Well, I realized I have been MIA-ed (missing in action, LOL) for a couple of days, sorry!

For the last three days, we were often not at home, thus I could not find the time to write, although I have a few recipes waiting to be shared on this blog.

I have also been thinking lately about my directions for this blog in 2009.  Would you like to hear them?  Well, I hope this blog will continue to grow in content.  I hope this blog can become a good source of reference to my readers who are on the lookout for more lunchbox recipe ideas to cook for their loved ones.  I would also like to achieve my target of writing a post every alternate day.  I also hope that this blog can reach an Alexa rank below one million and probably get some page rank love from Google by summer time.  Hmm.  Do you think it is possible?

Well, the most recent milestone I have taken for this blog is to join Foodbuzz.  See that badge on the top right corner of this blog?  This is in recognition that easylunchboxrecipes.com has been accepted as a Foodbuzz featured publisher!  I have heard great things about Foodbuzz from other foodie bloggers and I am excited at the thought of making more foodie friends there.  Connecting with others of the same interest can also widen my pool of ideas and provide me with more inspiration in the dishes I continue to whip up for this blog.

The second milestone is the opening of my Lunch Box Store.  See the “Lunch Box Store” tab at the very top of the blog, beside the “Home” and “About” tab?  This is where I showcase the most popular lunch box merchandise, be it bento boxes, lunch jars, thermos jars, lunch bags and everything else related to lunch boxes.

Personally, I favour Japanese brands for their lunch boxes, so if you are looking for a good thermos food jar, I do highly recommend the Zojirushi Stainless Steel ones.  These are really worth every cent that you pay.

Alright, I will be back with the next recipe “Stir-Fried Black Pepper Udon Noodles” very soon.  This recipe got a big thumbs up from everyone who tried it, so do stay with me if you are keen to cook some udon!

But always going to the restaurants to get my fix is not going to be good for our pockets in the long run, so I am learning how to prepare them from my home.

For example, this meal below which serves four would cost us about US$40 – US$50 at a mid-range restaurant, but when we cook it ourselves, we can probably save two-thirds of what we would have spent.

For convenience, I have used pre-mix tempura flour that you can also get easily at supermarkets.  Other ingredients like furukake (Japanese rice seasoning) and bottled tempura sauce can also be bought readily.

Ingredients (Serves 4 adults):

• Cooking oil (for deep-frying of tempura)
• 4 cups of cooked Japanese short-grained rice
• 4 large shitake mushrooms, trimmed of caps and cut into halves
• 2-3 ladies’ fingers (okra), tail trimmed and cut slanted
• 1 small carrot, peeled and sliced
• 15-20 tiger prawns, de-shelled and de-veined
• 100 g tempura flour pre-mix
• Cold water (1 cup should be more than enough)
• 8 tablespoons tempura sauce
• 4 tablespoons furukake seasoning

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1:  Place the tempura flour pre-mix in a mixing bowl.  Add cold water (it must be cold!) a little at a time, and mix batter lightly till a moderately thin consistency is achieved.

Step 2:  Heat up enough cooking oil for deep-frying in a saucepan or wok.

Step 3:  Pat dry the prawns and vegetables with a kitchen paper towel before frying.

Step 4:  Test whether the oil is hot enough by dripping a drop of tempura batter.  If the batter comes up to the surface immediately, the oil is ready for frying.

Step 5:  Dip the vegetables, one by one in the batter and put them gently in the hot oil.  It is best to use a pair of long chopsticks or tongs to flip them to protect yourself from oil splatters.  The tempura should float on the surface when frying, coated with a layer of batter.  If the batter does not stick well, add a bit more tempura flour to make the batter thicker.  After the vegetables are done, continue with the prawns.

Step 6:  When the coated layer turns golden brown, remove the tempura and place them on a kitchen paper towel or rack to absorb excess oil.  This picture below shows part of what I have made.  How does it look?

Step 7:  To make tempura don, scoop a cup of pre-cooked Japanese steamed rice into a bowl.  Drizzle two tablespoons of tempura sauce on the rice.  Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of furukake seasoning in the centre.  Place the tempura on the bowl and serve while the tempura is hot and crispy.  Repeat for another bowl.

I kept a lunch box portion for Hubby, where I separated the rice and the tempura into two boxes. I also added a coleslaw side created from the left-over wasabi mayonnaise I made the day before.  Wasabi flavoured coleslaw taste awesome by the way!

The challenge about this lunch box is the tempura will go soft if it is not eaten hot.  But as long as you or the person you make the lunchbox for don’t mind, making this tempura rice lunchbox is a nice change to the menu.  And it is not too difficult at all.

I am glad I tried it!  How about you?

It is one of my favourite comfort foods.  What is yours?

Well, the ingredients for this recipe should be quite easy to find.  You can get wonton skin wrappers at most Asian supermarkets.  I usually get the square ones.  Buy freshly made ones if possible.  If you can only find frozen types, remember to thaw the number that you need, to room temperature before making the wontons.

When thawing, it’s best to place them on a bowl or plate and cover them with a damp towel.  This prevents the wonton skin wrappers from drying up when exposed to air.  You will then find it very difficult to wrap the wontons as the wrappers crack easily.

Ingredients (Serves 4 to 5 adults):

• 200 g minced pork
• 1 tablespoon carrot, finely minced
• 2 tablespoons scallion (spring onion), finely chopped
• 1/3 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon light soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon cornflour + 4 tablespoons water to make the cornflour sealant
• 200 g wonton skin wrappers (this varies with the amount of meat you put in your wonton)
• 10 g chicken stock cube
• 4 cups of water (for chicken broth)
• Water for cooking wontons

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1:  To make the wonton filling, combine the minced pork with salt, sugar, light soy sauce, ground pepper and sesame oil in a mixing bowl.  Add in 1 tablespoon chopped scallions and carrots and mix well.  Allow half an hour to marinate.

Step 2:  Put a small amount of this minced pork filling in the middle of a wonton skin wrapper.  With your fingertips, dab a bit of the cornflour sealant along the edges and bring all the edges together upwards.  It should stick and end up looking like a little draw-string pouch.

If you are lazy, you can just fold the opposite ends into a triangle, as long as the filling is wrapped inside.

Step 3:  Repeat Step 2 until all the minced pork filling is used up.  Remember to place the wontons in a single layer on a plate covered in plastic wrap  (to avoid drying).  If you think you cannot finish all the wontons for this meal, store the remaining in a container and put them in the fridge for another day.

Step 4:  Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Put the wontons individually into the water.  When the wontons float to the surface of the water, they are cooked.  Take the wontons out and set them aside.  The reason why we don’t cook the wontons in the chicken broth is because wonton wrappers are covered with flour and if they are cooked directly in the broth, it will affect the flavour of the soup.

Step 5:  To cook the broth, add the cups of water to another pot and bring the water to a boil.  Put in the chicken stock cube and make sure it dissolves well after some stirring.  Add in the remaining scallions.

Step 6: Return the cooked wontons gently into the boiling broth, but don’t cook them too long.  Add a dash of pepper before serving.

Isn’t it lovely?

You can also add in some bok choy while cooking the broth.  I didn’t add them in this batch of wonton soup as we had the vegetables separately with oyster sauce.

This wonton soup is best stored in a thermos food jar where the soup can be kept warm till your lunch time.

For a twist, you can do away with the soup and deep-fry the wontons after Step 3.  It’s a tasty snack for your kid’s lunch box as well!

This baked fish fillet recipe is suitable for any type of white fish, although I would prefer boneless ones like these sutchi fillet that I have used.  Dory fish fillet is a great choice as well.

Cooking Instructions:

Step 1:  Marinate fish fillet with salt and ground white pepper.  Set it aside for half an hour before cooking.

Step 2:  Place fish fillet in an oven-proof dish lined with aluminium foil.

Step 3:  Drizzle lemon juice and olive oil over fish fillet.

Step 4:  Spread minced garlic on the surface.  Sprinkle mixed herbs and black pepper evenly over fish fillet.

Step 5:  Preheat oven to 150 degrees Celsius or 300 degrees Fahrenheit.

Step 6:  Bake the fish for about 15 minutes or until the minced garlic turns brown.  Check if the fish is cooked with a fork.  If it flakes easily, it is ready.

Note:  Do pay attention while the fish is being baked as the baking time may differ slightly for your oven.  The thickness of the fish will also determine how long it takes to be cooked.

This recipe is simple, healthy, tasty and easy to make.  Boneless fish fillets are a good choice if you are preparing for your kid’s lunch box too.

Initially, I created categories according to cuisine types, like asian, french, korean, etc, for my first WordPress theme.  But after settling for this theme, I don’t think it will fit nicely in the category tab I have at my header if I were to expand my ever-growing list of cuisines in the long run.

Thus, I have now classified them according to meal types.  I hope to explain a bit more in this post on what they will usually include so that you will find it easier to navigate.

Light Meals:  Most probably I will include recipes for meals like sandwiches, bread, toasts, crepes, pancakes, pitas, muffins, etc.  Anything that looks light enough.

All-In-One Meals:  The recipes I will add here will be those like fried rice, fried noodles, spaghetti, etc.  These are mainly cooked with their ingredients together and served all on the same dish.  So if you are a lazy cook, I will recommend you checking out this category more often.  Haha.

Main Course:  This category will feature recipes of different cuisines that can be taken as a single main course.  These dishes are usually served on their own with another staple, like rice.

Soup:  This is for all soup recipes, from Chinese double boiled soups, to creamy tomato soups.  Somtimes, these soups can also serve as all-in-one dishes, where all you need is just bread or rice to go along with it.

Food Containers:  Every now and then, I may share about different food containers you can use for your lunch box.  There may also be interesting product showcases from time to time.

Chit Chat:  This is where I talk about anything under the sun.  Basically a place to rant and chit-chat with you!

These are the categories I will be adding at the moment.  I am trying to keep them at a maximum of eight so that my header will not look so cluttered.

I hope this change makes it easier for you to read my blog.  If you have problems finding anything, just let me know and I will work on your feedback if possible.

Thank you.  Feel free to subscribe to my feeds for easy updates!

Almost 25 years of age!

My mum kept these in her kitchen cabinets all these years and when I got married, she gave it to me as part of the dowry.  Haha.  Isn’t it amazing?

Although it may look like any simple lunch box and water bottle, but they bring back fond memories for me.  We got this lunch box and water bottle for my first year of school.  I remember we went to a now-defunct Japanese department store to buy them.  At that time, Made In Japan products were pretty expensive but I liked them so much that we got them all the same.

The square lunch box is really very small and I remembered all I could fit in was a slice of peanut butter bread or some cornflakes.  I also remember an incident where this cute lamb water bottle leaked and my whole bag of books became wet as a result.  I was really scared then, being so new to school so I think I cried buckets.  Haha.  Fortunately, my teacher did not scold me but comforted me instead.  She even helped me lay the books out in the sun to dry.

Looking back, it’s really embarrassing right?  But kids will always be kids and at that age, I did not know how to handle the situation, except to cry and look pathetic.  And now it has become something that we always laugh at when we recall our childhood days!