What’s in the Bento Box
Vegan Tamagoyaki - Bento boxes don’t necessarily have to have a main dish, but the vegan Tamagoyaki would be it if I had to pick one from this box. It’s also the primary source of protein and fat in this bento. Multigrain rice - I like to fortify the nutritional content of my rice by adding in a multigrain mix. The one I used has 16 different grains, seeds, and legumes. If you’re not into rice, quinoa makes for a nutritious substitute that’s packed with protein. Kinpira Gobo - This is a stir-fry of julienned burdock root and carrots, seasoned with a savory-sweet sauce. Quick pickled cauliflower - This quick pickle is made by boiling purple cauliflower florets for about a minute and a half and then draining and soaking them in seasoned sushi vinegar. You’ll see the color change from indigo to magenta almost instantly due to the anthocyanin in the cauliflower reacting to the low pH of the sushi vinegar. This is a fun experiment to do with kids. You can also soak raw red onion, radishes, bell peppers, carrots, cucumber, in seasoned sushi vinegar to make a colorful variety of quick pickles that will last for weeks. Seasoned sushi vinegar can be purchased, or make it yourself by following step 7 in my sushi rice recipe. Check out the video below for more specifics. Goma-ae - Goma-ae means “mixed with sesame” in Japanese, and it’s a delicious way to enjoy green veggies like spinach, swiss chard, kale, or green beans. By mixing the blanched vegetables with loads of ground sesame seeds and some seasonings, it creates a side dish that’s creamy and nutty with loads of vitamins, fiber, and minerals. Watermelon radish- Watermelon radish is loaded with fiber, vitamin C and anthocyanins, and it makes for a stunning visual contrast in our vegan bento box. I’ve used a few slices of it as a partition to keep the tangy cauliflower pickles from making contact with the spinach (the vinegar will discolor the spinach). Shiso leaf - Green shiso is a Japanese herb in the mint family that’s often used as a garnish in sushi restaurants. It has a wonderful fresh fragrance and attractive leaves that make it a great partition to use in bento. If you can’t find it, any dark leafy green will work.
Ingredients for Vegan Tamagoyaki
Tofu - Tofu forms the base for the vegan Tamagoyaki, and it also provides the bulk of the protein. I recommend using silken or soft tofu (the one with a custardy texture) to get the right consistency. Rice flour - Since tofu won’t set firmly enough on its own, I add some rice flour to help it bind together into elastic layers that can be rolled. I used rice flour milled from Japanese short-grain rice, but mochi flour will also work. I do not recommend using flour milled from long-grain rice as it has a higher amylose content that will make your Tamagoyaki hard and brittle. Chickpea flour - Using rice flour to set the Tamagoyaki results in a chewy mochi-like texture. Using a 50:50 mixture of chickpea flour with rice flour creates a firm elastic texture closer to cooked egg. Chickpea flour also has a yellow color while contributing protein and fiber to our Tamagoyaki. Vegetable oil - The richness of eggs comes from the fat in the yolk. To achieve a similar mouthfeel, I’ve added some vegetable oil. Dried shiitake - Chickpea flour and tofu provide protein and substance to our Tamagoyaki, but they both have a distinct flavor that does not taste like egg. By grating dried shiitake mushroom into a powder and adding it to our Tamagoyaki mix, it helps cover up the bean-like flavor of the legumes while adding umami. Sweet corn powder - Sweet corn powder is made by either freeze-drying sweet corn and then grinding it into a powder or by spray-drying fresh corn juice. It has the taste and sweetness of fresh sweet corn and should not be confused with cornflour, cornmeal, or cornstarch. The corn powder adds umami and some natural sweetness so we can cut back on the added sugar. Sugar - Traditional Tamagoyaki has a balance of tastes between sweet and savory. The sugar helps provide this balance. Soy sauce - Soy sauce seasons the Tamagoyaki while lending a slightly reddish hue that shifts the color of the Tamagoyaki from yellow to golden. You can use tamari to make this gluten-free. Konbu cha - Konbu cha (not to be confused with kombucha, the fermented beverage) means “kelp tea” in Japanese. It comes in granules that can be added to hot water to make a savory kelp broth. This is an easy natural way to add loads of umami to any dish. If you can’t find it, you can also steep whole konbu in water for a few hours to make kelp broth and then use this in place of the water. Salt - I used table salt for this, but black salt will give the Tamagoyaki a more egg-like flavor. Turmeric - This is optional, as there are other yellow ingredients in this recipe, but adding a very small amount of turmeric gives the Tamagoyaki a more vibrant yellow color. Just be careful not to add too much, or your Tamagoyaki will turn fluorescent yellow.
How to Make Vegan Tamagoyaki
In a blender or food processor (or in a beaker if you’re using a hand blender), grate in the dried shiitake mushroom using a Microplane. If you use a full-size blender or food processor, you can also grind it into a powder using the machine. Add the tofu, rice flour, chickpea flour, water, oil, corn powder, sugar, soy sauce, konbu cha, salt, turmeric, and then puree until smooth. You want the mixture to be about the viscosity of a beaten egg. If it’s too thick, add a little water at a time until it reaches the right thickness. Fold up a small piece of paper towel to form a pad and then saturate it with a few teaspoons of oil. This will be used to grease the pan between layers, put it in a bowl, and set it aside.This Vegan Tamagoyaki mixture is very sticky, so it’s crucial to use a pan with a good non-stick coating, or it will make a mess. You can use a rectangular tamagoyaki pan, or a round omelet pan will work as well (though the shape won’t be quite as nice). Preheat the pan over medium-low heat until a drop of water added sizzles. Use the oiled paper towel to wipe down every interior surface of the pan, and then add enough of the Vegan Tamagoyaki mixture to coat half of the pan. Quickly swirl the mixture around to coat the rest of the pan. Let this fry undisturbed until the edges start to brown. I don’t normally cook Tamagoyaki for so long as it will make eggs dry and tough. However, this plant-based mixture has a gooey mochi-like texture that needs to be cooked until it’s just shy of burnt to firm up like egg. Once the layer starts to brown around the edges, use an oiled spatula to roll the sheet from one side to the other. Then you want to wipe down the pan again with the oiled paper towel and add another layer of Vegan Tamagoyaki mixture. When the next layer has started to brown around the edges, roll the first layer to the other side to wrap it in the second layer. Now you can repeat the previous steps until your Vegan Tamagoyaki reaches its desired size. How many layers it takes will depend on the size of your pan. This full recipe makes enough batter for two small tamagoyaki or one larger tamagoyaki made in a bigger pan. Once you’re happy with the size, transfer the Tamagoyaki to a cutting board or plate and let it cool completely. It will still be soft and gummy while hot, which will make it very difficult to slice. As it cools, it should set and take on a firm texture.
How to Pack a Vegan Bento Box
The great thing about traditional Japanese bento boxes is that they don’t have partitions. The relatively small size helps control portions while allowing you to use your imagination to pack your bento box how you like it. Traditional Japanese bento boxes are usually packed with rice, a protein and some vegetable side dishes, but modern bento are packed with everything from sandwiches to pasta. Here are a few guidelines to get you started.
Other Vegan Bento Box Ideas
Tofu Karaage Tofu Steak Takikomi Gohan (Japanese mushroom rice) Vegan Unagi Vegetable Gyoza Daigaku Imo (glazed sweet potato) Japanese Pickles 3-ways Marinated Mushrooms
📖 Recipe
