with Star Wars now, lol.


It's fun to make and eat these, we usually have them for tea time, something to fill their tummies a little before dinner, as they are always asking for food to eat in the afternoon.


IT asked for a Star Wars cake for his birthday last month, and he chose this icing sheet. I did an awful job with the icing though, but the birthday boy did not seemed to notice when I showed him the cake, thank goodness, lol. I did not make a sushi cake for his birthday like I always did in previous year, because I remembered my lesson from last year, I did not want to rush again, this time, I just concentrated on making the birthday cake and cooking his favourite food.


I forgot to update about this, flowers my boys bought for my birthday last year. I'll probably take a photo of the cards they drew and update here for my own records too.


They bought the flowers in Japan, here's another picture of it with our favourite combini breakfast items, which we have for breakfast almost everyday there, my boys' onigiri, and my sandwich. My hubby's breakfast is missing, because he was actually having his breakfast on the go, while in the long queue to get the fast pass for my boys's favourite ride at Disneysea, lol. Yes, the ride is so popular that there is even a ridiculous long queue just to get a fast pass. -_-

Chinese New Year Three Wise Monkeys

Chinese New Year is coming very soon. One important celebration for Chinese New Year is the reunion dinner held on New Year's Eve. It's getting more and more common for people to eat out in order to save the hassle of cooking. It's also not easy to come up with a variety of dishes. Are you also racking your head on what to cook? For today, I'll be sharing two easy recipes for you to add to your reunion dinner feast.


Before I move on to the dishes, I also have a Chinese New Year food art to share. Since 2016 is the year of the monkey, I made the 3 wise monkeys, who embody the principle "see no evil, hear no evil and speak no evil".


The two dishes I'm sharing today are Oyster Sauce Baked Chicken and Scallop and Asparagus in XO sauce. I'm using Lee Kum Kee Oyster sauce and soy sauce for the chicken and Lee Kum Kee XO sauce for the asparagus.


They are both easy and fast to whip up, thanks to the help of Lee Kum Kee's oyster sauce, soy sauce and XO sauce. These 3 Lee Kum Kee's sauces are a staple in my kitchen and I'm sure it is in many of yours too. All three products are available in all leading supermarkets with limited-time Chinese New Year promotions.


Before I share the recipes, I would like to share about a food photo contest where Lee Kum Kee will be giving away weekly prizes and cash angpow. To enter:

1. Snap a photo related to the theme of "Reunion" with any Lee Kum Kee product;
2. Write a caption for the photo;
3. Hashtag #LKKReunionSG
4. Upload through Instagram or LKK webstite - http://lkksauce.com/reunion/
5. And you stand a chance to win these prizes! Good Luck!

OYSTER SAUCE BAKED CHICKEN



Ingredients:

10 medium sized chicken wings/drumlets
3 tbsp Lee Kum Kee Oyster sauce
1 tbsp Lee Kum Kee soy sauce
1 tbsp Shaoxing Huatiao wine
dash of five spice powder
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp sesame seeds

Method:

1. Marinade chicken with oyster sauce, soy sauce, wine, five spice powder and sesame oil. Cover with cling wrap and leave in fridge for at least 2 hours or overnight.
2. Remove chicken from marinade, place them on a baking tray, lined with baking paper. Reserve the marinade for use later.
3. Bake in the oven at 200C for around 20 minutes. In between baking, flip wings and baste them with reserve marinade. They are ready when both sides are nicely browned.
4. Sprinkle sesame seeds before serving.

SCALLOPS ASPARAGUS IN XO SAUCE



Ingredients:

1 clove garlic, minced
3 slices old ginger
10 fresh scallops
1 pack of asparagus, skin removed and sliced
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp cornflour
2 tbsp XO sauce
2 tbsp water
dash of pepper

Method:

1. Marinate scallops with sesame oil, salt and cornflour for 15 minutes.
2. Heat wok on high heat, add in a little oil. Add in minced garlic and sliced ginger and fry till fragrant.
3. Add in XO sauce and asparagus, fry for a minute and add in 2 tbsp of water.
4. Add in scallops and fry for another 4 minutes or until scallops are cooked. 

Tsum Tsum Deco Sushi

Hello! I'm back to update my blog today with more recent creations. I got a copy of Tsum Tsum deco sushi book in Japan, and tried my hands on making some using the recipes in the book. The book is in Japanese, but there are pictures, and it's not difficult to guess how to make the sushi from there. I will probably be exploring more creations in the book again.


The first set I made was Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet. You might have noticed that the sides aren't neat, it was due to the fact that the knife I'm using is not sharp enough. I actually don't have any sharp knifes at home, I've a phobia of them, I'm so accident prone, I think I'll easily slice off my fingers with a sharp knife.


The colors were done using mashed egg yolks, deco furi and sushi mix. It's not that difficult making these as the recipes in the book was very precise, I just need to work harder on the neatness part.


The second set I made was Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Daisy and Pluto. I accidentally mixed in a little too much grounded black sesame with the rice, the rice turned out too dry and not sticky, so the grey portions were tough to roll, lol. Never mind, I'll learn from my mistake, so hopefully next time will be better.


Ingredients used to get the different colours were ketchup, deco furi, mashed egg yolk and grounded black sesame. The pink portion of Kamaboko was used for Daisy's bow and Donald and Daisy's cheeks.


And here's a shot of the different characters from the two sets I made together. Which one do you like?


I don't think I'll be making so many different designs at one go the next time, probably at most just two or three different ones next round.

Piggy & Chick Sushi

One week of school flew by so fast, I'm slowly settling into the routine again. I miss lazing around during the school holidays, lol.  I finally have my whole morning free to myself. Seems like a lot of time for me to relax at first, but somehow I'm still busy and I've no idea why, but it's definitely not as bad as the past two years.


I've been making so many sushi lately and just serving them on sushi boards for photos. The reason is because it's a lot easier this way than having to pack them in a bento. I also don't have to rush and cook the side dishes earlier before the sun sets, so as to get a nicer photo. However, many of these ideas can be adapted for a bento if you want to do so.


Piggies are one of my favourite animal to make. LT is born in the year of the pig and he calls them his friends. When he's eating pork, he says happily that he is eating his friends, oops. -_- He even ask me to eat him at times when I say I'm hungry, lol.


These piggies are made using rice, fish sausage and nori. I loved how round and chubby they turned out.


I also made chicks sushi. To achieve the yellow colour, the rice was mixed with mashed hard boiled egg yolks. I used nori, carrots and bubu arare(coloured rice puffs) for the details.


I also added egg shells hats for two of the chicks, these were cut out from eggs using a v-shaped knife. I got it from Daiso a long time ago, not sure if it's still available now.


Alright, that's all for today, need to go to bed. I'll try to update at least a recipe next week, have quite a number to update but I keep procrastinating.