Zelda Triforce Rice-ball and Chipotle Miso Wings Bento

It's good to be nerdy. My husband has been a long time fan of everything Zelda and while I haven't taken a stab at making fancy character bentos yet, I did represent a bit with this Triforce rice-ball. It's actually a rice and millet mixture which I  wrapped up in nori and then topped with golden triangles cut from takuan (rice-bran pickled daikon.) Gotta pack a sani-wipe, KFC-style, for this bento beacause it's also got marinated and baked chicken wings!

Top tier of bento: nori wrapped seasoned millet and rice ball with takuan, kimchi, pickled eggplant, lettuce and roasted almonds, hijiki and carrot salad with sunflower seed flowers.

Bottom tier of bento: chipotle miso marinated wings (parsley leaves, sliced green onion), lettuce. I used a store bought, all natural, and gluten-free marinade for the wings.

My Bento Recipes:

Hijiki and Carrot Salad

This is my recipe version of a very common Japanese side dish. Traditionally it is made using sliced pieces of deep fried tofu, which you can certainly use. I used small pieces of meat from an extra wing instead. Bacon would also be good!

Ingredients:

1/4 carrot, half cut into matchsticks, half cut into thin flowers using a cutter

1 tablespoon dried hijiki

1/3 cup baked chicken wing meat, torn into small pieces

1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil

4 tablespoons stock

1/2 tablespoon tamari

1/2 tablespoon maple syrup

Directions:

* Soak the hijiki in water for 15 minutes and drain well.

* Heat the oil in a small pan over medium  heat.

* Add the carrot and hijiki and cook a 3-5 minutes, stirring gently so as not to break the carrot flowers.

* Add the stock 

* Continue to cook until the liquid is almost gone.

* Add the tamari, maple syrup, and chicken pieces.

* Stir and continue to cook until well coated.

* Let cool.

* When packing place a few of the carrot flowers on top and use sunflower seeds to create "flowers."