bento#18 Jjij from Kiki’s Delivery Service

This was one of those Ghibli characters I always thought about making but I just never did. The one that looks so easy to make. Maybe it’s even too easy… And that was why I never thought it’d be a challenge.

Bento#18: Jiji from Kiki’s Delivery Service
Created and eaten on: 10/30/2008

Yes, Jiji.
The black cat from Kiki’s Delivery Service. I had an idea for a Jiji bento for a really long time. I knew I was going to make Jiji out of a rice ball wrapped with seaweed, but I couldn’t think of how I’d put Jiji in a bento.
There are a couple of famous scenes Jiji’s in. One of the scenes is when Kiki is asked to deliver a stuffed cat doll in a cage. There is an accident while she’s delivering it and she loses the doll. Jiji, Kiki’s cat, agrees to go in the cage posing as the stuffed doll.
I’ve never made a cage out of… anything! So I decided to make Jiji in a cage.
When I was thinking of how to make a cage, I immediately thought of burdock root. Burdock root is commonly used in Japan. You can cook burdock root with different vegetables and rice. Also it’s loaded with fiber and calcium! Burdock root doesn’t have a strong flavor by itself, so you can put it in a lot of dishes.
I made an egg sheet (see “how to make an egg sheet”), hamburg, and Jiji out of rice balls the night before.
The following morning, I cut burdock root into thin strips and sauteed them while I boiled a quail egg. I put the egg sheet on a bento box, put hamburg and Jiji rice balls on. And I made Jiji’s eyes out of kamaboko (fish cake) with seaweed, and made his nose with seaweed on cheese. I made a bow out of fake crab meat and put it on Jiji. After I figured out how big the cage was supposed to be, I wrapped asparagus with ham, and placed them to be the outline of the cage. I also put some rice to hold the shape of the top of the cage. After that, I started making the cage with burdock root. Burdock root is pretty strong and bendy, so it was perfect to make something like a cage.

I made a pink bow out of kamaboko (fish cake) and put it on the top the cage, and filled the corners with a quail egg and cherry tomatoes.

I liked using burdock root to create 3D shapes but this seemingly easy bento turned to be what I’ve had been afraid of… which is “meh”.
But Jiji is still a very easy character for bento, so I recommend him anyone who’s a huge fan of Ghibli films!

Jiji:
– rice balls wrapped with seaweed
– kamaboko with seaweed for his eyes
– cheese with seaweed for his nose
– fake crab meat for the bow on him

Cage:
– burdock root
– hamburg
– asparagus wrapped with ham, and asparagus
– kamaboko for the pink bow

Other food:
– egg sheet (see “how to make a sunflower”)
– rice
– quail egg
– cherry tomato

For more pictures of my bento, visit Bento! set and Bento details! set on my flickr page.