How to make a Japanese snowman

Maybe this isn’t really a “how-to”, but since it’s winter and all, I thought I’d do this anyway.
I made a snowman very similar to this for Katamari bento. (I used fake sausage instead of carrot for its hat)

[Japanese snowman, a.k.a. Yuki Daruma]
– two quail eggs
– seaweed
– baby carrot (you can also use normal carrot or sausage)
– uncooked pasta
— hole punch, scissors

1. Boil quail eggs.
2. When quail eggs are done, take them out while they’re still warm, and peel off the egg shell. You can shape an egg pretty easily while the egg is still warm.
3. Hold an egg with an index finger and thumb (index finger on the pointy part, thumb on the bottom part) and squeeze the egg softly. (This is to make the egg rounder.)

Be careful! The eggs might be still hot!

4. Cut baby carrot (or normal carrot)
5. Snap a noodle of pasta to the length that’s just a little longer than two eggs and the carrot lined up.

6. Stick a toothpick through the carrot to make a hole, and remove it.

7. Stick the pasta into two eggs, and put the carrot on top.

8. Snap off the extra pasta that’s sticking out of the carrot. You can put cut out cheese and put it on the pasta to cover it.

9. Use a hole punch to punch out eyes from seaweed, and cut seaweed to make its nose and mouth.

The one from my how-to is on the right side. (See "How-to Seasonal" for instructions) I used a 6-petal cookie cutter for the one on the top left, and I made a bigger circle and put more holes on the one at the bottom left.

Fortunately, I can get both quail eggs and seaweed at a local non-Asian supermarket by my house, but some people might not be able to find them. But you don’t need to use the exact ingredients. You can boil a regular egg, squeeze the egg to make it rounder when it’s done, and cut it in half and line two up half-egg to make a snowman. 🙂

When I decided to do this how-to, I realized that this is a “Japanese snowman.”
Snowman is called “Yuki Daruma” (Yuki = snow, Daruma = potbelly & round doll) in Japan, and a Yuki Daruma is usually made with two snowballs, and has a charcoal stick for its nose (not a carrot! :P) and mouth. So a lot of times, a Japanese snowman isn’t smiling, but it kind of has a blank look on its face.
So if you make this for your kids, and they complain that this isn’t a snowman (kids tend to be very observing and judgmental), tell them that you’re just so awesome for knowing how to make a Japanese snowman. 😛

You can see the pictures of “How to make a Japanese snowman” on my flickr page.