Today's bento for Hararie: May 10, 2010

The side dish of today's main is deep fried cod.

I cook nearly every day bento.
And, I eat the bento in my company at noon.
Bento for lunch cooked by oneself is low cost and low calorie.
In addition, it is very good for "my health and food cost".

Well, I explain the content of today's bento to you.
Can you see the number on the bento's photograph?

A is ご飯[gohan].

Japanese rice cooker

Gohan is plain rice.
Gohan is boiled with the rice cooker.

The rice cooker is very convenient, and, it cooks rice very well.
Everybody doesn't fail if the amount of rice and water is accurate.

B is 梅干し[umeboshi].

Umeboshi (Japanese; literally" dried ume")" are pickled ume fruits common in Japan.

Ume (Prunus mume) is a species of fruit-bearing tree in the genus prunus, which is often called a plum but is actually more closely related to the apricot.
Umeboshi are a popular kind of TSUKEMONO (pickles) and are extremely sour and salty.

Umeboshi

 

They are usually served as side dishes for rice or stuffed inside of rice balls (sometimes without removing their seeds inside) for breakfast and lunch.

Umeboshi taste salty, and are extremely sour due to high citric acid content -- in the past they were known to corrode their way through aluminium lunch boxes if kept in the same spot every day.
Umeboshi per 100g contains elements as follows.

White-rice and red Umeboshi: this looks like the national flag of Japan.
The national flag of Japan is "日の丸[Hinomaru]" in Japanese.

So, this is called "日の丸弁当[Hinomaru-bento]" in Japanese.

Katsuo bushi

Hakusai: Chinese cabbage

Abura-age

Naga-negi: Leek(Welsh onion)

C is 梅かつお[ume-katsuo].

Ume-Katsuo is a crushed bonito soaked in umeboshi seasoned liquid
An original name of UME-KATSUO is "かつお節[Katsuo-bushi]".

Katsuo-bushi is a raw material of "だし[Dashi]".
Katsuo-bushi brings food a delicious flavor.

 

D is 黒ごま[kurogoma].

Kurogoma is black sesame.
Black sesame is often sprinkled on Japanese ONIGIRI and Japanese BENTO.
Black sesame is nutritious.

 

E is 鱈フライ[tara-furai].

Tara-furai is a cod fry.
The deep-fried cod fry is very delicious.
The Japanese likes cod fry as the side dish of bento.
Because breading is thick, the frozen codfish fry is high calories.
Therefore, I make it by oneself.

 

F is "煮浸し[nibitashi] of 白菜[hakusai] and 油揚げ[abura-age]".

Hakusai is a Chinese cabbage.
Abura-age is TOFU processed food(a piece of thin deep-fried bean curd).
Nibitashi is like nimono(vegetable or fish cooked with soy, sugar, and other condiments).

 

G is 玉子焼き[tamago-yaki].

Tamago-yaki is rolled fried-eggs.
As for Tamago-yaki, the variation of cooking is abundant.

I mixed Japanese Leek(Welsh onion) with today's Tamago-yaki.
Leek(Welsh onion) is 長ねぎ[Naganegi] in Japanese.

And, I thinly seasoned today's Tamago-yaki with the soy sauce.
Shoyu is the foundation of Japanese cuisine, and it is the essential ingredient.

 

 

Hararie