Chicken Karaage Bento (Inspired by the Singa Lion)

Name: Chicken Karaage Bento (Inspired by the Singa Lion)
Prep time: 60 min
Cook time: 128 min
Total time: 188 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Mains
Ingredients: 580 g Japanese Short Grain Rice; 1/8 tsp Red Food Colouring; 1/4 tsp Yellow Food Colouring; 60 ml Japanese Rice Vinegar; 2 Tbsp Sugar; 1/2 tsp Salt; 580 ml Water; 500 g Boneless Chicken Thigh; 1 Egg; 1 Tbsp Garlic; 1 Tbsp Sake; 3 Tbsp Potato Starch; 200 ml Cooking Oil; 1 Tbsp Light Soy Sauce; 1/2 tsp Salt; 1 dash Pepper; 10 Crabsticks; 1 Broccoli; 1/2 Japanese Toasted Seaweed; 7 Lettuce; 4 Tomatoes; 2 slices Chicken Ham; 1 slice Lemon

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Level

difficult

Cooking

128 min

Preparation

60 min

Ingredients

Servings

Rice
Japanese Short Grain Rice	580 g
Red Food Colouring	¹⁄₈ tsp
Yellow Food Colouring	¹⁄₄ tsp
Japanese Rice Vinegar	60 ml
Sugar	2 tbsp
Salt	¹⁄₂ tsp
Water	580 ml
Chicken Karaage
Boneless Chicken Thigh cubed	500 g
Egg	1
Garlic chopped	1 tbsp
Sake optional	1 tbsp
Potato Starch	3 tbsp
Cooking Oil	200 ml
Light Soy Sauce	1 tbsp
Salt	¹⁄₂ tsp
Pepper	1 dash
Garnishing
Crabsticks	10
Broccoli small floret	1
Japanese Toasted Seaweed	¹⁄₂
Lettuce	7
Tomatoes	4
Chicken Ham	2 slices
Lemon	1 slice

How to cook

Prepare the Rice

Wash and cook the rice in the following portions:
White rice: 435g of rice, 435ml of water.
Bright orange rice: 145g of rice, 145ml of water, red and yellow food colouring.
Add rice vinegar, sugar and salt to a pot and heat just until sugar is completely dissolved. Allow to cool.
Once the rice is cooked, add in cooled vinegar solution.

Prepare the Chicken Karaage

Marinate chicken with garlic, light soy sauce, salt, sake, pepper and egg, mixing well. Cover with cling film and refrigerate for 2 hours, best overnight.
Coat chicken pieces evenly with potato starch.
Heat up oil over medium-high heat. Deep fry until light golden (around 1½ minutes), flipping midway.
Remove and place on wire rack to cool and drain excess oil.
Prepare a second deep fry to purge excess oil and create a crispier skin. Heat up the oil over high heat.
Fry for around 1 minute until the chicken turns a nice golden colour.

Decorating

Steam the crabstick and broccoli until soft.
Shape the Japanese rice to form Singa’s face, hands, t-shirt, and heart. Wrap some rice in cling film and compress lightly into a ball, then shape into the various elements.
Unroll the red section of crab sticks and wrap them around the heart shaped rice ball.
Cut the Japanese seaweed using the provided template to achieve the details for Singa’s face and the words.
Arrange the ingredients to form the bento.