Are you looking for your kid’s new favorite lunch? Try this all-time kids favorite from Japan. It might sound odd, but these rice pillows are covered in a blanket of sweet tofu. Not only is the taste incredibly good and the texture amazing, the decorations make this bento box an impeccable one. With many soft flavours such as rice, Japanese omelette and lotus root, it is a lunch box suitable for young and difficult eaters as well.

Preparation time: 1 hour

Number of servings: 1

INGREDIENTS

Bears:

• 3 inari sweet tofu bags
• ½  slice cheese
• ½  slice cheddar cheese
• ⅛ nori seaweed sheet
• 90g leftover Japanese white rice
• Sushi powder

Sakura tamagoyaki omelette:

• 2 eggs
• 3 tsp sugar
• 2 tsp soy sauce

Lotus root chips:

• 10 lotus root slices
• Pepper & salt
• Olive oil

Vegetables:

• 3 edamame beans
• 1 small tomato
• OR other vegetables of your preference

PREPARATION

Sakura tamagoyaki omelette

Prepare tamagoyaki according to the recipe in the following video.

Once the flower shape is done, make the sakura shape by removing small triangles with large angles from the flower leaves using a small cutting knife.

Lotus root chips

Pre-heat the oven to 165°C. Place the lotus root slices in the mixing bowl and mix with a thin layer of olive oil and ½ tsp ground black pepper and salt. Place the marinated slices on a sheet pan and roast for 15 minutes in the oven. When the chips are done, leave to cool down outside the oven. Once cooled down, pat with a paper towel to remove any excess grease.

Bears

Step 1: Rice

Prepare 90g Japanese rice or other sticky rice, otherwise the inari sushi will fall apart. For more flavour, you can add any furikake (rice seasoning mix) of your preference. Continue when the rice has cooled down.

Step 2: Inari

Place the bag with inari fried tofu bags unopened in warm water of 60°C for about 5 minutes. Remove the bag from the water and carefully take out 3 tofu bags. Place them on a cutting board, flat.

Step 3: Inari sushi

Wet your hands with warm water. Place about 30g of rice in the palm of your hand. Roll and compress until it has the basic onigiri shape (like a filled triangle), and fits the tofu bag. Place the tofu bag over the rice like in the picture. Make sure the corners stick out a little above the rice. Press the corners slightly using your thumbs so that it looks a bit indented.

Step 4: Filling the bento box

First place the tomato, then the lotus root chips. On top of the chips, place the 3 undecorated inari sushi, diagonally so that the faces will be facing upward.

Step 5: Decoration

Cut out of nori seaweed the shapes of 6 eyes and 3 mouths, like in the picture. Cut out 3 circles of cheese for snouts. Decoration tips:

• Snouts: Pour boiling water into a cup. Let it cool down for 1½ minute. Place the cheese circles against the cup for a few seconds using 2 wooden skewers. The cheese should be only slightly softer and sticky, not melted. Quickly remove using the skewers, without puncturing or rupturing. Place the snouts on the inari bags, a little below the middle point (see photo above). Wait for it to cool down to set.
• Eyes and mouths: Slightly wet the eyes and mouths using your clean finger. Pick them up using a skewer and place them on the tofu bags (see photo). Leave for it to set.
• Ears: Finely chop ½ a slice of cheddar cheese. Place in a tiny, microwave friendly bowl. Microwave it 30-60 sec. and stir using the not-pointy side of a skewer, until it is evenly melted. Let it cool down just a little bit, so that the cheese is still soft and flexible, but not liquid like water. Now use the not-pointy side of the skewer to apply the ears to the tofu bags. If the cheese turns too stiff, slightly reheat in the microwave. Let it cool down to set.

Final touches

Add the sakura tamagoyaki to the bento box. Lastly, add 3 defrosted and patted edamame beans.

いただきます itadakimasu! Enjoy your meal!