Mummy Bento (406)

My mornings have been extremely busy lately because I’m trying to force Mr. Pikko to eat healthier, so I cook breakfast for everyone now instead of settling for cereal in a bag in the car. I’ve also been making him bentos too, so that he eats smaller meals, but I don’t always take pictures. I was cooking for over an hour this morning! Agh!

Today I have a little mummy all wrapped up in my lunch. I showed it to Mr. Pikko and he laughed. He’s made out of a brown rice (Gen Ji Mai) onigiri and wrapped with usuyaki tamago bandages. Someone commented yesterday to ask about how I do the egg. Basically, you beat the egg, strain it in a sieve to remove clumps, then add a slurry of potato starch and water. I flavor it with a bit of dashi sprinkles diluted in some water and a sprinkle of salt too. Cook it in a heated pan on low heat, wiping the pan down with oil first.

For the mummy, I had to separate the yolk from the white and mix them up separately. Today I used a little too much starch and not enough water, so it actually came out a little rubbery. I was so mad when I tried to flip it because some parts of the white stuck like crazy to the pan and I ripped up the little omelet. It turned out fine though, I just cut the strips a certain way to hide the tears.

I used some of the yellow for his eyes and I’ll have to figure out some other use for the rest of the egg. I cut his mouth out with a scissors. After I did the egg I cooked two eggs for breakfast, then realized that I had no eggs for the tonkatsu. Nice job, me! I ended up using 3 quail eggs for one huge cutlet and that worked out well. It was just enough food for mine and Mr. Pikko’s bentos. On the side, I have broccoli, baby carrot sticks, a baby Roma tomato, and three slices of persimmon.

When I was a kid, sometimes my dad would tell me that he got a box of persimmons from his aunty and uncle on Maui. I don’t know why, but I never ate them. I just didn’t like persimmons and I have no clue what was wrong with me because now I know they’re totally delicious!

Any Halloween requests for the next two days? I was going to do candy corn, but then Susan Yuen did one. I guess me and her daughter are on the same brain waves! 🙂