This Adorable Bento Box Will Be Your Kid's New Favourite Meal

This was created by Harper's BAZAAR Singapore for Okome

Let's face it: Meals that look delicious and are nutritious are some of the trickiest ones to prep for your kid. That may not be the case any longer with this adorable doggie bento box recipe that we're sharing. With just a clever trick of decoration and design, your kids will never look at mealtime the same way again. What's more, it will be a fun bonding activity for you and your child and bring you together to make something delicious for the whole family.

Made with Okome rice, a premium shortgrain variety cultivated in the United States, whose succulent texture lends itself well to this cute dish. Okome rice is moist, with a satisfyingly chewy and sticky texture when cooked, which makes it the perfect ingredient for many Asian dishes. Read on for the full bento box recipe.

Ingredients

For the Sakura Flower Tofu:

1 packet of silken tofu

Beetroot powder/ red food colouring

1 sakura cookie cutter

For the doggie rice bento:

White Okome shortgrain rice

Brown Okome shortgrain rice (mixed with shoyu)

Seaweed

Bento decoration:

Ham (cut into flower)

Lettuce

Carrots

Broccoli or cauliflowers

Instructions:

1. Use the cookie cutter to cut the sakura shape out from the tofu blocks.

2. Place the sakura tofu in a bowl of red food dye and soak it for ten minutes to get the pink colour and dry with kitchen towel.

3. Take a piece of cling wrap and place it on your palm. Using the other hand, scoop about 2-3 tbsp of cooked brown rice onto the cling wrap. Shape the rice using the cling wrap to mould it into a round shape, which resembles the shape of the doggies head.

4. Using the same method in step three, take 1.2 tbsp of Okome brown rice and shape into the doggie's ears and two round hands.

5. Take 1/2 tbsp of Okome white rice to make the snout of the doggie.

6. Assemble and combine all the rice balls to form the shape of the doggie.

7. Take a piece of the seaweed to cut the facial features of the doggie (eyes, snout and paws) and use a tweezer to pick up and place the seaweed pieces.

8. Decorate the bento box with the vegetables and tofu.

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