Salmon Rice-ball and Ginger Pork Belly Rolls Bento

This bento combines comfort foods  (salmon rice-ball, steamed rice cake with cheese, and pork belly rolls) with loads of raw nutrition. The rice-ball is packed in a special sheet of plastic that keeps the sheet of nori separate from the rice until you're ready to eat it. This way you can enjoy the crispness of the toasted nori as you bite into your tasty onigiri. For more information, and lots of good pictures, look here. The wrappers can be found at some Asian stores or you can make your own by using freezer wrap.

Next to the rice-ball is a cheese puto. It's a steamed rice cake made with coconut milk that hails from the Philippines. I purchased some at an Asian deli, which are usually great places to find gluten-free items as most of the selections are rice based.

Bottom tier of bento: salted and grilled salmon rice-ball, cheese puto, ginger pork belly rolls, sliced persian cucumber, pickled eggplant. Oh, and cute tiger. "Peekaboo."

Top tier of bento: green salad (cucumber, micro-greens, romaine lettuce, Thai seasoned almonds) with apple parsley dressing, kimchi, plastic flower.

My Bento Recipes:

Ginger Pork Belly Rolls (makes 4 rolls)

Many of the meat recipes used in Japanese cooking involve meat that is thinly sliced. Because of this our local Asian store carries an amazing array of all natural meats cut in this manner. For this recipe I picked up some local pork belly that was cut like thin bacon. You could substitute uncured bacon, adjusting the amount of tamari in the recipe depending on the saltiness of the bacon.

Ingredients:

2 slices uncooked pork belly, cut in 1/2

1/2 tablespoon tamari

1/2 teaspoon fresh ginger juice

1 teaspoon vegetable oil

1/2 cup stock

Directions:

* Mix the tamari and ginger together in and marinate the pork belly for 10 minutes.

* Remove the pork belly and roll the pieces up (you can use a toothpick to secure them if you wish.) 

* Reserve the marinade.

* Heat the oil in a pan with a lid over medium low heat.

* Place the pork rolls in the pan and cook 2 minutes per side, or until crispy, for a total of 8 minutes.

* Add the stock and the reserved marinade to the pan.

* Cover with the lid and let cook another 8 minutes, shaking the pan from time to time.

* Remove the lid, turn up the heat to high and cook 1-2 more minutes or until the sauce is very thick and the rolls are well coated.

* Let cool and remove toothpicks.

Apple Parsley Dressing (makes 1 cup)

This refreshing dressing is adapted from a recipe in Ani Phyo's book Ani's Raw Food Asia. Because she uses it atop a Korean salad I paired it a side of spicy kimchi. 

Ingredients:

1/4 cup packed parsley leaves

1/2 apple

1/8 cup raw apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon maple syrup

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

* Remove the core from the apple and dice.

* Blend all the ingredients in a small blender until creamy and smooth.

* Pack some dressing in a small container for your salad. The remaining dressing will keep 4 days in the fridge.