Happy 2009!
Back from vacation!
Stirfry with scrambled egg, Turkish bell pepper and eggplant, some raw carrot slices, a cherry tomato and two dumplings with soy sauce in the lower layer.
Mixed grain rice with ume furikake in the upper layer.
The sauce is a simple Chinese stirfry sauce paradoxically containing ketchup. That stuff does go around the world…!
The recipe is simple, stir fry the ingredients of your choice (I use garlic, chili and szechuan pepper to season the oil), then put on two tablespoons of dark Chinese soy sauce, two tablespoons of rice vinegar and a squirt of ketchup. Season to taste with some sugar.
Yes… it is Chinese. Promise!
Because of the dark soy sauce it didn’t look as god in the bento as it should, but I was really feeling like it. Too bad the purple of the eggplant didn’t come out in the photo…
BF gets the same, but requested more dumplings.
Mmmm that looks yummy! Will have to try that sauce some day. Some say that ketchup is originally chinese.
I’ve heard that ketchup was marketed as a “chinese-style” seasoning when it was first invented, but I can’t find a source for it right now… I’ve always thought of it as something typically American though until my Chinese friends taught me how they cook with it! That was a weird experience.
;)
hi, how do you add the scrambled egg to the stir fry? that sounds great.
Hello!
I scramble the egg in the seasoned oil (with the chili and garlic pushed to one side) before adding in the vegetables. It’s actually the easiest way of keeping the egg from sticking to the veggies when you fry it :) Hope that helps!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketchup has a section that covers a few different theories of ketchups origin. Maybe just me but I think it’s quite funny to read :)
Looks delicious! What type of chili’s do you use?
I grow a lot of different chilies on my windowsill. I think this specific bento was made with Japapeños imported from Austria, but technically I guess I should use the thin, long chilies I planted from chilies bought at the Thai supermarket :) Ah well, as long as they’re strong and tasty! (I also grow Habañeros but somehow I feel they’re lacking in taste – they’re nicely strong though!)