Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Bento #32 - Panda Bento



This week's bento for 4yo's school lunch. 

Contents: homemade chicken nuggets, carrot stars, edamame, egg, cube cheese, rice and nori for panda. 

I made the chicken nuggets with some fresh chicken mince that was marinated with sesame oil and a dash of light soy. The marinated mixture was then shaped into small discs using two tablespoons and left in the fridge to stand for half hr. This helps to harden the discs up a little. Then they are pan fried in grapeseed oil over high heat till they are brown on sides. 

This is the simplest version, though I often add different marinades and/or ingredients with the chicken mince to for other interesting varieties.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

hi there,
I chanced upon your blog while researching on DIY flashcard materials...I am glad I did so :) (although there is just too much to read in your blog ha) You are an amazing mother. I am SAHM too - just started 9 months ago and I couldn't do even half of what you did! But it's so encouraging telling myself there is so much more that I can do for my little boy. :)

Anonymous said...

Awww!! It's fantastic! The pandas are so cute! xxxxH

KoLe said...

I love the panda!
cute!

DG said...

Hi Pat! A warm welcome to my blog! :) Thanks for the kind words. :D

Haha, I know there is A LOT to read. Well, I guess there is a lot going on that I like to record in this blog and it helps that I am a fast typer. How old is your little one?

DG said...

XH, Kole, thanks! Actually I am not that pleased with the pandas. I forgot about the noses and Marcus didn't recognise them as pandas too. Doh!

Anonymous said...

Hi!
Can you teach me how to make those homemade chicken nuggets? I'd like a healthier version for my kid.
Thanks!
-may

DG said...

Hi May! Welcome to my blog.

Of course I will be happy to share my recipe. It is really simple, and my boys love them! But pls give me a little time to post it. I'm a little busy lately. Do pop by often to look out for the recipe. :)

Anonymous said...

Hi!
Thanks a lot! Will be looking out for the recipe! :)
-may

andrea said...

why grapeseed oil? taste? easy to use? i stood in the oils aisle for a looong time trying to figure out what oil to get! finally picked out saffola oil because it was lower in saturated fat but other than that, i had no clue at all.

DG said...

hi Andrea

I use grapeseed oil for many reasons but the most important is the first one.

1. high smoking point which makes it a healthier choice for stir-frying and deep frying though I don't do much of latter.

The high smoking point is very important as the smoke point of an oil is the amount of heat an oil can withstand before it begins to break down, forming free radicals in the process. And we know that free radicals are really bad stuff.

When heated, grapeseed oil neutralizes free radicals, allowing your food to retain its freshness and flavour when cooked.

2. It has a clean and light taste and sometimes described as 'nutty'. Though from experience, it depends on the brands you use.

3. Also because it has a 'neutral' taste unlike peanut, olive, sesame oil for instance, grape seed oil is also often used as an ingredient in salad dressings or as a base for infusing or flavoring with garlic, rosemary, or other herbs or spices.

4. Also, I realise that because it is so light, the food that is cooked with grapeseed oil just don't seem to be very oily. For instance when I make fried rice, noodles or stir-fried meat/vegetables, the cooked food just don't taste/look oily at all.

5. Also I realise that I can use much less of it to cook a dish compared to other oils that I used before.

6. Lastly, grapeseeds have antioxidant properties. Though it is debatable how much made it to the oil and cooked food.

i have been using grapeseed oil for years, though I still use olive oil, extra virgin olive oil, canola and sesame oil for other purposes.

For the recipe of the chicken nuggets, you don't have to use grapeseed oil. Any other oils are fine but perhaps not as healthy as grapeseed.

hope this helps! :)

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