more obento and vegan unagi

I know I said I'd be better about posting, and the next thing you know a month practically whizzes by! I've been making some truly boring bentos in the morning, but this one was pretty so I thought I'd share it.



In the top tier we have some plain rice with umeboshi. I was hesitant to try umeboshi years ago. The idea of a super sour, salty plum didn't really appeal to me, and truth be told, the first time I had it was in onigiri and I definitely didn't like it then. I have found that breaking it up with my chopsticks and mixing it evenly into the rice is really delicious. I just can't get into the idea of a whole umeboshi in my mouth.



Here was have some stir-fried lotus root. I've had sauteed lotus root before, but when I saw this recipe on Just Bento I ran out to the Asian market to get some.



While I was at the market I picked up some sweet potato biscuits and chestnut mochi, pictured here. Under the strawberries are a few cherry tomatoes to add a little more vitamin C.


I have to say, one of the things I miss being vegan is unagi, or eel. I used to love ordering unagi don. I found a recipe for kabayaki sauce online, and found that it is merely soy sauce, mirin and sugar simmered for a few minutes! So I made my own version of Kabayaki no unagi with eggplant. Presenting nasubi no kabayaki!:



it was pretty amazing.

Slice your eggplant lengthwise, dip in kabayaki sauce and fry on low heat. Place your eggplant slices on a bed of rice, top with a little more sauce and sesame seeds.

The recipe I used made a lot more sauce than I needed, luckily I have found plenty of other uses for it, including just adding a little to my afternoon rice instead of soy sauce. However, if you don't think you'll use it as much, you could surely cut this recipe in half.

Kabayaki sauce:

- 1/2 c soy sauce
- 1/2 c mirin
- 1/4 c sugar

Pour all ingredients in a pan. Stir the mixture well. Put the pan on low heat and simmer for a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat and cool the mixture. Store the sauce in a clean bottle in the fridge.