Bento #26

I made matching bento for the Mister and myself - I've got the day off, but I cooked enough food for two.

Plain white rice
Spicy Tofu
Deviled egg
snap peas, tomatoes, mushrooms and carrots
white nectarine
strawberry flavoured mini pudding gel

The spicy tofu recipe was surprisingly hard to find, so I will share it:
1 lb extra firm tofu, cubed
1/4 c sweet chili sauce
1/4 c soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
6 cloves garlic
red pepper flakes to taste
sesame seeds
3 tbsp cornstarch
4 green onions, chopped

mix chili sauce, soy sauce, sesame seeds and pepper flakes - set aside
toss tofu in cornstarch to coat
heat some oil over med-high heat, add tofu and stir-fry until golden
add 1/2 of the green onion and stir-fry for 1 min
add sauce, simmer to reduce.
stir in remaining green onion and top with more sesame seeeds.


I bought some agar-agar powder yesterday, and I'm going to make coco-lime tea gel.
The tea is a loose-leaf tea bought at Tea Desire - they have a ton of varieties and flavours, and they're really reasonably priced (unlike some other specialty tea vendors)
It's a black tea with coconut flakes and dried lime wedges - so refreshing and delicious - we will see how it translates into a gelatin.

I also bought some Cha Soba - green tea flavoured soba noodles! I'm going to do a whole dinner with Japanese inspired food tonight:
Honey Garlic Teriyaki sausage over white rice
Imitation Crab Salad Maki
Tamagoyaki Nigiri
Cha Soba with traditional fixings (dipping sauce, wasabi, green onion)
Gyoza
I may even have to present it on these pretty square green glass plates I have with a bamboo design etched into them. They were actually the base for our wedding centrepieces (add a pillar candle, some glass aquarium beads, and bam!), but we kept them, because they're a really nice decorative plate. I've never had a chance to use them before, so I thought it might be fun.