(Part 2) Reddit mentions: The best flatware

> How should I star making my own healthy and delicious bento meals? Utensils? Bento Boxes? Any help is appreciated!

I'm relatively new to packing a bento every day too, but I'm not new in the kitchen, or to packing a lunch in general...here's what I've learned about building boxes for lunch:

• Don't be afraid to cook a little extra of your meal from the night before. Leftovers work wonderfully.
  
• Don't be afraid to cook small portions of things specifically for your lunch. You can cook a lunch's worth of food in bento sized portions in less than 15 minutes. ( I learned this making my first batch of carrot kinpira...literally all I had to do was heat a pan and some oil, toss in a handful of shredded carrots, shake on a few seasonings, stir a bit, drain, and stick it in the box. )
  
• If you don't know how, learn to cook rice. If you can boil water, you can cook rice. Cover and store it while it's still warm, and you won't have dried out rice in your refrigerator the next day.
  
• Keep things varied. It's all about packing a variety of flavors and textures that you enjoy, without overpowering yourself with a single food.
  
• Keep it nutritionally balanced.
  
• Look for items that don't need refrigeration, or that you like to eat cold.
  
  
  As far as utensils...the only cooking utensils / cookware I'd recommend would be a rice paddle and a wooden rice prep bowl, if you're going to be fixing "sticky" rice for onigiri and such. Otherwise, just stick with what you already know and use in the kitchen. Also, don't be afraid of doing things "the easy way." A $1-3 onigiri mold is a godsend if you don't know what you're doing making rice balls to begin with, and it'll save your hands some wear and tear from the salt and hot rice.
  
  For eating utensils, there are tons of great options depending on what you like to use. Light My Fire brand sporks are fantastic. A simple set of chopsticks is easy to clean and carry. Monbento makes a pretty great travel cutlery set.
  
  My secret weapon? Visit a camping / sporting goods store like REI, Academy, etc., and pick up some camping utensils made from lexan. They're nearly unbreakable, wash easily, and only cost 75¢-$1 so you won't feel terrible if you lose them.
  
  By all means, try new cuisines, foods and flavors, but remember...if you don't like it, you aren't going to want to eat any more of it, and you'll just be out time and money. Keep a balance between things you enjoy already and new things you want to try.

Poor ass anime fan's guide to cooking episode 4

Shokugeki no Soma is one of my favorite anime of all time, if nothing else because it showcases the amazing art of cooking to weebs like us. However, it isn't a guide, and it seems that too many of you guys here need a good lesson on how to get stuff done. Trust me, it's worth it and you'll feel much better about yourself after each episode, and maybe even want to try some stuff in the show out!

Lesson 2: Anybody can master a recipe dish 100% It's the step beyond (plus ultra spoilers) that makes a great cook and chef

Remember the steps I taught you in Lesson 1? By following everything I tell you to do in these comments, you'll master step 2 (execution, turning ingredients into food), and by the end of the rewatch, you will be able to pick up any decently written recipe and replicate the dish to perfection. I guarantee it.

Now this is a noteworthy achievement, but I'm not here to make you dream about becoming recipe drones. That's not The Saikyou Cooooool (Fate/Zero Spoilerz). We want to be Souma Marui and get all the girls dammit. Too many decent cooks stop at this step though, and you probably know a few. Now to the episode...

Souma illustrates his skill at Step 1 (planning out ingredients) perfectly to create a test passing meal. This requires a fundamental understanding of what the ingredients are and how they interact when combined. An essential skill to badass home cooks like our future selves, it lets us whip up a delicacy out of limited supplies due to whatever is cheap at the store, expiring stuff that needs to be cooked, or away games where you need to assert your dominance in another man's kitchen.

Interestingly it's also an essential professional idea, as this is where ideas for new dishes are born.

How do you do this? One thing is to understand the ingredient/skills/recipe tidbits I link below. Another way is to... well I've written enough for today. Tune back tomorrow.

Ingredients/Spices of the day (one ingredients, two spices)

Prelude: remember dem eggs? Told you they are versatile. Oh and the soup ideas too

Fish and Wild Game

I gave myself a pat on the back for summarizing the mighty egg in a single paragraph, how the hell am I going to take on this? OK, I'm not going to tell a full summary since fish and game are waaaaay too diverse for the Reddit word limit by themselves. But I want to introduce their one huge disadvantage. They are stinky. Fumio mentioned it too, but fishiness is a big turn off, and the same can be said for game meat. This has to be masked somehow, usually through spices and such that enhance the fish's good flavour and texture but restrain the nastiness. In this case, Soma drained all liquid from the canned stuff, and added the sweetnes and flavor of onion, and a generous amount of saltpepper.

Freshness is paramount, else the stinkiness will increase. Avoid keeping for more than a few days.

Potato Startch or 片栗粉 katakuriko in Japanese

Purified white powder, it is a thickening agent for sauces. It adds a unique semi-jelly-ness that's really hard to explain in words. You gotta try it out. Dissolving it directly into sauce results in ugly useless clumps, so you must add little bits of water to the powder until you form a paste (or slurry), then add it to the sauce. This is called water broken potato starch or 水溶き片栗粉 as Souma uses in the episode. This is a secret weapon in western cuisine, and a sure way to add a twist to recipes to wow your non-weeb non-cooking friends. I used it to make terriyaki pork chops that to reduce my wannabe cook British roomate into submission.

Soy Sauce

Asian's favorite sauce. Some say the smell of it in the air is one way of knowing you have arrived in Japan after an overseas flight. Actually the juice of fermented soy beans, it can offer very complex flavour to any dish. The saltiness is very important as well, and many Japanese dishes use soy sauce as a substitute for salt. Very savory, use in small amounts as it easily overpowers more delicate flavors. In fact, too much is used too often in mainstream faux asian food. A good rule of thumb is, it should rarely if ever define the dish, becoming the main spice you taste.

Skill/Gear of the day: Pan Frying and Steaming

When cooking a hamburg steak, pork chops, steak, whatever, the goal is usually the same. You want a crispy exterior and a juicy interior for the meat.

Pan frying accomplishes the first of this. Add an oil, say vegetable oil or olive oil, to barely coat the bottom of the pan. Heat it up on med/high heat and add the meat so that it sizzles well when you do. You can test this by poking the oil with a wet chopstick and seeing if it reacts. The frying chars the outside of the meat, leaving a light brown then dark brown surface. However the insides are still undercooked. So now, you can either cook on low heat for a long time on both sides, or do what Soma did this episode and steam the dish.

To steam, add a bit of water (or broth) to the pan and cover with a lid. The super hot water vapor is stuck inside the pan and heats the meat from the outside. This prevents water from escaping from the meat as well, leaving it juicy as hell while it cooks. If you were to leave it frying without the lid, water would escape leaving a dry tough abomination.

A final step of removing the lid and searing the outsides again will recrisp the outside for a nice finish.

Gear time now (this will be short): Long wooden/bamboo chopsticks

The most essential tool in a Japanese kitchen, they are basically two fingers that you can use while cooking. If you ever think "I can do that with my fingers" you can do it with chopsticks. Mixing, frying, flipping, moving to serving dish, etc etc.

Poor Ass recipe of the day

Presentation of the day: Color Theory

Lots of color is good. Contrast is good. If you make sure to have a diverse representation of color on the dish, it will be so much more visually appealing. And since eating is an experience for all the senses, we can't ignore this rule. An easy trick is to add green to the dish through a garnish of fresh herbs where so little is used that the flavor isn't really that changed but the visuals get a great bump. Bell peppers and carrots can provide red/orange. Cauliflower is a brilliant white side dish.

And this is color theory, dishes and tablecloths count too. If you are buying these, make sure you have different colors. If the cooking lacks color, add to a colorful dish. If the dish has lots of green, avoid a green dish etc to avoid ugly overlap. Also same for dishes and tablecloths. Don't have them awkwardly overlap either.

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Tell me what improvements I can make to this guide! I hope that by episode 10 I won't be seeing any more cereal comments in these rewatches!

part 1
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I saw someone on here had a HP themed wedding, and they made wands out of stained chopsticks. Sounds like work, but also sounds pretty cheap. Someone at the hardware store could maybe recommend something that is easy but not fully opaque (like spray paint is). You could color the tip with glitter (or not), or you could make a base and people could personalize their own (if your friends are crafty).


On a personal note, this is super cool of you. I am having a tough time myself right now, like your GF did, and Harry Potter is so full of reminders about how important it is to stay focused on bravery and love. It is really doing a lot for me too. Good luck!!


Edited to add: These seem pretty good!

First of all, I love Smitten Kitchen, and I'm an even bigger fan of Swiss Meringue Buttercream!! Way to be prepped ahead and testing out thawing the frozen cake layers.

I don't want to be a Debbie Downer, but I also don't want you to be sitting there at 3 am one of the nights close to the wedding, freaking out because something is going wrong with the cake.

I'm not a professional baker - it is just my hobby, but I've also made a few wedding cakes as my (wedding) gift to friends. Some things I think you need to consider/be made aware of:

1. How do you plan on decorating the cake? If you don't do it regularly, smoothing frosting can be a bit of a pain. I definitely don't recommend using fondant if this is your first time using it. (Practice before hand!) Are you using flowers, ribbon, etc? For smoothing SMBC I would recommend the hot spatula method - only after the entire cake has been appropriately refrigerated. If using ribbon, back it with a strip of wax paper so it so the oil from the frosting doesn't discolor it.
   
   
2. Make sure you have enough room in your fridge to refrigerate the entire cake! (all tiers). Your wedding day isn't when you want to risk anyone getting sick! On the same note, make sure you get the egg white up to proper temperature for the frosting!
   
   
3. How will you display the cake? Will it be a traditional stacked cake, or are you displaying each tier on its own cake stand? If stacking it, making the cakes exactly level is even more important so that the top tiers don't end up sliding off the bottom. A good doweling system is also key to support the weight of the top cakes. For previous wedding cakes I've used something extremely sturdy like these (FYI they require you make your tiers to exactly 4 inches tall), and for non-wedding, but still stacked cakes I use something not as sturdy, but still useful like these
   
   
4. Give yourself tons of extra time to make these cakes! My previous wedding cakes I baked fresh, used fondant, and also had gumpaste flowers. I generally had to take 1-2 days off of work to complete these, depending on the detail of the decorations (some had a lot of decoration on the fondant itself, etc). It is always better to have time to sit back and relax because you finished early, than be panicking because you are running out of time!
   
   
5. SMBC (Swiss Meringue Buttercream) is amazing, but can be fickle. If you are making a large amount of frosting it can take a lot longer to come together than a smaller batch. For example, in my Kitchenaid I know a batch made with 4 eggs will come together very quickly, a batch with 6 eggs will be fine, but 8 eggs takes a lot of patience (and sometimes a break with the frosting in the fridge) before it will finish.
   
   Please do post pics of the finished product! And feel free to PM me with any questions. I'm definitely not a professional baker at all, but maybe I can have some perspective on all of the mistakes I've made in the process!
   
   

I rehabbed a bird like this, had him for 15 years until he passed from a heart issue. He was awesome after rehabbing, except he still suffered from occasional night terrors.

Rule 1. No hands in the cage until he fully trusts you. Even then be careful, that's his "safe space" and he's learned to defend it.

Work on coaxing him out of the cage with a target. I recommend using individually wrapped chopsticks with the paper on. Like these or similar: https://www.amazon.com/Shirakiku-Disposable-Chopstick-Bags-Pair/dp/B002FML4S8/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1484009118&sr=8-5&keywords=wrapped+chopsticks

Additionally I recommend getting a box of organic almonds still in the shell. Dr. Fosters and Smith and Windy City Parrot often have deals on these. You want to encourage fun chewing. As an "incentive payment" for coming to the drop-off point.

Work on establishing an agreed upon transition point. Him coming out to the top of the extended cage door is a good goal. You can achieve this by leaving your "gift" there for him to come get. Once he's there give him time to enjoy it, and approach him to step up. If he recedes back into the cage, let him do that and don't proceed after him.

Work on creating an atmosphere of, there's a bunch of really cool stuff going on out here, join if you want, it's no big deal to me. In my case this took about 3 weeks with the bird rehabbed, trusting and social over the course of about 10 weeks. He would pluck on and off and was a lifelong plucker, and, of course, the heart issue didn't help--poor circulation makes it harder to grow feathers.

You can view some of my older posts for advice on dealing with pluckers and problem greys. Hope this helps. The main thing is to take it slow. Good luck!

As others have said, more fat, more veggies (really, stuff yourself with veggies - things like a whole/half head of finely shredded cabbage steamed in a tiny bit of water, add pepper, salt and if you like, some allspice/caraway seeds and onion, add a pat of butter and garnish with a a couple of rashers of bacon fried until really crisp and crumbled over the top will really hit the spot; try eating a whole head of cabbage with butter in one sitting and tell me you're not full!).

Also, something that worked for me when I retrained my stomach from "big eater" to "appreciative eater": find the most ridiculously tiny fork that you can, like a two-pronged cocktail fork and eat everything with that.++ Most importantly, eat slowly. Get your ridiculously impractical tiny fork, and take tiny little bits of your food, chewing each bite slowly and really tasting it. As a former "big eater", I think sometimes the fact that we love our food so much can lead us to eat far too fast, so that we end up eating more than we need and train ourselves to eat too much.

Good luck on your journey - and don't be too hard on yourself! It's great that you've committed to doing something that's going to improve your health and make you a lot happier in the long run. That's more than a lot of people ever do!

++ Yes, everything, even your delicious chocolate-avocado mousse or that nice chunky vegetable soup.

Lightsaber Lamp or chopsticks are pretty cool. This apron, this thermos, these playing cards, this bottle opener, and this ice cube tray are also pretty sweet!

There's a variety of cat tote bags but I personally love this one or this one. I also love these coasters, this plush, this game, this cup, and these magnets.

This camping first aid kit looks super useful, as does this multitool, and you can never have too many torches. An inflatable pillow, or a funky backpack cover might be cool too.

I'm not great at looking for stuff for kids yet, so I can't really cover that aspect, but I hope you like some of these suggestions!

​

Three things I like about myself...

• I am a good hostess, and can throw a mean dinnerparty.
  
  
• I have very pretty hair and eyes.
  
  
• I am an extremely kind and loyal person.
  
  I would really love these Serving Spoons as it became very apparent that i weas lacking some when I cooked Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner for the family... lol How are these motivational? Well, I take a good deal of pride in my housewifely duties, and that means being able to set a proper table for when we have company. so... Treat yo'self
  
  But in all honesty, I love surprises too.
  
  Thank you for the contest!

Sure, let's talk!

If you're learning how to use a bar spoon, it's easier, IMO, to start out with the thicker bodied ones, since they provide a little more heft and therefore control. The drawback to them is that they don't maneuver in the glass quite as easily, and they're ultimately a little slower. Once you're pretty comfortable with your technique, I much prefer the thinner kind. Not only do that have a sexier look to them, I find I can control the movement of the spoon a lot more precisely.

http://www.amazon.com/Stainless-Steel-Vacuum-Chopsticks-Pairs/dp/B003J4NF24

Not manga, but he needs a set of these if he really loves all things Japanese. A nice set of chopsticks. I wouldn't mind having a set like this either, SS, if you're reading this. ;o

Happy Sales Melamine Soba, Rice Spoons, Chinese Won Ton Soup Spoon, Asian White, 6 Pack Notch & Hook Style https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014QD91JW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_gY-AzbTGDW658


you're welcome

I think these are pretty nifty, especially if you decide to have company over, or even want to make a night of takeout for a little more classy. Not bad for three Dolla bills!

This is what I use: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B018H6TKXQ/ref=psdcmw_13220831_t2_B01NAEP534

I know having titanium kitchenware seems silly, but they're way lighter than steel chopsticks, and I'm sure they'll last forever. They also come with a great travel case, which is why I got them.

Thanks, that's definitely close. But the fact that it's slotted is a big part of its allure as I've found.

Honestly I might just dremel some slots into one of these:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00B2ZCTPG/ref=ox_sc_sfl_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=A1THAZDOWP300U

http://www.amazon.com/Stand-Paddle-Shamoji-Black-K-386BK/dp/B003B66YRS/ref=sr_1_27?s=home-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1414535288&sr=1-27&keywords=rice+paddle

Personally, I usually have a titanium spork, chopsticks (you could find similar ones cheaper) and I usually have a knife of some sort on me (like a swiss army knife or something). in case I need to cut up something a little tougher than the spork could handle.

Titanium is nice because it's super light and antibacterial. If you look in an outdoor store you'll find lots of lightweight options that should be easy to carry/store in your car.

gifting is fun

$1.47

$2.15

$4.49

$1.94

$4.75

$5.00

= $19.80 :)

oh, sparkly!

$7.50 on my <$8.00 wish list.

$2.25 on my <$8.00 wish list.

hi contests are fun! this tardis would be amazing but eating with chopsticks is also cool.

I just got these for my son and he loves them. The chopsticks pop out of the top animal part so you can throw them in the dishwasher or whatever.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078SS88MJ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_60wSCbH913J7K

I'd cook the 3 lbs of bacon I have enjoy every last bit of it :-)

Here

Been looking for some unique kitchen items. [I'd love these!] (http://www.amazon.com/Asian-Toned-Melamine-Spoon-Black/dp/B001PZ7KE8/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=2TDGJE6IM8HDP&coliid=I32S8QAETXZ1PL)

you could always add this or this or maybe this. Or maybe you could add these or you could always add these to one of your other lists.

Hope I helped. We do not sow

If you have prime, there's this lovely squirrel rice paddle that's been on my wishlist for a while.

If you're not dead set on titanium I've found this 'spork' to be as light and easier to pack.

Humangear GoBites Duo, Red https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00GTXC1UE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_rBFuybRYWP17P

I've been using these with great success, I replaced a titanium spork and honestly these are pretty damn durable and it's weird but they feel better when eating with them, titanium just felt odd for me. If these break I'll likely go back to titanium but these have handled a lot of abuse so far and are doing great, plus they can be combined together for using with dehydrated food bags, and break them apart to store in smaller cook pots (accidentally left my titanium spork several times because it didn't fit inside the cook kit and I'd forget it) - https://www.amazon.com/humangear-HG0413-Humangear-GoBites-Duo/dp/B00GTXC1UE/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8

I grew up eating with Chinese chopsticks since I'm Chinese, and I think they stopped mass producing the normal household wooden ones about 20-30 years ago, so almost all the ones you'd use eating at grandma's house would probably be plastic nowadays.


You can still get them like here, but damn these are expensive especially compared to picking up a pack of a shitload of plastics ones at the store for a few bucks.


The fancier ones with a lacquer finish or whatever, you'd usually save for fancier meals like some family gatherings kind of like using the nice silverware when guests come over. However in Japan, your everyday Japanese chopsticks are fancier than the everyday Chinese ones, and are used more frequently. School kids even carry them to school in little fancy boxes for lunch everyday.


Using the disposable chopsticks you'd get at fast food restaurants (or normal American Chinese food restaurants) is similar to using disposable plastic forks and spoons, so it'd be kind of weird to have at home normally.


So if you have wooden Chinese chopsticks at home for everyday use, it probably was either 1) way overpriced, 2) the equivalent of the "fancy silverware", which is weird for everyday use, or 3) actually disposable (even the fancier disposable ones that are nice are still disposable), which are all kind of weird, but you can do whatever you want.


Or you're using Japanese or Korean wooden chopsticks, then also whatever. Just know that those chopsticks would be foreign to Chinese whenever you're eating Chinese food with them.


More information here:
http://aminoapps.com/page/k-pop/2120015/difference-between-chinese-japanese-and-korean-chopsticks


So in a way /u/ElfmanLV isn't totally wrong, but not totally right, because you can do whatever you want.

Stainless Steel Vacuum Chopsticks, 5 Pairs. Five bucks on the nose & free s/h.

Closest I've got is 3$! lol http://www.amazon.com/pair-Japanese-Chopsticks-Gift-Scenery/dp/B001J286C2/ref=wl_it_dp_o_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=1ZPRS4VAUWWSE&coliid=I1BFZ526UL1GSB

boy do i have good news for you.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B014QD91JW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_tai_nBVCybR0ZR5SV

Years ago I used to be in a Land Rover club (back when the D2 was the newest model), and your lunch description is on point. I realized what I was getting into when I saw them eating sushi on the trail with Snow Peak chopsticks, which at the time were about 80 bucks. Looks likes they are 46.00 now

I got fed up with doing that for both kids, so I ordered a couple of reusable silicone/melamine practice sets - pretty much like these. We haven't had a chance to try them yet, but the kids are totally stoked about having chopsticks of their very own.

If I had to pick the left one - but I dont like any of them.

The middle one is cheap shit and will tear your hand webbing after a while. The fork one has too small a spoon and the gold one is a square shape which will hurt your hand too.

This is the spoon we use at work and I use at home - its got rounded edges and is nicely weighted.

I was going to get these for my girlfriend for her birthday since they have the best rating and she really wants a new pair of wooden chopsticks :) but unfortunately, I don't have an order of $25 dollars :'(
Patrick Kane is our hero.

I'm trying to drop a few more pounds and these can help. Eating slowly helps people to lose weight... So I've read.

My cat at eight months... He's a champ! He is now 15.

Thanks.

Amazon Titanium Chopsticks with case $16.99

https://smile.amazon.com/finessCity-Titanium-Chopsticks-Aluminium-Case/dp/B018H6TKXQ/ref=sr_1_15?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1540124274&sr=1-15&keywords=korean+chopsticks

I found some!

i've had these for over two years now, they get used at least once/week, and have held up to international travel https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018H6TKXQ/

$50.85 +$15.23 shipping to the UK https://www.amazon.com/Snow-Peak-Bamboo-Carry-Chopsticks/dp/B001VH0NLW

I need to train for my Japan trip, so I need these or i'll go all Bubbles.

Hahah cute! We can rob the place with our sticks! https://www.amazon.com/Happy-Sales-HSCH85-Chopsticks-Scenery/dp/B001J286C2/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?crid=N88FYEW343PG&keywords=sushi+chopsticks&qid=1550686636&s=gateway&sprefix=sushi+chop&sr=8-5

> The problem with wood ones is that you can't soak them in water, you may also need to oil them to keep them from cracking, and the break kind of easy.

I have wood chopsticks that are over 25 years old. Never took care of any of them. Never oiled, leave them in the sink for days, etc. The only damage they receive is if I'm cutting with them and they get hit by the knife.

Edit: Pretty much these:

https://www.amazon.com/Authentic-Chinese-Natural-Chopsticks-Lightweight/dp/B01985K8I6/ref=sr_1_7?s=kitchen&ie=UTF8&qid=1474162057&sr=1-7&keywords=chopsticks

Except they don't look so nice as they've been used and abused daily for multiple decades.

Wood is good because it grips well. It doesn't melt when you cook with it. It's cheap. It's got a bit of flex unlike plastic which snaps.