i know, the bahn mi itself is not red, but this is my contribution to hapa bento’s BOMB (“best of the month bento”) challenge. february’s theme is heart-healthy, holiday-friendly RED!
a quick and easy bento tonight with no frills — i had a bad day at work and didn’t feel too inspired. but look, i have a red flower prop, a red box, some red tomatoes with a red flowered skewer, and even a red bento belt! that counts, right? and the cute mushroom paper did cheer me up a bit.
this bahn mi is from a new place that the boyfriend discovered in our neighborhood, bahn mi zon. i like their sandwiches better than the place i had been going to previously — they are bigger, and the baguette is more tender. this one’s filled with marinated mushrooms, tofu, and your standard cucumber-cilantro-daikon-carrot combination.
rounding out the box are a pear fan (the pear is also kinda reddish!) and two takuwan fans, some blueberries, and the tomatoes. underneath that stuff i buried a babybel cheese and some cucumber slices. this box is pretty deep, which is why it works for the sandwich halves, but which also means that some food items won’t be visible.
want a contest hint? i thought so! ok — in the country i’ll be visiting, putrified shark meat is a traditional food. i’m pretty brave when it comes to trying new things (i ate some pretty unimaginable animal parts in shanghai), and i’ll go with an open mind, but the word “putrified” is inherently unappetizing, no? i bet it wouldn’t look great in bento, either!
bento zen 