Bento making!

I had thought about it for a while, but not having the necessary skills needed for it, I had not dared to try it out.  I mean - it is something seen natural for someone for the fairer gender, having being coerced to pick it up in school too.  What am I talking about?  Cooking, and in my case, bento (meals in lunch boxes) making.

My friend and ex-colleague Nancy had triggered the interest in me.  Being an enthusiastic individual for life and always aspiring to do the best for her two boys, she let me in on how fun it was and how she enjoyed making bento for her sons when they went to school.  Though I had admired her for doing so, I did not think I would have the time and culinary skills required.  So, I smiled and listened to her stories.

Not too long ago, I saw this book on character bento-making sold in one of the Popular bookstores.  Something made me pick it up and bring it to the counter.  I wanted to try it out, sometime.  Being written in Chinese, a language that I had gradually forgotten how to read, did not help too.  Ha.

The past week, when my wife told me that she would be clearing leave the following week, I popped the idea of making bentos together to her.  I always thought that it could be an activity for us to share and enjoy in together.  Not to mention that she would be a great help to do the cooking.  She seemed interested with my idea, and nodded.  Yes!

This day, we went to Daiso in Vivocity (where I had read in a bento-making group on facebook that bento-making tools were sold) to pick up some apparatus to help us get started.  We were greeted with the different pieces of moulds and lunchboxes available there.  We picked a few that we thought we could put to good use, and also proceeded to a supermarket to pick up some ingredients the next day.  We seemed set for our first bento, but were we?

I decided that we would try out making one (in case it failed) for ourselves.  I was not sure if the food could stay in the lunchboxes long enough, for one.  Yen picked a manageable-design from the book - one of three little pigs - and after making sure that we had the necessary ingredients, we started our journey on making our first bento.

Yen ensured some cutting of the carrots into shapes and making the rice into the round-shapes were done, while I took up the role of the Creative Director, trying my best to make the pigs look like what they were, using cheese and carrots for the ears, eyes and snouts.  Boy, it was hard work!  This was the end result:

Simple, but it was a springboard for more to come for us.  We enjoyed the process and our trio loved the product - tomato mixed with rice was yummy for them!