#letsnotstarve

Hi everyone! We apologize for the unannounced hiatus but Beni is back and welcome back to Let’s Not Starve! For the month of MARCH we are working with TEA! Everyone’s (well, many) slightly bitter yet wonderfully fragrant beverage is going to take center stage this month. Enjoy!

TEA - OCHAZUKE PARTY

Lots of people who aren’t native to Japan may not know about Ochazuke (お茶漬け), but it is a common dish for them! It involves two main ingredients: tea and rice. Lady A first learned about this delicious treat when staying with a friend who lives in Tokyo. She is a native japanese girl that welcomed Lady A into her home for a week and cooked delicious homestyle meals. Ochazuke was one of them! Although in Japan, it is commonly made with instant packets now (at least if you’re lazy like us), but Lady A decided to make it from scratch this time!

If anyone who is Japanese notices that Lady A made a mistake, please feel free to send a message. She wants to make it right!!!

For the bowl, Lady A used shirataki rice because she is still trying to cut back on carbs but USUALLY you will use shortgrain rice. She topped it with slices of Ahi tuna, broccoli, sliced shiitake mushrooms, and crispy shallots. Lady A used dashi seasoning and a oolong tea in the seeper because she thought it would give a richer flavor to the broth (it did!). On the side we have some super yummy and so so juicy prawns ;)

Pour the hot broth over the rice and toppings to lightly cook the tuna and it is a very delicious and very healthy meal. Please try this and let Lady A know if you had success~

お~~皆さん! #Beni です! Welcome back to #LetsNotStarve! For today’s dish, Lady A made curry to kick off our FLOWER MONTH. Flowers are everywhere!!!!! Cherries are blooming, plums are blossoming, Magnolia is a beautiful crimson… so much beauty in all the places! So to celebrate, Lady A made one of her favorite dishes in the world: japanese curry haha. Who’s not surprised? Everybody…. BUT~ she cut all the veggies into adorable flowers and put a nice sunny egg on top because it was a sunny day with petals floating through the sky :)

Hi everyone! Beni here and welcome back to Let’s Not Starve! Today we wanted to say thank you of your patience by giving ya’ll two posts on the same day. We hope you enjoy today’s double feature. Both of the dishes you will see today were made using tea and floral ingredients so the dishes have their own “double feature” too. :D

DOUBLE FEATURE – SPICE TEA PORK

For this bento Lady J made a ginger flower and honey tea marinated pork. The pork was sliced thinly and marinated in a ginger honey tea, white pepper, powdered ginger, garlic, salt, and soy sauce. The pork was stir fried in sesame oil with freshly steamed edamame beans added at the end just to give it a nice nutty crunch. The dish is then topped with sesame seeds. 

The side dishes consist of ginger flower tea infused rice. The rice was cooked in a ginger flower tea with cut green beans and crystallized ginger to add an extra hit of ginger to the rice.

Hi everyone! Beni here and welcome back to Let’s Not Starve! Thank you for joining us again! Please enjoy part two of today’s double feature. <3

DOUBLE FEATURE – CONGEE & TEA FOR TWO

For this bento Lady J was in the mood for soup so she made a chicken congee. The chicken in the cogee has been marinated in five spice, white pepper, soy sauce, salt, and pepper then stir fried in olive oil to keep a clean flavor. The congee broth has been made with a sakura houji tea. Green onions and a bit of seaweed top the congee while pickled red ginger, edamame, and soy sauce have been placed on the sides as garnishes.

The desserts are a canelé (brought back from Montreal, Canada) and a sakura cream mochi (bought at a local Japanese sweets shop). The canelé is a French pastry that has a crunchy, caramelized crust with a soft spongy center. It is slightly sweet and pairs perfectly with a cup of floral tea. The sakura mochi is a Japanese pastry that has a sakura infused cream ball surrounded a layer of sakura flavored bean paste and wrapped in a fresh sakura flavored mochi. The mochi has a light refreshing flavor that is slightly sweet and again pairs brilliantly with a cup of tea.  

Hi everyone! Beni here and welcome back to Let’s Not Starve! For today’s bento Lady J decided to try to make a dessert that is known to be as light as a cloud. We were first introduced to it in Japan and have been obsessed with it ever since. We hope you enjoy it too! :)

DESSERTS - PARTLY SUNNY WITH A CHANCE OF CHEESE CAKE

For this bento Lady J decided to make a soufflé style cheesecake. This cheesecake is fluffy and lightly sweet. It pairs perfectly with fruit and a dollop of whipped cream. If you haven’t ever tried one check out Tasty Japan they have an amazing recipe for it. :)

Hi everyone! Beni here and welcome back to Let’s Not Starve! We are wrapping up our month of desserts with a simple post from Lady J. Hope ya’ll enjoy! :)

DESSERTS - A TRIO OF TARTS

For this bento Lady J decided to make a trio tarts. The tarts have a fresh based pie crust. The filling is a whipped cream and cream cheese base with three different flavors to enjoy. The dark chocolate, vanilla, and matcha tarts pair perfectly with tea.

Hi everyone! Beni here and welcome back to Let’s Not Starve! We are entering the holiday season here so we wanted to create a bento to celebrate accordingly.  This bento is based off of one of our more American holidays, Thanksgiving. This holiday brings people together to enjoy some of the best food of the fall season.

GIVING THANKS FOR BENTOS

For this bento Lady J decided to oven roast a whole Thanksgiving turkey. The turkey was basted in butter then covered with a rub made of smoked paprika, thyme, rosemary, garlic power, onion powder, white pepper, black pepper, and salt.

The turkey was then placed in an oven bag and cooked at 350 degrees for 3 ½ hours. The turkey is paired with traditional cranberry sauce discs. 

(Yes, it’s from a can but there are times you just don’t mess with TRADITION.  ;D )

The three side dishes for this bento are traditional Thanksgiving dishes.  Starting from the left, the first dish is a green bean casserole topped with fried onions. The second dish a mashed potatoes topped with a brown gravy. The third and final side dish is a turkey stuffing made with dried bread, celery, turkey broth, and seasonings.

Hi everyone! Beni here and welcome back to Let’s Not Starve! For the final bento of the month Lady J wanted to do a twist inspired by the most important meal of the day, breakfast. Granted we all know that the REAL most important meal of the day is dessert but we’ll just keep letting breakfast think it holds that title. ;)

SUSHI - BREAKFAST SUSHI: AMERICAN STYLE

For this bento Lady J decided to make a sushi inspired by an american breakfast. For the filling we have layers of bacon paired with fluffy scrambled eggs. (BENI COOKING TIP: If you want super fluffy scrambled eggs mix the eggs first before putting them into a pan and add a splash of milk. It helps the eggs to keep a fluffy creamy texture.)

The eggs and bacon are on a bed of steamed rice mixed with sharp cheddar cheese and wrapped in a special seaweed that Lady J’s friend JooJoo brought her all of the way from South Korean! SO GOOD!!!!