Something for Halloween - Domokun Bento

Even though I didn't get to dress up for this year's Halloween, but I can definitely transfer the fun to my bento box!

Domokun bento -

Ingredients (2 to 3 regular portions)?

1 pound of ground chicken
1/2 pound of ground pork
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
1 tablespoon of mirin
1/2 teaspoon of grated ginger
2 white squashes
1 slice of kumbo/dried seaweed
Some steamed rice
Small pinch of black pepper
Small pinch of sea salt
Some honey cured ham slices

How?

Cook some steamed white or brown rice.

Transfer both the ground chicken and ground pork into a medium pot. Turn to medium high heat. Add in 3 tablespoons of soy sauce, 1 tablespoon of mirin, 1/2 teaspoon of grated ginger, and a pinch of black pepper. Mix well and cook till all the seasonings have been absorbed by the meat. I actually cooked a little bit longer in order to get a darker color result.

Scoop some rice into rectangular or square shaped lunch boxes. Evenly spread a layer of ground meat on top.

Peel and slice the squashes, about 2 millimeters in thickness. Rinse and clean the dried kumbo/seaweed.

Bring a small pot of water to a boil then lower the heat to keep it simmering. Add in the kumbo along with a small pinch of salt. Cook for 5 minutes then add in squash slices. Cook till the squash softens. Drain well and set aside.

Make sure to cook the kumbo first especially it takes longer time to cook down the tough texture. In addition, the seaweed flavor can actually permeate the squash slices and adds more flavor.

Use a round shaped mold to cut ground shape eyes out of cooked kumbo. I actually cleaned a pen cap in order to use it to cut out small eyes. Transfer the "eyes" to each bento boxes, two for each box of course.

Take the cured ham and cut out big rectangle mouth for domokun. Put it just a little bit below the eyes.

Carefully cut some big and small triangles out of sliced squash for domokun's teeth.

The cooking part is easy. I think all the hard work goes to measuring, cutting, and assembling the pieces patiently. Make sure to refrain yourself from eating domokun's yummy honey cured mouth before the bento is completed!

Other Halloween food recipe:
Halloween fingers