Bentolicious #191
We passed a pet shop yesterday after school. Kids shouted very loud 'hamster'! I think they missed their hamsters. But if they ever asked me (which didn't happened yesterday), then my answer would still be no for the time being. I planned from last night to make 3D hamsters from hand mold rice but got lazy this morning, so I changed the plan and made this 2D running hamster. The round box will just be perfect for their running wheel. I use egg sheet to make the running hamster. I hope you all are not bored yet with the egg sheet. Please bear with me! I punched some music notes from nori but it kept shrinking when I put them on the top of the rice. I tried to use my music note picks but they are too big, just didn't match with the hamster. So inside the kids' bento no music notes, I put those 'fake' music notes for the picture only. Inside the other round box : fish with soy sauce & ginger sprinkled with sesame seeds, stir fried Chinese cabbage & carrots, and stir fried green yong tofu. I got the green yong tofu from the supermarket couple days ago from the chiller section. The texture is firmer than tofu, tastes a bit salty like fish cake.

28 comments:

How will we ever be bored with you ever so perfect and intricate work of "eggsheet arts"? :)
The hamster look so cute with the music notes cliparts! Perfect!
Btw, I've got some smaller sizes of music note picks from Daiso which I think may fit into your box. Maybe you could check out from your local Daiso or BentoCrafts carries them too.

So the hamster is exercising on the running wheel while listening to the music? How fun! Hehehe ^^

I never get bored with your egg sheet creation. The hamster is just like me when i was on the treadmill 3 years ago. hahaha..now, i'm too lazy to do it.

This is SO CUTE!! I wish I had access to these kinds of ingredients where I live and then I wish I had your creativity! I have a question - how do you keep the rice soft? When I make rice for my lunch box by the time it comes to lunch time the rice is so hard and not very tasty :( do you use a specific type of rice and a method to keep it soft and tasty? Thanks xx

I love egg sheet ! I tried last week making flowers in my bento, that was pretty hard ^^ I hope one day I will make bento as beautiful as yours !

@Yeapies : Thanks a lot for your kind comment and for your info! I will check it out at Daiso later. It has been a while since my last shopping at Daiso :)

@tatabonita : Thanks a lot Tata! Need to do more exercises like this hamster. When I do treadmill, I always use iPod to make it less boring hehehe :D

@mama elaine : Thanks a lot Yuli! Me too. I want to do it in the morning but too busy with chores. And in the afternoon, no more energy :)

@The Little Welsh : Thanks a lot Emma! I always cook my rice with 1:1,5 (1 cup rice : 1,5 cups water) so it moists and not too dry. My kids love it that way. Others perhaps will use another method. And I use regular short grain rice. You need to rinse and drain the rice few times. It does make a difference in taste. It seems ok until lunch hour. Will dry up a little bit at the top but still moist inside.

@Juliglups : Thanks a lot Juli! After a few times then it will be a lot easier. If you have the flower cutters, just use it to cut on the egg sheets. Is fast and neat :)

i think what the hamster sing while he running??? hahahaha silly joke mbak lia =D

@Oen Priyanto : hehehe ... should be a happy and fast beat song :) Thanks a lot for your comment!

Looks awesome as usual. Will attempt egg sheet cutting one fine fine day  thanks for the inspiration as always Lia.

Run baby ruuuuun! So cute hamster!! Loved the earphones ^__^!
You are so creative Lia, want to be my mommy? ;)

eeks, this hamster is so cute in his wheel! love his little red nose and his running pose, with his perfect walkman!

i have had nori-shrinking problems lately too; great idea to add the notes with photoshop.

soy-ginger fish looks so tasty, making my mouth water!

Great artwork! How long do you usually take in the morning to make your kids' bentos? Do you make fresh egg sheets each day? What do you do with the rest of the egg sheets that you don't use, can you reuse them for the next morning or do they get weird in texture/taste? You seem to use food colouring a lot for your egg sheets, but how safe is it?
Sorry for asking so many questions, but I'm a big fan of your blog and am just curious with how you proceed. And if I may add a little comment, I do love your egg sheets but I prefer your "natural" creations (without the food colouring) better (but please, don't mind me, it's just my personal opinion). Thanks! And again, sorry for the long comment :)

@Feedingmykidsbetter : Thanks a lot Shaz! Hope you can try it too and happy bento-ing :)

@karaimame : hahaha ... Thanks a lot Lilian for your cute comment!

@megan : Thanks a lot Megan! Music notes with food picks are much more convenience to use since they won't shrink. Have to find those small music notes picks :)

@miko : Hi Miko! Thanks a lot for your comment here! The time for my bento preparation including cooking time in the morning will be vary. It depends on what I'm cooking and what I'm making. Usually between 30 minutes until 2 hours top. For the egg sheet, I always do it fresh and I have never try to put it on the fridge until now. Because it doesn't necessary to make the whole egg sheet for each color. So I usually will look at the color that I need then make just a small egg sheet if I don't need the big one to minimize the left over. Yes, I use food coloring for the egg sheet (except white and yellow egg sheets). I know that some people don't like to use artificial food coloring. But it my opinion it saves because has been approved by the food administration (POM) in my country so people can buy it and use it. Plus I know that my kids don't always actually eat the egg sheet since the egg sheet just for the decoration on the top of the rice. They usually only eat the rice with meats, veggies, and fruits that I prepared for them. Hope this can answer your questions :)

Is that ever cool or what?! I love it! Round bento box goes so well with your running hamster.. omg, even head phones?? Amazingly so well thought out Lia!

Thanks for your reply about my rice question! I use long grain rice - for when I cook Chinese food, I should buy some short grain for when I want to put it in the lunch boxes! Thanks for the advice!

Lia, I really love this cute hamster. Always love all your new creations ~ 看到就会从心里笑出来 :))

Would you do a tutorial on making your gorgeous egg sheets?

Amazing creativity and details here Lia, I'm sitting here with my mouth open! Your kawaii artistry is simple incredible.

My rainy chilly afternoon here has just been warmed up by your charming bento art, thank you!!

I always admire your eggsheet cutting skill! I am even still too intimidated trying to make an eggsheet myself ;). Do you have a tutorial on how to make an eggsheet?

@Wendy & @Cooking Gallery : You can find the tips on how to make an eggsheet under the Tips section (click from the top bar). Hope that can help! :)

@Chantale, @The Little Welsh, @Anncoo, @Bentobird : Thanks a lot dear friends for your sweet comments! Really happy to read them and so sorry for the late reply :)