Little Miss Bento

 

A Totoro Seaweed Art Bento! Do you like my seaweed cutting today?

I realised I have never attempted a Totoro seaweed cutting amongst my seaweed cutting creations. The design that I picked is definitely one of the tougher ones for seaweed cutting as well. 

Overall, I think it turned out pretty nice! Happy~~

The side dishes were Japanese gyoza, sauteed sausages with baby corn and tofu squares, broccoli, carrot and lettuce. 

I have included in today’s bento post, a step by step guide for the seaweed cutting, as well as assembling the seaweed outlines onto the oblate sheet, added colors and adding it to the rice. 

Please note that some food colors are used at the second phase. If this is not ideal for you, you could keep the design just black and white. 

Tutorial guide for Totoro Seaweed Cutting for Bento

Level: Intermediate Advanced
Time: estimated 1.5hours (may vary depending on how fast you can cut the seaweed design)

Ingredients/Tools needed
- 1 large seaweed sheet
- 1 oblate sheet (oblate sheet is edible sheet, transparent, thin and tasteless. It is used for sweets decoration, link to the product at Amazon JP at the bottom of this post)
- 2 print outs of the totoro design
- sharp paper cutting knife (I used my ACTO knife)
- cutting board
- some clips
- small brushes
- icing colors (green, brown, black, blue)
- water
- tweezer
- lint free cloth
- edible black pen (extra fine)

Method
1) Clip 1 print out design over the seaweed sheet on the cutting board.
2) Cut out the smaller parts and details. Followed by the large areas. The smaller parts which are not ‘attached’ should be cut out and place in a container (so you don’t lose them!).
*Note: that as Singapore’s weather is humid, the seaweed may easily soften and curl up. You can perhaps choose to work in air con room and also cover the container holding the tiny detached parts. 
3) Lay the oblate sheet on a mat, ideally transparent mat (usually it comes in the pack when you buy them). Place the second print out design underneath to act as a guide. 
4) Dampen your lint free cloth and wet the oblate sheet slightly. Just enough to make it sticky but not too wet as the oblate will tear or ‘melt’. 
5) Slowly, lay the seaweed parts over and assemble them to form the design. Add the smaller parts and details. 
Tip: If there are some parts that do not join well, you can use the edible black pen to fill them in. For the two smaller totoros, I drew their eyes as they were too small to cut. 
6) Let it dry slightly (if too wet) for about 10mins. In the meatime, prepare the colors. 
7) Dilute the icing colors with some water to achieve the desired color tones. Using a small brush, brush on the colors to the seaweed design. 
Tip: do not rub too hard or paint too much back and forth. The oblate sheet might break or ‘melt’. 
8) After completed, let it rest overnight to dry completely.
9) Following day, gently remove the sheet from the base. Trim off the excess and place it on your rice (or cheese slice) in your bento.