Umami Eggplant Bento

Bentos are a part of my childhood. I grew up eating the bento that my mom would make me for lunch everyday and when I make them now, it feels like I’m putting a little bit of her love and inspiration in every single box.

At first glance, a bento box is pretty small but creating a bento doesn’t have to be limited to containers specifically designed for that purpose. For example, I often use a rectangular Tupperware to place all the food items neatly into sections or I even use an oval container that replicates traditional Japanese bento boxes often seem in Japan or online.

If you need inspiration for your next bento box’s protein compartment, these eggplant tofu bites are delicious, easy to make, and resemble meatballs! The flavor of shoyu (soy sauce) mixed with ginger, garlic, and rice vinegar adds a perfect touch of umami to any bento.

Cooking time: 1 hour | makes 30 balls

INGREDIENTS

[Eggplant bites]

  • 1 large eggplant, cubed

  • 1/2 cup oats (I used gluten-free) or cooked quinoa

  • 1 cup shiitake mushrooms

  • 1/2 block tofu

  • 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs OR 1/2 cup of almond flour

  • 1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour

  • 1 knob ginger, peeled

  • 1 clove garlic

  • 2 tbsp rice vinegar

  • 1/4 cup shoyu or tamari

  • 1 tbsp miso paste

[Happy Rice]

  • 2 cups of white rice or quinoa

  • 2 dried shiitake mushrooms

  • 1 carrot, shredded

  • 1 tbsp hondashi powder or mushroom seasoning

  • 1/4 cup of tamari or coconut aminos

  • 1/4 cup of mirin

  • 1/2 cup of frozen edamame

  • 1/4 cup of dried hijiki

DIRECTIONS

  1. Cube eggplant and steam with a pot and a steamer for 10 minutes until soft 

  2. Once that’s done, add eggplant, oats, ginger, garlic, shoyu, miso paste, rice vinegar to a blender and pulse until it’s all mixed well 

  3. Add the rest of the ingredients into the mix and blend one more time. I recommend crumbling the tofu 

  4. Rest your eggplant mixture into the freezer for 30 minutes or in the fridge overnight.

  5. Now, to make the Happy Rice, wash your rice then add two dried shiitake mushrooms, one whole shredded carrot, ¼ cup of hijiki, 1 tbsp hondashi powder or mushroom seasoning, frozen edamame, coconut aminos or tamari, mirin, then cook like you’d normally do for rice *see note below for cooking options

  6. Place each bite on foil into the air fryer for 15 minutes at 375 degrees.

  7. When your eggplant batter is cooled down, remove eggplant mixture and roll into small balls the place on pan to fry (I used a spoon and a chopstick to flip these around evenly) 

  8. Once they’re all cooked, place on the side to cool down and assemble into your bento!

Note: To cook white rice in the instant pot, it’s a 1:1 ratio of water to grain.

To cook brown rice in the instant pot, add 1.25:1 ratio of water to grain.

If you’re using quinoa instead, it’s a 2:1 ratio of water to grain

Meal PrepBryn Yasuiveganasian, veganjapanesefood, meal prep, veganComment