[Sca-cooks] Non-Period Food for Non-Vigil

[Sharon Palmer]

There are a lot of Japanese foods that work served cold or room 
temperature.  Do a search for Bento, Japanese lunch boxes, and you 
find lots of ideas.

>I am a huge lover of sushi.  It can be done without raw fish and it can be
>made a little in advance (morning of) and brought in the coolers.  Rolls
>work best.

Sushi rolls are easy to make, if you have a source for the nori, and 
buy the bamboo mats used to roll them.  You need a *really* sharp 
knife to cut them.   I've made them for parties, and the nori doesn't 
stay crisp but they are still good.   Wrap whole rolls, and cut them 
just before serving.

If you have a rice steamer, you could prepare the fillings at home, 
and make the rice and form the rolls at the hotel.

You can also form sushi as bars without the nori, and cut it into pieces.

Tamago, sweet Japanese omelet.  These are often filling for sushi, 
but they make a nice appetizer on their own, cut to bite size pieces.

Sunomono, seafood and cucumber salad, especially with Japanese cukes, 
or the little Persian ones.

Spinach cooked and rolled, and the rolls cut into pieces.  It turns 
spinach into finger food.

Slices of yellow daikon pickle.

Chicken, fish, or shrimp breaded with panko fried ahead of time, served cold

Krokke (croquettes), fried ahead of time and served cold.

Soybeans, cooked and served cold, with just a touch of good salt.

Chicken yakitori skewers can be served room temp.

Asparagus lightly cooked, served cold with a dipping sauce.

Grilled eggplant

Simmered kobocha squash, cut in bite size pieces.

Fukasa tamago (wrapped custard) eggs, veggies, and shrimp wrapped in 
plastic wrap bundles, cooked in boiling water, then chilled in ice 
water. unwrap to serve.

Tofu hakata-ni "tofu sandwich" is very pretty, slices of "cotton" 
tofu sprinkled with cornstarch, spread with a shrimp filling, steamed 
and then simmered.  The cornstarch makes a translucent layer, so it 
looks like a striped obi when cut into slices.  Google books has the 
recipe, but not the picture 
http://books.google.com/books?id=PjqcM_2qg8YC&lpg=PA78&ots=8qf-cb0MyW&dq=Tofu%20hakata-ni&pg=PA78#v=onepage&q=Tofu%20hakata-ni&f=false

Pureed chicken "sausages" filled with mushrooms and veggies, wrapped 
in plastic, steamed, then sliced to serve.

Thin slices of salmon wrapped around a filling, cooked and sliced to serve.

Seafood of all types, depending on your budget
Raw or lightly steamed, or pickled veggies of many sorts
fresh fruit

For a garnish, turnip chrysanthemums are pretty and not hard to do. 
Steam smallish turnips very gently.  Peel and trim nicely.  Put a 
chopstick on either side and cut in little sliced down only to the 
chopstick, then turn and cut the other way, so you have little 
juliennes of turnip still connected at the bottom.  You have to be 
careful not to get too close to the edge and cut parts completely 
off.   Dress with a little sugar and vinegar, then put them upside 
down in a bowl with a little food color and water, so only the edges 
are colored.   These are edible and very good, but people seldom 
actually eat them.