KitchenNippon

Tori Soboro and Iritamago Gohan for making a Rilakkuma kyaraben
Ingredients for 4 Servings

Necessary Tools
Bamboo skewers (竹串 / Take-gushi), Toothpicks (爪楊枝 / Tsumayōji), Scissors (はさみ / Hasami)

Tori Soboro

Ground chicken breast (鶏むねひき肉 / Tori mune hikiniku) 200 g
Sugar (砂糖 / Satōh) 3 tbsp
Soy sauce (醤油 / Shōyu) 3 tbsp
Sake (酒 / Sake) 2 tbsp
Grated ginger (おろししょうが / Oroshi shōga) 1 tsp

How to Make

1. Fry the ground chicken breast, together with the sugar, soy sauce, sake, and grated ginger, on medium heat. Use a wooden spatula to stir the contents of the pan to produce a crumbly texture. Continue cooking until half of the liquid is evaporated.

Iritamago

Eggs (卵 / Tamago) 4
Sugar (砂糖 / Satōh) 2 tbsp
Salt (塩/ Shio) 1/2 tsp

How to Make
1. Crack the eggs into a mixing bowl, add the sugar and salt, and mix well. Place a frying pan on medium heat, pour in the egg mixture. Use four cooking chopsticks held together to stir the egg mixture around. The goal is to produce a crumbly texture in the end. When the eggs are about half done, reduce to low heat and continue cooking/stirring until the eggs are fully cooked.

Other Rilakumma Components
Cooked rice (ご飯 / Gohan) 800 g (200 g per person)
Nori (海苔 / Nori) 1 sheet
Sliced cheese (スライスチーズ / Suraisu chēzu) 1 sheet
Carrots (にんじん / Ninjin) 4 thin, round slices (boiled)
Black roasted sesame (黒炒り胡麻 / Kuro irigoma) 8 seeds
Black soy beans (黒豆 / Kuromame) 8 beans
Leaf lettuce (グリーンリーフ / Gurīhn rīhfu) To taste

How to Make
1. Cut the nori to form the bear nose, as shown in the photo.
2. Leaving the plastic wrapper on the sliced cheese, use a bamboo skewer to trace two round pieces about the size of a shirt button and one round piece about the size of a one-yen coin. Remove the plastic wrap and then use the bamboo skewer to cut the three round pieces out of the cheese.
3. Cut a carrot round to form the chicken’s beak, as shown in the photo. Rinse the leaf lettuce, remove the excess water and shred into large pieces.

Assemble the Soboro Gohan
1. Spread half of the rice for one serving in the bottom of the bento container to form a level bed. Place the remaining nori (the part left after you cut out the nose) on top of the bed of rice. Now, spread the remaining half of the rice for one serving on top of the nori to again form a level bed.
2. Cover half the bed of rice evenly with the tori soboro. Position the two smaller cheese rounds to form ears and use the larger round to form a snout, as shown in the photo. Place the nori nose in the middle of the snout. Cut a black soy bean in half to form eyes and place these on the bear’s face.
3. Cover the remaining half of the bed of rice evenly with the iritamago. Add the carrot pieces to form the chicken’s beak and then add two black sesame seeds to form the nostrils. Cut a black soy bean in half to form eyes and place these on the chicken’s face.

Bacon-wrapped Shrimp

Raw shrimp with tails (尾付き海老 / Otsuki ebi) 8 (Small size weighing 10-13 g each is fine.)
Bacon (ベーコン/ Bēhkon) 4 strips
Salt (塩/ Shio) Pinch
Black pepper (こしょう / Koshō) Pinch
Olive oil (オリーブオイル / Orīhbu oiru) To taste
Toothpicks (爪楊枝 / Yōji) 8

How to Make
1. Leaving the tales on the shrimp, make a shallow cut along the back of each shrimp and remove the vein, which should look like a dark thread. Rinse the shrimp in water and dry them with a paper towel. Add salt and pepper to taste.
2. Cut the bacon strips in half. Wrap each shrimp with a half of a bacon strip and stick a toothpick through the wrapped shrimp to secure the bacon.
3. At a small amount of olive oil to a frying pan and place the frying pan on medium heat. Cook the bacon-wrapped shrimp until they are browned on both sides, then remove them to a plate to cool. Once they have cooled enough to handle, remove the toothpicks.
Kyūri Chikuwa
Chikuwa (ちくわ / Chikuwa) 4
Cucumber (きゅうり / Kyūri) 1/2

How to Make
1. Cut the cucumber to get a stick that is small enough to fit snugly into the chikuwa hole. Cut the chikuwa into whatever lengths you like.

Tomato Flowers
Cherry tomatoes (ミニトマト / Mini tomahto) 8

How to Make
1. Remove the stems from the tomatoes. On each tomato, make six shallow cuts radiating out from the center of the bottom of the tomato and then gently pull the separated sections out to form flower petals.
Salted Edamame
Edamame (枝豆 / Edamame) 100 g
Salt (塩/ Shio) 2 tbsp
Decorative food picks (かわいいピック / Kawaīh pikku) 8

How to Make
1. Rub salt onto the raw edamame. Place the salted edamame, and any remaining salt, into a generous amount of boiling water. This will cause the water to stop boiling. Let the water come to a boil again. Leave the edamame in the boiling water for another 1-2 minutes, then remove them and let them cool.
2. Once the edamame are cool enough to handle, remove the beans from the husks and skewer them on the decorative food picks.

Kitchen Nippon held a Rilakkuma kyaraben class for students at a Japanese-language school. Chef Tateno’s recipe and kyaraben design required a fair amount of detailed cutting of parts for faces and other elements, but the participants, from China, Indonesia, Russia, and Taiwan, followed directions closely and reproduced the recipe beautifully, adding their own touches along the way. Thanks to Chef Tateno and all the cheerful participants, this class was great fun for everyone involved!