Minions and Dinosaur. hahaha

I am sure those of you who watched the Minions movie, would be familiar with this hilarious scene of the prehistoric minions accidentally causing the demise of their dino-boss.

Minions unlike another other type of creatures we know of, love their evil bosses to bits. But have survived since prehistoric days serving and accidentally killing their dino-boss, stone age man, king, general and Dracula before setting on their mission to find the next evil boss. 

Super amusing to see how the minions who were in awe of their brutish dinosaur but their love for banana had ultimately caused their dino-leader falling into the hot lava :P

After the movie, I told myself that I have to find an opportunity to make these prehistoric minions together with their dinosaur leader.

And of course, unlike the ‘modern’ day minions, these prehistoric minions were dressed in leaves and greens. Even their headbands are green in colour.

So I made the 3 minions dressed in their prehistoric outfits too. The green parts are a mixture of lettuce and green egg sheet.

Their already ‘dead’ dinosaur boss is actually a thin slice of wholemeal wrap. And I had to make the hot lava too – the actual food is red curry prawns, cooked using Dancing Chef’s the red curry paste. Pretty fiery in flavour to.

The stone cliff edge is actually a small chunk of sourdough bread. A super fun Minions and Dinosaur foodart to make to start the week.

Happy Monday!!

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More info on my bento cookbook titled ‘Kawaii Bento’  here and my 2nd cookbook titled ‘Kawaii Deco Sushi’ out now in stores here!

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Dancing Chef Green Curry Bunny Foodart!

From now till end of June 2015, Dancing Chef™ is holding a special ‘Curry in a Hurry’ promotion, where individuals can get any three packets of Dancing Chef™ cooking paste at just S$7.55.

Amongst the brands that offers the widest range of authentic curry flavours in Singapore, I really like how Dancing Chef™ curry pastes are made from a blend of natural herbs and spices, without any MSG content.

I like that it is so easy to whip up a curry feast without the fuss or long preparation time – be it Thai, Indonesian, Indian or Singaporean Curry flavours.  Dancing Chef™ has 10 different curry pastes! wow.

Dancing Chef™ Green Curry Paste is perfect for whipping up an authentic Thai Green Curry with a fiery kick.

For those who cannot handle spicy food as well, you can try Dancing Chef™ Yellow Curry and Indian curry paste.

For my green curry, I made it special. A combination of onion, carrots, potatoes, zucchini, mushrooms and chicken, topped with some longans at the end. Yes you heard that right.

This was inspired by a meal I had at a fine dining resturant where they served grapes and longans in green curry and I remembered how the sweetness of the fruits went so well with the fiery flavours and curry fragrance.

Thai Green Curry Recipe

Ingredients (for 2)

• 1 pkt of  Dancing Chef™  Green Curry Paste
• 200ml full fat milk (you can use coconut milk if preferred)
• 100ml water
• 2tbsp diced up onions
• 1 tsp sliced garlic
• half a carrot chopped
• 1 large potato chopped
• half a zucchini chopped
• 250g chicken thigh meat
• 100g mushrooms
• 2 tsp oil
• canned longans (optional)

Method

1. In a deep fry pan, heat up some oil and sauteed the garlic and onions till slightly caramelised
2. Add in  Dancing Chef™   Thai Green Curry Paste and chicken. Sauteed till the chicken meat changes colour and is coated with the curry paste.
3. Add in potatoes, carrots, zucchini and mushrooms. Sauteed for about half a min.
4. Add in milk and water and bring to boil.
5. Then simmer for about 10-15mins until the potatoes softens and chicken meat is cooked tender.
6. Turn off heat, add in longans. Give it a quick stir and serve with rice.

And of course, my meal usually have to be cute or Japanese or pretty :P haha.

Today I made Bunny foodart to go along with the green curry. 

With the convenience from using Dancing Chef™ Green Curry Paste and this super easy bunny foodart, this is a meal that one can easily whip up without spending too much time in the kitchen.

The bunny rice is made using a rice mold set that I bought at Tokyu Hands in Taipei recently. I have wanted to buy this quite some time, but just have not gotten around to getting it.

The set comes in a set of 3 shapes – bunny, dolphin and flower.

Today I used the bunny mold. It also comes with a small cutter set that includes the animal features as well as flower and carrot shapes. That was how I made the mini carrots. 

Bunny foodart

• Japanese rice
• luncheon mat (alternatively ham) for the ears and cheeks
• seaweed for eyes and nose

Hope you enjoy today’s recipe post!

I am not sure if the rice mold set is available at the Singapore Tokyu Hands (will try to check when I go), but I found it online at allthingsforsale (BentoUSA) here.

Blog post disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post. No monetary compensation was received. The curry paste was compliments  of Dancing Chef™ and all views expressed are my own. 

The post Dancing Chef Green Curry Bunny Foodart appeared first on Little Miss Bento.

Made Rilakkuma Omu Curry rice today! Loving this foodart as this is not only easy to make but also really yummy!

Check out that Omu egg!!  This is a style of cooking fluffy egg omelette that is served with rice in Japan.

I needed something quick this morning, so decided to make myself this Rilakkuma Omu Curry foodart.

Plus it also allows me to finish up the leftover rice from yesterday by cooking the fried rice. The fried rice is then packed into my Rilakkuma rice mold and then plated.

I then heated up some Melon Japanese curry that I bought from LOFT @ Shibuya.

What I am actually most proud of in today’s foodart creation is the Japanese omu! You might not know this, I have experimented at home for several times before this, before managing to get it right and flipping the egg in the pan without having to clean up the floor. hahah

The egg is so so yummy! Lots of butter into the pan before cooking the egg.. yummmmmssss

I used 2 eggs for this mini omu, if you like a larger serving, you might want to use 3 eggs instead (but I didn’t want to eat 3 eggs in one seating. ) and of course lots of butter.

Do you like Omu curry Rice too? This is actually one of my favourite item when I visit the curry rice shops in Japan.

Using my new Kate Spade plate that I bought. I love the Monochrome colours with the black white borders. So to match the theme, I also added two black white stripe pasta which is available at Mustafa.

Have a wonderful week ahead everyone!

Forgot to take a cut up (to show the fluffy insides ) of the omu egg, will do that next time when I make this again. heheh.

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More information about my bento cookbook title ‘Kawaii Bento’  here. 

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It has been a while since I made Olaf Bento :) Seems like the Frozen fever has not died off, many of my friends and their children are still in love with the movie characters.

Japanese curry has always been a dish I enjoy very much. While I also like the usual Peranakan and Chinese style curry, I also love eating Japanese curry.

Decided to make vegetarian Japanese curry, consisting of potatoes, carrots, onions, mushrooms and baby corn.

I also packed some greens (shredded cabbage, edamame beans) and fruits (kiwis and strawberries)  in the other tin carrier. The third layer of the tin carrier was used to pack my breakfast (not in photo).

This limited edition old-fashioned tin carrier is designed by local artist Eeshaun, a very talented old school mate of mine (We studied in the same university). Eeshuan is a self taught Singaporean artist and illustrator, his works are of child-like imagery and well known for the spontaneity, free lines and improvisation.

Made in collaboration with Centerpiece Creation. Each tiffin carrier is made of enamel, autographed and limited to 100 pieces. 

I was really glad to get my hands one a set of this beautifully designed tin carrier. It is also a priviledge to use such a beautifully designed tin carrier.

Do you like my Olaf? Personally I am quite pleased that the Olaf character turned out quite well.

I made a simple bento tutorial below and hope you will enjoy making Olaf as much as I did.

1. Japanese Curry Recipe

• Potato small 1 pcs *diced
• Carrot (half) *diced
• Shimeiji Mushrooms approx 50-60g
• Onion (1/3) * diced finely
• Chicken thigh meat approx 200g *choped
• Cooking oil 1 tbsp
• Japanese curry powder 3tbsp
• Water 500ml

Method

2. Cooking Japanese Rice

Ingredients

• 1 cup japonica rice
• 1 & 1/3 cup mineral water

Method

1. Wash and rinse the rice grains. Measure the water and add to the rice in the rice cooker pot
2. Soak for at least 30mins before cooking

3. Bento Tutorial for Olaf

Ingredients

• rice
• seaweed
• thin egg sheet (white)
• kombu seaweed
• carrot

Method

(1) Using cling wrap, shape the rice tightly into the parts of Olaf. This includes the head, mid section of the body, lower section of the body, feet, as well as a thin strip. This is to be added on the head to give it a more 3-D look and feel.

(2) Cut and create the features of Olaf using seaweed, kombu seaweed, thin egg sheet and carrots

• seaweed (eyes, buttons, mouth)
• thin egg sheet (eyes, teeth)
• kombu seaweed (hair, hands)
• carrot (nose)

(3) Assemble and arrange the parts on the rice ball.

(4) Transfer the Olaf character on some Japanese curry in a bowl or your bento  box.

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Kiiroitori Curry Rice Bento – Tutorial for San-X Rilakkuma Rice Kit Set :) 

The post Kiiroitori Japanese Curry Rice Bento　キイロイトリのカレーライス・キャラ弁 appeared first on Little Miss Bento.

I am so happy to share with you this fun and cute Chick Japanese Curry Bun and the recipe :)

This bread bun recipe is definitely a keeper! I love the homemade curry filling too as it was really yummy! 

Also timely since Easter is just around the corner :) heh. 

Do note that this bread is on the sweet side, similar to the bread buns found at Japanese bakeries. The curry filling uses Japanese curry powder so if you are a fan of Japanese curry, you will enjoy this bread bun!

My colleagues gave thumbs up to this curry bun and commented that the homemade curry bread filling was yummy :) yay~~

My hubby is a fan of the curry bread buns found at Japanese bakeries and I had wanted to try to make too. Unlike the usual fried curry donut style, this homemade curry bun is with soft butter bun on the outside. Nom nom :)

Recipe for Homemade Curry Filling for Bread (for 8-9 buns)

Ingredients
chicken /or pork meat (diced) 100g
medium large size potato 1/2 (diced)
medium size onion 1/4 (diced)
japanese curry cubes 34g
fresh shiitake mushroom 2pcs (diced)
butter 21g 
flour 21g
water approx 400ml
sesame oil

Method 
1) In a deep non-stick pan, heat some sesame oil. Fry the onion followed by potato until onion is cooked and lightly brown. Add in about 200ml of water and simmer. 
2) In another non stick pan, heat some sesame oil and sauteed the chicken and mushrooms until cooked through. Add it to the potato/onion in step 1. Continue to simmer for about 8 mins. 
3) Add in the curry cubes and mix well until incorporated. Add in water to adjust the consistency. It should be thick but not gooey at this point. Then continue to simmer for about 5mins to reduce the moisture.
*Tip: You will need to add some water if you find that the mixture is too thick. I added about 200ml here. 
4) Using the same pan from step 2 (so you don’t have to wash), melt the butter and add in the flour, keep stirring quickly and you will have a gooey flour mixture. Add it to the the curry mixture. 
5) Keep stirring and cooking until you have a thick gooey consistency. 
6) Remove from heat and set aside to cool. 

Recipe for Chick Japanese Curry Bun (makes 8)

Ingredients

• bread flour 200g
• plain flour 50g
• instant baking yeast 1tsp
• curry powder 1tsp
• milk powder 5g (optional)
• warm water (about 40C) 120ml 
• 1 medium size egg (about 58g)
• sugar 3tbsp
• unsalted butter 20g
• salt 1/2 tsp
• homemade curry filling (about 400g)
  
  Method
  1) Measure and sieve the bread flour, plain flour, milk powder into a large mixing bowl. Measure and add in the sugar, salt and instant dry yeast. 
  2) Beat the egg and pour the egg mixture into the 120ml warm water using a sieve. Measure out about 130~135ml of the diluted egg mixture and add into the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients. 
  3) Add in the soften unsalted butter and knead the dough until you have a smooth elastic dough. Form a ball and let it rest in the mixing bowl. Cover and wait 55mins for the first rise. 
  4) The dough should double in size. Do the dough test. 
  5) Punch out the air and divide into 8 equal parts, shape them into small balls and cover with a damp cloth. Set aside for 10mins (2nd rise). 
  6) Flatten and Roll out one ball of dough, try to ensure that the surface away from you is smooth as this is the ‘front’ of the final bread bun.  
  7) Scoop one spoonful of homemade curry filling onto the centre. Wrap and seal the bread bun. 
  8) Add carrot slices and mini chocolate chips for the eyes and mouth. 
  *Tip: Press the carrot slices and chocolate chips slightly into the bread bun, as the bread bun will rise when it bakes, it might pop out if you do not do this. 
  8) Glaze the bread bun with the remaining egg mixture from Step (2).
  9) Bake the bread in the oven at 180C for about 15mins until nicely brown.
  10) Let it cool and draw on the chick’s feet using some melted chocolate.

The post Recipe for Cute Chick Japanese Curry Bread　自家製カレーパン「レシピ」可愛いトリさん appeared first on Little Miss Bento.