Bento Box #3, Oct 30, 2009
Cantaloupe slices with pommegranate seeds (fruit)
Onigiri filled with miso-tahini-walnut paste and
topped with black sesame seeds (carb, protein)
Miso soup with wakame, green onions, white onions,
and beet greens (veggie)
This bento was half hit, half flop. You can't go wrong with cantaloupe slices and pommegranate seeds, of course. And my onigiri were great! The miso-paste was toasted to tame the saltiness inside, and they were so tasty I think I'll make them again for a snack later. The only problem is, without any proper dividers to separate the food, they got a little soggy and funny tasting on the bottom because of the fruit juice. But for the most part, they were awesome. I used another Just Bento member's onigiri making method: http://justbento.com/handbook/bento-basics/making-onigiri-with-a-plastic-bag. It works really well!
As for the miso soup...well, for as simple as a soup as it may seem, it was difficult to get the flavor right. Causes? I have genmai miso, which may be the wrong type of miso. Also, when I made the dashi, I think I used too much wakame and bonito flakes, at least for my taste, because I like a more subtle fish flavor and a more powerful miso flavor. Also, beet greens don't go well in miso, or maybe just not paired with wakame. Anyway, it wasn't really bad tasting, but not fantastic. And I really love miso soup, so I was pretty disappointed. The problem with making Japanese bentos, is all these items are so expensive here. Even the small asian market we have sells them for way-to-much. I need to make a trip to Longmont to get some cheaper supplies. Too bad my roommate's friend totaled her car, which is the only one we had. *sigh*
What to do next time:
Tweak my miso-soup recipe, and maybe actually follow Maki-san's recipe a little better. I would like to try potatoes in it or zucchini next time.
What to use up:
Still more miso paste, maybe I'll try it on sweet potatoes, or just more onigiri.
Ragu...still...We're having free sushi tonight, so I'm not making dinner. Tomorrow...tomorrow...
Miso with zucchini is amazing! If it helps, we use Shiro-miso for soup, though the other types work as well. It really depends on how salty/flavorful you like your miso. :)
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