Braised Mackerel, Omelet, and Diakon Rice Bento

Last night I was swamped again, so I didn't get to post my recipe until this morning.  I did, however, get enough time to try out another bento recipe from Bento Boxes by Naomi Kijima!  I had some frozen, salted mackerel that would thaw easily enough and some frozen rice packets, so this was something quick enough to whip up late at night.

photo by Emily

Braised Mackerel, Omelet, and Diakon Rice Bento

Ingredients:
Braised Mackerel
1/2 fillet mackerel, transparent skin removed
1/4-1/2 in. ginger root
1 1/2 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. each sugar, mirin, and sake
3 Tbsp. water
Japanese Omelet
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp. sake
1/2 Tbsp. sugar
salt
cooking oil
Diakon Rice
1 in. diakon
1 1/2 tsp. soy sauce
3/4 c. cooked rice
bonito flakes
Other
snow peas, blanched

First, either cook your rice (use about 1/3 c. uncooked rice if you don't have any already made) or thaw out a frozen rice package (see yesterday's post).  Cut up the diakon into 1 cm cubes and marinate in the soy sauce for 10 min.  Drain.  Stir the seasoned diakon and bonito flakes into the rice.

Cut the mackerel at an angle into 1 in. strips.  Julienne the ginger.  Bring the sauce ingredients to a boil, then add the mackerel and ginger shreds and cook for 4-5 minutes until the fish is well glazed.

Beat the sake, sugar, and salt into the egg, then cook as you would a normal omelet.  (The Japanese often use a square-shaped pan to make their sweet omelets in, but a regular pan will work just fine--it just won't look quite as pretty.)

To serve, pack each of the items into a bento box, or put in separate small bowls or plates.  Serve with blanched snow peas.