Polynesian Bento

January 29, 2008

Finally a new bento! With the house move it's been hard to find a space in the kitchen to do any bento work. I'll apologize in advance for next week, i'll be traveling for work. I'll see if I can find some material to do some interim posts.

Without further ado: I found some great ideas and recipes for a high fiber Polynesian style bento. I was a bit afraid that the flavors were going to be too bland for my eaters. A lot of the flavor came in the sauce which didn't seem to soak themselves into either the chicken or the sweet potatoes. My audience seemed to like the box ok so I must have done something right.

We start with this Polynesian chicken. It's got a healthy dose of cilantro and green onions. The sauce is something like a teriyaki sauce, with a lot of ginger and a spike of star anise. Considering how much soy went into the marinade the flavor was very mild and the hints of ginger and star anise really came through.

Next up is a Sweet Potatoes and Bananas in a coconut curry sauce. There's a spoonful of red thai curry paste which gives this side a good zing, and the coconut milk evened it out and helped insure it wasn't too spicy. This was an interesting dish in that it had a nice smooth texture and was sweet, salty, and spicy all at the same time. I think next time I do this dish I'll make the Potato cubes bigger so it's not quite so mushy.

Last up we have a Tahitian coleslaw. Instead of mayo, i've got a little bit of peanut butter to serve as the sauce base. Cabbage and red bell pepper provides the nice crunch. A very tasty "slaw" this ones a keeper for a picnic in the summer.

For desert I went ahead and slotted in some snackwells. All about saving time in the kitchen, especially with the limited space with all the boxes to navigate.

Box Contents