Japan’s “Bento" Culture, International Exchange with
Making Pretty “Deco-ben”  Seven of us including three new members got
together at kitchen studio in Kagurazaka. In workshop, our teacher was Mrs. Mami Miyazaki, who is a professional Deco-ben
artist, demonstrated the whole process of making “Deco-ben” (decorated bentos) in
front of us. After her demonstrations, we learned how to make Norimaki (Sushi rolls) with adorable
shaped ladybugs! The most difficult part was to arrange an antenna of
ladybugs, and to show it beautifully when cutting Norimaki. We wrapped Nori around fish sausages and shaped it well not
to fall apart ingredients.
 After that, we cut off the surface of ume with
knife (like paring an apple) to make a rose, and arranged kamaboko, fried pasta and Nori to make bee-shaped egg rolls
for side dishes "Inarizushi"
(sushi pockets). Most of us were focus on cutting and wrapping, so we naturally
kept silence while decorating obentos.  Most of her recipes were simple to follow, but
some were very detailed to cook. Her ideas and imagination were full of
surprise and excitement for us!! So it was an interesting learning experience
for the participants, and we hope they were able to acquire valuable skills
and to inspire ideas for Deko-ben on this workshop. Although making lunch box was not easy,
all of us were truly enjoyed and we had our first homemade Deco-bentos
together. Hopefully, we will get together at a second Deko-ben
workshop in the near future! Thank you for coming out on an early Saturday morning! A great thank-you to the Deko-ben teacher Mrs. Miyazaki who was well-prepared for today.
(posted by Tsubasa kato) |
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