Dazai Bento / 太宰弁当

Going back to the New Year's Holidays, on my last day off my wife and I were trying to decide what to have for dinner. I don't recall who's idea it was but we decided to go to Shin-Aomori station to check out their selection of ekiben or station lunch. Most people would buy an ekiben when traveling by shinkansen (bullet train). I spotted an ekiben that looked interesting and delicious and very local. It was called the Dazai Bento. Osamu Dazai being a well known literary figure who was born and lived in the Tsugaru area. This bento was made with some of Dazai's favorite dishes.

正月の時期に戻りますよ。正月休み最後の日僕と妻は夕飯でなに食べるのかを悩んでた。誰が提案したか覚えてないけど、新青森駅に行ってどういう駅弁があるかを見に行こうという話になって、いざ、駅へ。僕の目に入ったのが太宰弁当。パッケージに書いてあるのは”太宰治の好物がたくさん詰まっている太宰弁当”。

It looks pretty good and healthy too.

美味しそうで健康的な感じがする。

So what's in it?

じゃ、なにが入ってる？

Well, lets follow the picture starting with the items at the top left. First we have mountain and root vegetables which are the ingredients for ke no shiru. Plum wrapped in beefsteak plan. On the top right, a specialty of Kanagi  - horse meat and mustard simmered in miso. Below those three items is rice topped with kaiyaki miso (grilled scallop with miso and eggs). The long thin vegetable on the left is a bamboo shoot. Then we have a wako onigiri, a riceball wrapped with wako kelp. On the bottom, we have a large boiled scallop, salmon, and beefsteak plant kelp. All this for 1000yen (tax included).

さて、上記の写真で見てみましょ。左上から野菜と根祭けの汁の具。真ん中にあるのは紫蘇巻き梅。そして右上にあるのは青森金木町名物馬肉と高菜のみそ煮。続きましたごはんの上に津軽の味ホタテ貝焼き玉子みそ乗せ。小さなごぼうみたいな野菜は根回り竹の子。そしてあの緑のものは若生おにぎり。薄くて柔らかい若生昆布でご飯を包んだあにぎりです。下にあるのは大きなホタテまるごと煮、鮭としそ昆布。これが全て税込で１０００円。

Bon Appetit!

いただきます！