non-bento #12: Totoro cream puffs
March 31, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in bento blog (all), bento blog - non bento Tags: cream puff, mini-totoro, studio ghibli, totoro
11 comments
Today was my friend/co-worker’s last day (for full-time) at work. I’ve known her since art school, and she’s the one who made me the picture book of my bento. She had a baby last year, and recently she decided to work part-time from home and be with her baby. So it’s a good good-bye. I know she loves sweets, but cookies seemed a little boring… so I decided to make cream puffs for her and my co-workers. Not ordinary cream puffs but Totoro cream puffs!
Non-bento#12: Totoro cream puffs
Created and eaten on: 3/31/2009
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Gyoza night!
March 29, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in Everything else Tags: gyoza
6 comments
Brooklyn is having a restaurant week during March 23 – April 2, and my boyfriend and I took this opportunity to explore a new restaurant in my neighborhood.
We had a lot of left overs from other nights, so we weren’t really thinking about the $23 per person prix fixe dinner, but $23 for two people for brunch at a nice restaurant didn’t sound too bad. So we picked Alta Voce, an Italian restaurant in Park Slope.
It seemed like we were the second customer that day. There was only an older couple (both about in their 60’s) eating at a table. The place was classy but not fancy. Very cozy and warm. The service was very nice too. They had a piano, and a little after we sat down, the man from the older couple started playing the piano, and his wife/girlfriend (about the same age as the man) was adoringly looking at him play. It was very sweet. It looked like an scene from Porco Rosso. The food was good, and we also enjoyed our unlimited mimosa and bloody Mary. 
Even though it’s not supposed to be during restaurant week, the brunch is about $15, with unlimited mimosa/Champagne/bloody Mary! “Unlimited”!
Anyway, after we had good food and some drinks, we came home, and my boyfriend played some video games while I watched him play. Then we decided to make gyoza. A lot of them. My boyfriend made the skin from scratch, I made the filling from scratch, but we wrapped the gyoza together.
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non-bento #11: M-O and EVE
March 28, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in bento blog (all), bento blog - american, bento blog - non bento Tags: EVE, M-O, non-bento, sandwich
1 comment so far
My boyfriend goes to kung-fu class on Saturday. He used to get a Vietnamese sandwich after his class and eat it at home. But after we moved in, he’d just come home straight and eat whatever we have at home to save money.
Today, he came home from kung-fu, and started organizing around the house, and cleaning the windows. We’ve been working pretty hard to settle down since we moved in, and he’s been definitely doing more work than I have. 
So I decided to treat him with in-house snack bento!
non-bento #11: M-O and EVE
Created and eaten on: 3/28/2009
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how to make kodama, moogle and boo ghost steamed pork buns
March 26, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in how-to (all), how-to - decorations Tags: kodama, mario boo ghost, moogle, steamed pork bun
11 comments
This recipe doesn’t use yeast, so if you want to make buns fast, this is for you! (But as I mentioned in my other post, it’s a bit dry inside.)
For more moist steamed pork bun dough, check out “how to make steamed pork bun dough with yeast.”
When I was experimenting with steamed buns, I realized that Kodama was perfect character to make with buns, so I decided to add Kodama for this how-to.
[How to make Kodama, Moogle and Boo Ghost steamed pork bun dough without yeast]
(makes 8 small buns)
- 1 and 1/4 cup of *cake flour
- 80 ml of water (5 and 1/2 TBS) or milk (I used water)
- 2 TBS of baking powder
- 2 TBS of sugar
- 1/2 TS of salt
- 1 TBS of sesame oil (or vegetable oil)
- seaweed for eyes and mouth (for Kodama, Moogle, Boo Ghost)
- kamaboko (fish cake) (for Boo Ghost’s teeth)
– red food coloring (for Moogle and Boo Ghost)
– wax paper or parchment paper
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how to make steamed pork bun dough with yeast
March 26, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in how-to (all), how-to - fundamentals Tags: boo ghost, kodama, moogle, steamed pork bun
12 comments
It may take a while to make this, but the bun is so very moist and delicious it’s worth it. Since this recipe makes about 20 buns, I recommend you make tons of buns on weekend and freeze them.
If you want to make buns fast, check out “how to make steamed pork bun dough without yeast.”
You can, of course, use this dough to make Kodama, Moogle, and Boo Ghost.
[How to make steamed pork bun dough with yeast] by my boyfriend’s mom!
*makes 20-21 small buns
- 3 cups all purpose flour (sifted)
- 1 tsp dry yeast
- 1 TBS canola oil
- 1 TBS sugar
- 1 pinch salt
- 1-1/3 cups lukewarm water
- 1/4 tsp baking soda
*This dough was made by my boyfriend.
[pork bun filling]
- 1/2 lbs of ground pork
- About 1 cup of chopped leeks or scallion (you can put more if you want)
- 4~5 shiitake, chopped (if you have any. make sure you remove the stems)
- half a can of bamboo shoot, chopped (if you have any)
[seasoning sauce for filling]
- 3 TBS of soy sauce
- 2 TBS of sake
- 1 TBS of sugar
- 1/4 TS of salt
- 2 TBS of sesame oil (or vegetable oil)
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