I was browsing through my ever helpful bento book & one of the recommended bento items was a bag of Japanese mixed vegetables. I am only familiar with the kind we get in local supermarkets (corn kernels, green peas, carrots) so I was curious about it…When I was on my weekly trip to Hatchin, I was surprised to find out that they are selling bags of this Japanese-style mixed veggies so I grabbed a pack, without even knowing how to use it!!
Thankfully, the ever helpful bento book had instructions, & I got myself a bottle of tsuyu for simmering the vegetables. The bag contains about 6 or 7 different kinds: imo, carrot, shiitake, renkon, takenoko and I forgot the rest. ^_^ Basically, I only had to simmer them in tsuyu diluted in water. And because the veggies are pre-boiled before being packed and frozen, I didn’t have to cook them for a long time to soften.
For the main dish, I had miso-marinated chicken, as adapted from JustBento.com. Following Maki-san’s recipe, I marinated skinless chicken breast fillets in a mixture of 1 tablespoon white miso and 1 tablespoon of mirin. I then added half a tablespoon of white sugar. I mixed everything together and put in the chicken, making sure that all the surfaces are covered with the marinade. The original recipe called for sake, but I only had mirin, so I used that. Turned out really tasty too. ^_^
I let the chicken marinate at least overnight. To cook, I only pan-fried the fillets until done. The miso on the surface of the meat caramelized for a bit, and that made the chicken taste even better.
All in all, this bento is really easy to make & the edamame & veggies (especially the renkon) did add nice colors and textures to my lunchbox. Looks like the veggies will now become part of my bento staples. ^___^
