O-bento

I've reported on bento before, as you can see it is a boxed lunch. Since the kids weren't there today, there was no kyuushoku (school lunch), so we ordered bento for 800 yen. I was trying to remember how much it cost in the states, o'er at Ye Olde Saddle Brook Japanese Restaurant, but I think theirs included sushimaki. Making it more expensive.

Anyway, here's the breakdown:

1. Sweet scrambled eggs.
2. Deli ham
3. Ebi tempura (fried shrimp)
4. Fried pork or chicken (I never know)
5. O-hashi (chopsticks)
6. Honeydew
7. Umeboshi (REALLY sour plum (?) Hurts so good!) Actually, one of the students' mothers
brought these in.
8. Rice with dried umeboshi
9. Pickles, Japanese style (similar to gherkins in flavor, thank goodness)
10. I don't know - I think it's made from daikon (radish), but it doesn't taste like a radish. The texture is kind of... soft, but not quite chewy... I don't know how to describe it. But it's good.
11. No clue. I know it's a plant and it tastes good in spite of its appearance.
12. Green beans with some sort of nuts
13. Little potato
14. Really baked salty salmon
15. Something pickled that I didn't eat. As a rule, I generally stay away from pickled things that aren't sweet pickles.
16. (Not labelled, the dark triangle between 13 and 1). Gummy sweetish something made from... soy beans?? radish? I don't know. It's semi-transparent. Doesn't taste like you'd expect.

So, Mom, this is what I was talking about when I said I've eaten some strange things. But just because they look strange and maybe taste different from what you're used to doesn't mean they taste bad. I enjoyed everything in there, with the exception of what I didn't eat (#15).