Some of you may be wondering if I've abandoned this journal since I haven't posted a new bento or recipe in several weeks. Rest assured, I'm still here! :-) However, some recent medical issues have resulted in my doctor suggesting I try a wheat-free diet for several months. This is not as restrictive as a gluten-free diet, which is followed by people with coeliac (celiac) disease, but it's still having a major impact on my meal-planning and bento-making (after all, what's the main ingredient in most kinds of soy sauce? Wheat, of course!).

There will be a shiny new wheat-free bento posted on Monday. Until then, if anyone out there has any wheat-free recipe suggestions, I'd be pleased to hear about them in the comments!

I was making tonight's/tomorrow's bento when I realized that I hadn't posted my tempura recipe, as I'd promised in my last entry. Oops! Here it is, finally :-)

1 cup ice water
1 cup plain flour
1 egg
assorted sliced vegetables (e.g. carrot, sweet potato, zucchini) and/or uncooked fish (e.g. any white fish, prawns)
oil for shallow frying
sea salt or Japanese seven-spice

Set the wok to medium-high heat. (This varies depending on the type of wok, but the instruction manual should indicate the appropriate setting for shallow frying.) Meanwhile, beat the egg and mix with the water. Add the flour, stirring to combine without overmixing. When the wok has reached the correct temperature, add the oil to a depth of several inches. Dredge about 4 vegetable pieces in the tempura batter, then drop into the hot oil. As they become crisp, they'll float to the top. Remove when they start to turn a light brown, and place on absorbent paper. Repeat with remaining vegetable and fish pieces in batches of 4, cooking the fish last. If using prawns, insert skewers along the spines before putting them into the wok to ensure they don't curl up when cooked. Sprinkle with sea salt or Japanese seven-spice to serve.

Yesterday I took a cooking class at Kei's Kitchen, where we learned to cook a traditional seven-course kaiseki meal. There were nine of us in the class, including me. We arrived just before 10:00 and were greeted with hot cups of green tea, which we drank while getting acquainted with each other around Kei's dining room table. We then spent the first 15 minutes going over the "early winter" menu that we'd be cooking, with Kei and her daughter Masako drawing our attention to any special cooking techniques or unusual ingredients we'd be using.

( Kaiseki menu & photos! )

Inspired by the soup-bowl-style bentos I've been seeing around lately, I decided to come up with a recipe that would be suitable for one. I cheated a bit and packed mine in a round Tupperware container - I'm still hunting for just the right bento box - but it still tasted great and was easy to prepare, too!

½ bundle (45 g) soba noodles, cooked and drained
carrot, sliced and cut into flower shapes
1 tbsp green onion, finely chopped
1 tsp dried wakame
2 tbsp tofu cubes, fried
2-3 shiitake mushrooms
¼ tsp garlic, finely chopped
1½ tbsp white miso paste, rolled into a ball
1 tbsp soy sauce
2-3 drops sesame oil
powdered dashi stock

Arrange the soba noodles, carrot, green onion, wakame, tofu, mushrooms, garlic, and miso ball in a round bento or Tupperware container. Combine the soy sauce and sesame oil and pour into a small plastic container (e.g., plastic bottle, fish, or pig) that will fit inside the bento. When ready to eat, add boiling water, the soy/sesame mixture, and a pinch of dashi stock, and stir well to combine.

A few nights ago I needed a side dish for dinner, but I seemed to be missing at least one key ingredient for any of things I usually make. It's been a hectic past few days around here - I'm giving two papers at a conference in Perth next week, and all my spare time has been devoted to their preparation - so I just threw a bunch of ingredients into the wok and this is what came out. Not too bad, if I do say so myself :-)

1 90 g bundle organic ramen noodles
miniature sweet capsicums of assorted colours, sliced
red onion, sliced
handful fresh coriander leaves
½ garlic clove, chopped finely
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
peanut oil

Mix the lime juice, soy sauce, and fish sauce in a small bowl and set aside. Cook the ramen noodles in boiling water for 3½ minutes. Meanwhile, heat the wok and add a splash of peanut oil. Drain the noodles well and place them into the wok, stir-frying for about 2 minutes. Add the capsicums, onion, coriander, and garlic and continue to stir-fry. Add the sauce mixture and stir quickly to coat the noodles and vegetables. Remove from wok and serve immediately, or cool completely before packing into a bento. Makes 2 bento-sized portions or 1 meal-sized portion.

Little, tiny, yummy chicken cakes. The perfect size for a bento!

Chicken cakes
400 g chicken mince
¼ cup breadcrumbs¹
1 egg
4 tbsp grated white onion
1½ tsp white sugar
1½ tsp soy sauce
cornflour
1 tbsp peanut oil
green onion, finely chopped

Teriyaki glaze
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp soy sauce

Combine the chicken with the egg, breadcrumbs, onion, sugar, and soy sauce. Shape the mixture into 12-15 small, flat, round cakes and dust them lightly with cornflour. Note: the chicken cakes may be frozen on a sheet of baking paper at this point. I find them easier to handle if I freeze them for a couple of hours before cooking. Mix the glaze ingredients in a small bowl and set aside. Cook the chicken cakes in a small quantity of peanut oil in a hot frying pan, approximately 3-4 minutes on each size. Reduce to low heat. Pour the sauce over the chicken cakes and turn occasionally until they are evenly glazed, making sure the glaze doesn't burn. When ready to serve, top with the green onion.

¹This wasn't in the original recipe, but I found the mixture too sloppy without it.

There are almost as many recipes for pad thai out there as there are Thai restaurants. Here's mine.

200 g chicken breast, sliced thinly
125 g firm tofu, sliced into cubes
1 egg
125 g rice stick noodles
peanut oil
2 green onions, chopped
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 small red chili, sliced
large handful of fresh bean sprouts
2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves
1/4 tsp white sugar
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
drop of sesame oil
coarsely ground peanuts
lime wedges

In a hot wok, stir-fry the tofu cubes in a small quantity of peanut oil until browned. Remove from wok and set aside. Stir-fry chicken pieces until cooked through and browned. Remove from wok and set aside. Mix the sugar, lime juice, soy sauce, fish sauce, and sesame oil together in a small bowl. Adjust quantities to suit individual taste. Meanwhile, cook rice stick noodles in boiling water for about 1½ minutes. Drain into a colander, making sure all water is removed. Heat more peanut oil in the wok and add noodles. Allow to brown slightly. Move the noodles to the periphery of the wok and scramble the egg in the centre. Return the cooked tofu and chicken to the wok. Add the ginger, chili pepper, green onion, bean sprouts, and coriander leaves. Stir-fry briefly, until heated through. Add sauce and stir until evenly distributed. Serve immediately, or allow to cool before packing in a bento. When ready to eat, garnish with the coarsely ground peanuts and a lime wedge.

This recipe is from Naomi Kijima's excellent cookbook Bento Boxes: Japanese Meals on the Go. In my version, I used a chicken breast instead of a chicken thigh, and doubled the sauce quantities. It made enough for six yakitori.

1 chicken breast¹
2 tbsp mirin
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp white sugar
peanut oil
yakitori skewers
green onion, sliced

Mix the mirin, soy sauce, and white sugar in a small bowl. Marinate the chicken breast in the sauce for 30 minutes. Remove the chicken from the marinade, reserving sauce. Add 6 tbsp water to the sauce. Heat peanut oil in a nonstick frying pan and brown the chicken on both sides. Pour the sauce over the chicken, cover the frying pan, and reduce heat. When chicken has been cooked through, turn heat up and reduce the sauce to a glaze. Remove chicken from frying pan and allow to cool. Cut chicken into pieces and thread onto skewers, alternating with pieces of green onion.

¹I used a boneless, skinless chicken breast because that's what I happened to have. However, the absence of skin caused the chicken to absorb the glaze. I think a skin-on piece of chicken would work better if you want the yakitori to remain shiny.