Japanese O-Bento: Lunch as an art form

1. Japanese O-Bento: Lunch as an art form Dena Strong https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/dlstrong/www/jfood/

2. Overview of class Introduction Flavor and color components Composing a bento Useful tools Three-dimensional sculpture Two-dimensional artwork

3. What am I doing here? 5�10�, red hair, about as un-Japanese as possible�but� 10 years of studying Japanese language & culture, including food & clothing Costume design major - translated a Japanese doll book to learn to make Heian kariginu because there was no documentation in English� Traveled in Japan Learned to make Japanese food because it�s too expensive to go to restaurants all the time!

4. Why short-grain rice? Tradition and flavor plus� Long grain rice and brown rice (short or long) won�t hold a shape Sweet rice is too sticky to handle Short grain rice can be shaped when cooked

5. Cooking rice Electric rice cookers are like toasters: you can do it without one, but why? Rinse rice until water runs nearly clear Soak if time permits Water up to middle knuckle (Mt. Fuji) Push button or program Let rest 15 min. after finished

6. Rice alternatives Although about 90% of the bento made in Japan will contain rice, there are some alternatives that both families and companies use: Spaghetti Pasta salad Sandwiches Steamed buns with fillings (manjuu)

7. What is a bento? Japanese-style lunch box � often decoratively packed and decorated Many train stations have a specialty that�s only available at that station Some people simply pack them to be nutritious� �others get into decorating:

8. Homemade bento

9. Details

10. Ekiben (train station bento)

11. Designing a bento Food balance: rice/equivalent + �okazu� (literally �number�, figuratively �everything else�) Color balance: 5 color theory Preparation balance: 4 main preparations, several less common ones Grilling/pan-frying (yakimono), simmering (nimono), pickling (tsukemono), dressing (aemono or sunomono)

12. Typical Japanese flavors Rice Sake: alcohol brewed from rice Mirin: sweetened cooking sake Rice vinegar Soybeans Soy sauce Miso paste Tofu

13. Typical Japanese flavors Dashi (soup stock made of katsuo flakes and konbu seaweed, also available as easy granules like bouillon cubes) Seaweed Konbu: thick flavoring-style seaweed, sometimes cut in strips and used for ties Nori: thin flaky sheets for sushi, or crumbled and sprinkled over the top

14. Commonly used foods Fish, eggs, chicken, beef (in that order) Naganegi (long onions - like a cross between green onions & leeks) Daikon (large radish) � fresh or pickled Beans (soybeans, sweet adzuki beans, tora beans) Sesame seeds (and sesame paste like peanut butter) Pumpkin, eggplant, several unusual varieties of potatoes (satsuma, yamaimo)

15. Common here, uncommon there Salt and pepper � they do use salt, but pepper is rare Celery is expensive so it�s a treat Tomatoes are most used in imported dishes or as cherry-tomato garnishes Herbs & spices They use herbs and spices we don�t (shiso, kinome, yuzu, aonori, katsuo) Our herbs are only in imported dishes

16. 5 color theory Five color theory: Black (often using nori�s dark green) White (usually rice or boiled eggs, sometimes bread/pasta) Green (vegetables) Gold (yellow counts) Red (orange counts � namasu (daikon & carrot salad) is considered red and white rather than orange and white)

17. Types of cooking Yakimono (grilled) Nimono (simmered) Tsukemono (pickles) Aemono or sunomono (with dressing) Not as constant: Mushimono (steamed) Agemono (deep fried) Nabemono (one-pot dishes: oden, sukiyaki, etc)

18. Rice and variations Little bite-sized cylinders sprinkled with black sesame seeds are the archetypical bento rice Other options: Onigiri (flavored rice balls) Donburi-style rice base Inari sushi (sweetened fried tofu pouches stuffed with rice)

19. Onigiri The Japanese edition of sandwiches A common way of getting rice + flavor into bento Originally soldiers� food: rice packed around umeboshi for preservation Infinitely adaptable � some ideas are better than others though. Omelet onigiri: pretty tasty. Spam onigiri: (shudder)

20. Making onigiri Make sure the rice is still hot (or rewarm it) Can use cup, saran wrap, or molds to save your hands Mixed type: stir ingredients through rice Filled type: make hollow, then snowball Nori: Keep separate until serving Fried rice is Chinese, not Japanese. Japanese mothers make an imitation of Chinese fried rice, but they consider it international food just like we consider curry international food. Mixing furikake into rice is the only rice-add-in seen in native Japanese cooking.Fried rice is Chinese, not Japanese. Japanese mothers make an imitation of Chinese fried rice, but they consider it international food just like we consider curry international food. Mixing furikake into rice is the only rice-add-in seen in native Japanese cooking.

21. Common onigiri ingredients Umeboshi (sour pickled plums) Furikake (flavored sprinkles also used to top rice) Katsuo (bonito flakes used in miso soup) Konbu (thick seaweed) simmered in soy sauce Tuna, salmon, spicy tuna

22. UNcommon onigiri ingredients I invented dessert onigiri by not knowing I couldn�t � used sweet red bean paste & sour pie cherries You can put spam or hamburger or bacon in onigiri (I�ve seen it done in Japan) but whyyyyyy...?

23. Inari sushi Tofu + rice � won�t go bad quickly, good for bento for lunch. Also cute base for decorating (bunnies, teddy bears). Get a can of abura-age/inarisushi no moto Rinse in hot water Open pouch carefully Stuff small rice ball inside (no wasabi)

24. Donburi The original fast food Normally a big bowl of rice with a single topping & (usually) pickles Good for bento because it�s just a different shape container; most of the things you see in donburi meals are good for bento too

25. Curry, Japanese style Meat, potatoes, and carrots�it would be chunky stew in anyone else�s lexicon, until you add� Curry chunks�?! About the texture of a piece of soap or dense brick of lard. Both the Indians and the British would be baffled by this substance but it�s tasty anyway. Served with long grain rice, unlike 98% of Japanese food.

26. Okazu Everything that�s not rice is �okazu� � literally �number�/what would be the main and side dishes in American cooking. Donburi and curry rice are single-okazu meals. Most bento typically serve several okazu rather than just one.

27. Okazu: Tamagoyaki Eggs (I typically use 6 per batch � same recipe for sushi) � as much dashi as egg (about � cup) 1 tsp sugar 1 tsp mirin Splash of shoyu & pinch of salt Cook in a thin flat sheet like a crepe, cut and shape (Can bundle in strips for chrysanthemum effect) (Harumi�s Pokemon bento uses tamagoyaki over rice as a base for the Pokemon�s face, and nori for the ears and face details)

28. Okazu: Namasu Daikon-carrot salad Better after it�s refrigerated for a day or two � keeps up to 2 weeks (quick pickle) Julienne 2-3 parts daikon to 1 part carrot Knead vegetables with 1 tsp salt & drain Mix together � dashi and � sweetened rice vinegar & marinate in refrigerator

29. Okazu: Edamame If you get them in the hull, remove the pods and simmer. If you get them already hulled, thaw �em and you�re ready to go. You can simmer them in soy sauce and mirin, but they�re great all by themselves � they taste buttery even without dressing

30. Okazu: Kouya-doufu Literally �tofu from Mt. Kouya� � freeze-dried so it lasts longer. (Don�t pop a brick of regular tofu in the freezer and expect it to come out Kouya-tofu. People recommend it as a fake online, but it doesn�t make the same texture. You have to get enough water out first for it to hold together, and you won�t end up with the same fine sponge texture, and it won�t be dry enough to be shelf stable.) Reconstitute in hot water, squeeze gently like a sponge until water is clear, simmer in flavoring of choice (often soy & sugar & sake/mirin, could be ramen flavoring packet if you like)

31. Okazu: Horenso goma-ae v1 Tomoko-san�s way: Get a pound of spinach, wash, trim the ends off each leaf but leave the stems in place, and boil, holding onto the stems with tongs. Strain the spinach and squeeze the water out, then separate out each leaf and line up the stems�

32. Horenso goma-ae v2 Yumeo-san�s way: Boil some spinach and wring it like a washcloth. Lining up the stems? Ha! Who told you that one? Did they work for a restaurant? Open a bottle of sesame dressing and�

33. Horenso goma-ae v3: mine Thaw frozen spinach and wring it out (sorry, Tomoko-san!) Grind up 2-3 parts sesame seeds with 1 part sugar, then stir in 1-2 parts miso. (Start with teaspoons or tablespoons. Sweetness is up to you; I make it differently each time...) Dampen with water and a little soy sauce. Should be a thick paste (leftover spinach dampness will make it stir easier). Mix through spinach part at a time, stopping when it tastes good. Sprinkle whole sesame seeds through.

34. Okazu: Shiitake kara-ni Dried shiitake, soaked to reconstitute 2 parts shoyu 2 parts sake 1 part sugar Simmer until the liquid is mostly gone Start with small amounts of liquid:from 1 Tbsp to � cup=1 part (any more and you�ll need 3 acres of mushrooms)

35. Okazu: Ta-tsukuri This is as close as I get to chemistry, because it needs to turn sticky-candy-like�it�s basically peanut brittle with anchovies. Traditional for New Year�s parties. 2 cups dried chirimen-jako (tiny anchovies) , pan toasted to heat & dry (or slightly larger anchovies or dried shrimp) � cup shoyu & sugar + 1 Tbsp mirin simmered together until thick & frothy Add the dried fish & mix quickly, cook until glossy, then turn out onto heatproof nonstick surface. Sprinkle w/ roasted sesame seeds These last quite a while in fridge/freezer They�ll turn almost solid when cold, so separate into serving sizes before chilling

36. Putting bento together Use dividers to separate food that will leach into its neighbors such as pickles or food with sauce Pack solidly � lunchboxes get rattled around If something needs reheating separately, bring separate container Perfect excuse to play with your food!

37. Three-dimensional art Hot dog crabs, bunnies, octopi, tulips, etc Hard-boiled egg chicks, bunnies Tomato, kiwi, carrot, radish, beet, etc. flowers Green pepper and pea leaves, trees, frogs And anything else you can imagine...

38. Two-dimensional art Decorations over rice in a separate container from the okazu is typical, and gives a lot of area for experimentation. Soboro is both decorative and tasty, and you can make soboro out of nearly anything that will dry to a fine-scrambled-egg consistency in a skillet with flavorings.

39. Egg soboro Take tamagoyaki mix. Pour some into a pan. Scramble with a handful of chopsticks until fine-grained and fluffy.

40. Tuna soboro 1 can tuna packed in water, well drained 2 tsp soy sauce 1 tsp each mirin, sugar Good squeeze of lemon juice or some fresh ginger Flake the tuna to tiny bits. Mix the other ingredients together. �Scramble� in a warm dry skillet with handful of chopsticks until crumbly.

41. Salmon soboro About a cup cooked, flaked salmon 2 Tbsp sugar 1 Tbsp each mirin and sake Pinch of salt (Lemon/ginger optional here too) Following general tuna directions, �scramble� until crumbly. (If there�s extra liquid you may want to drain some off midway through.)

42. Shrimp soboro (Turns out flower-pink with gari added) About a cup of cooked (or canned) shrimp, run through a food processor 1 Tbsp each sugar, mirin, sake Pinch of salt 2 Tbsp minced gari (pink pickled ginger) �Scramble� like others.

43. Chicken soboro If your chicken is already cooked, follow the general tuna directions. (Scale sauce to match quantity of chicken.) If it�s raw: 8 oz. ground chicken � cup soy sauce 1 � Tbsp sugar 2 Tbsp. ea. mirin and sake About 1 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced or shredded Mix everything but the chicken and bring it to a boil. Add the chicken and scramble until cooked and crumbly.

44. Spinach soboro If your spinach is fresh, cook and drain and squeeze it. If it�s frozen, thaw and squeeze it. Chop the spinach until it�s finely shredded. Add to a pan with a bit of sesame oil and a pinch of salt and saute for a few minutes.

45. More ideas Cod / whitefish soboro: lemon juice added to no-soy mix (sugar, mirin, sake) to keep it pale Hamburger soboro: minced onions, tomato sauce/paste, your favorite spices Carrot soboro: carrot into food processor, then scramble with some lemon juice, pinch of sugar and mirin/white wine

46. More than soboro... Make flat sheets of color with thinly sliced vegetables, thin egg omelets, cooked egg whites, nori, etc. Cut out shapes with cookie cutters, scrapbooking punches/scissors, etc. Mold things in saran-lined cookie cutters, onigiri molds, etc. Paint pictures on bread with beaten egg, spiced milk, or soy sauce, then toast it Anything you can put in a piping bag, you can use like cake icing

47. Armed and dangerous! Things to try: Sculptures Pictures on rice / toast Flower cutters & carving vegetables Egg sheets (yellow, white, or tinted w. food coloring) or lunch meat/cheese Anything that will go in a piping bag

48. Hot dog sculptures Edges curl when you cut before cooking. So: Tulip Bunny Octopus Crab Daisy Heart ...Dragon?!

49. Fruit / egg / veg sculptures Egg bunnies / chicks Apple bunnies / fans / fish Orange bunnies / smiles Radish / turnip chrysanthemums Vegetables: sky�s the limit Lots of colors of peppers Daikon & jicama are white Radishes take color easily from soaking in tinted water Careful with beets; they dye their neighbors

50. Food as containers Hollow out a tomato or hard-cooked egg Clementines make good dessert cups Lemons make good fish/savory cups Flower cup made of toast �petals� lining a ramekin and baked briefly Hollow out a turnip or piece of daikon with a melon baller & put teriyaki in it

51. Rice and bread Nearly anything 3 inches or bigger can be a rice mold (but be sure there aren�t too many fidgety details) Treat both rice and bread like a palette to be decorated or a medium to be sculpted

52. Unexpected tools Cookie cutters, candy molds, candle molds, cake decorating tools Small muffin cups (dividers) Stencils Rubber stamps Scrapbooking tools Play-doh tools Woodburning/carving tools (clean ones!) Alphabet pasta (cooked)

53. Q & A For more info: https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/dlstrong/www/jfood Bibliography, recipes, links to sources for ingredients/tools, etc