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
10 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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which dough is for you?
March 24, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in Everything else Tags: dough, steamed pork bun
1 comment so far
First time I made Moogle and Mario Boo Ghost steamed pork buns, I used two different kinds of Japanese flour. Kyourikiko (hard flour) and Hakurikiko (soft flour). Thing is, I don’t think it’s something that everyone can get, so my boyfriend and I tried making buns with two different kinds of dough. One with cake flour and baking powder, and the other one with all-purpose flour and yeast.
Before I post “How to make Kodama, Moogle, and Mario Boo Ghost steamed pork buns”, I want to mention differences in two doughs.
Which dough is for you? It’s up to you. Both recipes have pros and cons.
[Cake flour and baking powder]
pros: takes about 30 minutes, no need to wait for yeast to rise
cons: if you use water instead of milk, the bun is a bit dry inside
Note: Because it has bread-like texture, it’s probably more suited for sweeter pastry buns, like sweet red bean buns.
[All-purpose flour and yeast]
pros: bun is soft and moist inside, fine texture
cons: takes about 2 hours or longer
Here’s a picture of two doughs.
Top: cake flour and baking powder. Bottom: all-purpose flour and yeast
The bun on the top was made with cake flour and baking powder, closed at the bottom.
The bun on the bottom was made with all-purpose flour and yeast, closed at the top.
You can see the edge of the bun on the top has a similar texture as cake, and the bottom bun has fine texture.
I’ll make one post for each how-to so it’ll be easier to search in the index page!
non-bento #10: Battlestar Galactica themed dinner part 2
March 21, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in bento blog (all), bento blog - non bento Tags: battlestar galactica, bsg, dradis contact
3 comments
EDIT: Looking for BSG bento? See “bento#34: Battlestar Galactica bento!”
My boyfriend and I made this BSG themed dinner before we watched the episode tonight.
Multiple DRADIS contacts!
non-bento #9: Battlestar Galactica themed dinner part 2
Created and eaten on: 3/21/2009
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non-bento #9: Battlestar Galactica themed dinner part1
March 20, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in bento blog (all), bento blog - non bento Tags: battlestar galactica, bsg, dog tag, Eye of Jupiter
2 comments
EDIT: Looking for BSG bento? See “bento#34: Battlestar Galactica bento!”
So I couldn’t post the pictures before Battlestar Galactica final episode aired, but I’ll do a quick post about this dinner anyway. (I copied and pasted most text from my earlier post.)
Non-bento #9-a: Eye of Jupiter cake made out of rice
Created and eaten on: 3/19/2009
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how to make Cylon Raider cookies
March 20, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in how-to (all), how-to - characters (Ghibli, video game, Wall-E) Tags: battlestar galactica, bsg, cookie, cylon raider
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EDIT: Looking for BSG bento? See “bento#34: Battlestar Galactica bento!”
This is something I made for my Battlestar Galactica fans. Nothing very special, I just cut cookie dough in the shape of Cylon Raider. I used the cookie cutter I made out of a soda bottle (see the cookie cutter in “how to make Totoro peanut butter sandwich”) because with this cutter, you can make cookies in any size you want.
[How to make Cylon Raider cookies] (naked version)
- cookie dough (see “how to make cookie dough with pancake mix” or any cookie dough) If you use my cookie dough recipe, it’ll make about nine 3 inch cookies.
- red icing (or you can use dye white icing with red food coloring)
- parchment paper
– cutter made out of a plastic bottle (see “how to make Totoro peanut butter sandwich”)
*- white icing (I just bought the icing in a tube this time)
*– food coloring (red, blue and yellow)
* I couldn’t put icing this time, but I will in the future!
Before I started working on the cookie, and I decided how big I wanted my Cylon Raider to be. I cut parchment paper slightly bigger than the cookie cutter, and cut the corners of each sheet. (This is just for BSG fans. Cutting corners doesn’t affect the cookies’ taste!)
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sneak preview of non-bento #9
March 20, 2009
Posted by AnnaTheRed in bento blog (all) Tags: battlestar galactica, bsg, dog tag, Eye of Jupiter, party food
1 comment so far
I couldn’t blog last night because I was busy cooking an early Battlestar Galactica (a.k.a. BSG) themed feast!
Why a feast? For those who don’t know me, my boyfriend and I are huge BSG fans and BSG’s series final is tonight. Yes, it’s finally tonight!!! 2 hour episode from 9 pm eastern time. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I feel excited and worried.
I was getting antsy, so decided to practice preparing a big feast for the finale of BSG. Actually, I wanted to post them late last night or early this morning, so that people who were planning to have a BSG party tonight could add a BSG themed dish or two for their party. BUT I forgot to upload the images to flickr, and I’m at work now… (lunch break ^^)
Sighs.
I hope I can post them before the show airs tonight.
I don’t want to spoil surprises, but in case I don’t post them before the show, I’ll explain what I made. I made an “Eye of Jupiter rice cake”, and BSG dog tags potato/bacon finger snacks. (It’s too nerdy to explain what the “Eye of Jupiter” and “BSG dog tags” are so if you don’t know, google search it!)
For the “Eye of Jupiter” I made a cake out of rice using a cake mold (see “non-bento#6: real rice cake”). I sliced carrots in thin strips, microwaved it for a minute, and spread it for the orange circle. Then I chopped scallions and sprinkled it for the blue circle. I used a brown egg I had made for the center, but you can put pretty much anything in the center. If you have seaweed, you can cut it into thin strips and sprinkle to make the outline for each circle too.
For “BSG dog tags” I peeled and sliced potato about 1/4 inch thin. I carefully cut one slice of potato into a hexagon shape, and used that piece as a guide to cut the rest of the hexagon shapes. It’s very hard to cut each piece into a hexagon shape, but it’s SO MUCH EASIER to do if you have one perfect hexagon shape as a guide.
Make sure you keep the potatoes in water after you cut it. It’ll prevent discoloration. You can also cut potatoes in advances, and keep in a tupperware container with water overnight in the fridge until you cook it. (Save all scraps in water so you can eat cook them with bacon juice after you cook the dog tags, or just fry them) I then cut the bacon in pieces smaller than the hexagon shaped sliced potato, and cooked in a pan. When the bacon was cooked and crispy, I took out the bacon, and fried the hexagon shaped sliced potatoes in the bacon juice until they were brown.
When the potatoes were done, I took put them in a strainer to remove the excess oil, and sandwiched the bacon between two potato slices. You can sprinkle a bit of salt and pepper if you like. We ate them with fingers, but you can stick tooth picks through them if you’re worried about it falling apart.
Actually I have another BSG themed food to post, which I wasn’t too happy about… but I’ll post it anyway.
I think there’ll be multiple posts today. I apologize for geeking out, but I just can’t help it!
Eye of Jupiter cake (made out of rice)
- rice
- beef soboro
- egg
- carrot
- scallion (or anything green)
BSG dog tag finger food
- potato
- bacon
