Inspired by my visit to Ekiben-ya Matsuri (read post) and NRE Daimasu bento factory (read post), I made a Shinkansen Bento today!
I was not feeling quite well last night so I wasn’t sure if I would wake up and be okay to make bento. Thankfully I woke up feeling better! So I made this bento!
Using the Shinkansen rice molds from Bento & co , I made this bullet train theme bento~
Have you taken the Shinkansen ‘新幹線’, Japanese bullet train before?
Shinkansen is such a convenient way to travel between large cities in Japan. While you are taking Shinkansen, don’t forget to buy yourself a ekiben ‘駅弁’ (train bento) to eat!
I seldom use rice molds as I actually enjoy shaping my riceball freehand more.
But I had bought this set quite some time ago and decided not to waste it. Plus it does help to save time!
To shape the rice neatly using molds, there are some tips :) Here are my 3 golden rules~
- First, please rinse the mold to wet it under running tap. Shake off the excess water, but do not wipe. The wetness helps the rice to be removed cleanly from the mold, giving you a neat shape.
- When you are filling the rice and pressing the ‘lid’ to pack the rice, always hold the bottom or where there is opening flap to keep the shape, you do not want rice coming out at this point. The opening flap is meant for you to press out the rice ball later.
- After removing the rice ball, I usually place the rice ball on cling wrap while I work on the other details. The cling wrap makes it easy for me to transfer the rice ball into the bento later without sticking or losing its shape.
I included the step-by-step photos on how I used the Shinkansen onigiri mold set. Enjoy~
This Shinkansen bento was packed in a very special box – see that aluminium bento box? This is a limited edition ekiben bento box and the cover is a photo of a really old Japanese anime. It does have a certain vintage feel~
The side dishes were tofu patties, stir-fry pea shoots with shiitake mushrooms, lettuce, broccoli and a strawberry. Ah… a vegetarian bento box today!
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More information about my bento cookbook title ‘Kawaii Bento’ here.
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