Everything’s coming up Spring! Ok its coming to summer now but never mind yes?

I had a lovely lunch of rice with some vegetable spring rolls. I cut them into half to fit into my bento box and added a dollop of chilli sauce. There was also some leftover fried chicken I picked up from Little Taiwan restaurant and for fibre, I blanched up some french beans and tossed them with soy sauce and sesame oil.

I’m hoping to replicate this agin because it was so much fun to eat!

I love rice wine chicken. It is comforting on a cold day and always delicious! The picture isn’t that great, but it was delicious.

I heated up some leftover rice wine chicken, added some water to have more sauce and then poached an egg and some vegetables in it for bulk. Turned out, it was raining this afternoon, and it had kept warmish so it was delicious!

I picked up some sweet and sour pork the evening before from a stall where I really enjoy their sweet and sour pork. They don’t coat the meat with tons only flour, only a light dusting of flour to make it crispy.

So the following morning, I heated up the sweet and sour pork, blanched some green leafy vegetables and served it on a bed of white rice. Mmm… good!

Here’s a slightly different style of taking photos of my bento. I was tired of the usual aerial look.

Lunch this time was rice with some fried chicken. The rice is topped off with some curry sauce (I had no more meat left in it) for taste and to keep it moist. For vegetables, I sliced the ladys fingers (okra) into chunks and quickly boiled them then tossed with some soy sauce and sesame oil. They were delicious!

I had some leftover fried chicken and minced prawn on a stick of lemongrass which I had packed from a Balinese restaurant dinner. So, I heated it up and had it with rice flavoured with a dash of furikake. At a loss as to what to use the extra space for, I decided to add a fruit and mandarin oranges were handy.

It actually made for a really nice lunch!

Much as I’d like to use some of the cute Japanese style stacked bento lunch boxes, I shy away from them for a few reasons:-

• They are too small – I have a healthy appetite
• They don’t lock in place – I’m paranoid about spills

So, the bento lunch boxes I use are the not very pretty but very servicable boxes by Lock n Lock. I like that they are transparent, lock in place, do not spill, have internal separators, are a good size and are stackable. They also do not retain smells which is good especially when I bring food that might smell a little strong.

These are 2 sizes I presently have and I’m always itching to get more! There are dividers inside.

They aren’t too expensive too – about RM20+ each and can be used for other food storage too.

What do you use for your bento lunch boxes?

I enjoyed this lunch tremendously and I hope to replicate it some day. I had fish and some fried chicken with rice topped off with a fried egg. The fish was pan fried with lychee and spring onion – absolutely delicious! The recipe for the pan fried fish with lychee and spring onion is coming up soon on HaveYouEaten.net.

My answer is Yes you can.

However, I don’t personally recommend it after trying it out for myself. This bento box was made with mee hoon (rice vermicelli) boiled in a quick chicken stock in the morning with a poached egg and some fishballs. I separated the soup from the noodles and only poured the soup into the box when I was about to have lunch.

My Lock n Lock box kept the soup from spilling which was excellent. However, it did not keep it very warm. So, the best way to bring soup to work is to use a thermos flask for the soup. It keeps the soup warm and creates less mess!

I know that the bittergourd is not everyone’s idea of a favourite vegetable but I like it! This bento was prepared in the morning with a quick sitrfry of thinly sliced bittergourd with egg and bonito flakes . I was surprised at how quick it was to prepare!

I served it on a bed of hot white rice and accompanied by some fried chicken pieces topped with a dollop of chilli sauce. I absolutely enjoyed my lunch!

During the Chinese New Year, arrowroot or nga ku is in abundance. Many people slice them and deep fry them into chips. I like them stirfried with lean meat. So, when I made them for dinner one day I made sure to have some leftover to bring to work. I had stirfried arrowroot (nga ku) with meat, white rice and watercress soup.

Here’s a bonus picture of my soup – watercress with pork ribs. Yummy! I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch especially as it was all relatively warm when removed from my new Thermos flask lunch box.