JAPANESE SPINACH TAMAGOYAKI & POTATO SALAD

I have been making bento / lunch for my youngest son for quite a long time. It really take times to learn to make a beautiful, cute and yummy bento / lunch for kids. So far, my son love it and still sometimes asking me to make more for him.

I love this recipe that really suit the kids and adults as well. The potato salad you can make it day ahead and cool it in the refrigerator for for flavor. You could find all ideas of making a cute bento for kids at my page at this link BENTO

Japanese Potato Salad

INGREDIENTS :

3 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cut into pieces
1/2 English cucumber
1/2 large carrot, peeled and cut into small bite-sized
4 cherry tomatoes, cut into small bite-sized
1/4 cup sweet corns, boiled and drained
3/4 cup Japanese mayonnaise
1 tsp vinegar
2 tsp sugar
Salt and pepper to taste


METHODS :

1. Boil the potatoes for 10-15 minutes until tender in lightly salted water. Drain and lightly mashed them. Let it cool on aside.

2. Sliced the cucumber thinly and lightly seasoned with salt.

3. Sliced the carrot thinly and boil for a minute until medium soft. Drained, let it cool and set aside.

4. In a large bowl, mix the mashed potato, cucumber, carrot, cherry tomatoes, sweet corn, mayonnaise, vinegar, sugar, salt and pepper to taste.

5. Refrigerate the potato salad at least 3 hours or overnight for the best results.

Japanese Spinach Tamagoyaki

INGREDIENTS :

4 large eggs
1/4 cup luke warm water
1/4 tsp dried dashi powder (picture as shown below, u can get it from Asian or Japanese Store)
1/2 tsp shoyu (light soy sauce)
1 tsp mirin (sweet cooking wine)
1/4 tsp sugar
1 cup frozen spinach, thawed and drained (squeeze excess water from spinach)

Hon-Dashi (Dried Dashi Powder)

METHODS :

1. Mix luke warm water and dried dashi powder in a medium bowl. Add soy sauce, mirin and sugar. Mix well. Then add eggs and gently mix using chopsticks. Try not to create too many bubbles. Stir in the spinach into the egg mixture.

2. Heat a medium frying pan over medium heat and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Pour a layer of egg mixture into the pan and lower the heat to medium-low. Lay a this layer of spinach onto the egg mixture. Allow the bottom of the egg to cook and become firm enough to fold over, about 3 minutes.

3. Gently fold over the egg from one end and keep going until you reach the end of the pan. With each fold, allow the egg to cook a little bit.

4. Remove tamagoyaki from the pan and rest it on a cutting board and let it cool. Repeat with the rest of egg mixture and spinach. Once the tamagoyaki is cool, sliced to desired thickness and serve.