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+ servings
5 from 6 votes
Sanshoku Bento (Tri-coloured Rice Bowl)
Prep Time
5 mins
Cook Time
15 mins
Total Time
20 mins
 
Lovely looking rice bowl dish with three toppings - egg, beef mince and peas. You can use pork mince or chicken mince if you like and the green element can be chopped snow peas or even spinach. Perfect for a kid’s lunch!
Recipe Type: Main
Cuisine: Japanese
Serves: 2
Calories: 754 kcal
Author: Yumiko
Ingredients (tbsp=15ml, cup=250ml)
Mince
  • 200g (0.4lb) beef mince
  • ½ tbsp finely chopped ginger
  • tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp sake
  • 1 tbsp mirin
  • 1 tbsp sugar
  • ½ tbsp cooking oil
Peas
  • 1 cup of frozen peas
  • A pinch of salt
Iri Tamago (finely scrambled egg)
  • 2 eggs
  • ½ tbsp sugar
  • 1 tsp sake
  • pinch of salt
Decoration (optional)
  • 2 round slices of carrot cut into flower shape (3mm (⅛") thickness, Note 1)
Instructions
  1. Add oil to a small pot or fry pan over medium high heat. Add ginger and stir for 30-60 seconds until you can smell the ginger fragrance, then add the beef mince. Stir fry the beef mince, making sure to break up the beef mince into each grain (It should take about 5 minutes).
  2. When the beef mince is cooked through, add the remaining mince ingredients and mix together. Occasionally stir the ingredients until the liquid is almost evaporated. Be careful not to burn the mince. Turn off the heat and leave it aside until required.
  3. Boil 2-3 cups of water in a small sauce pan. Add a pinch of salt and frozen peas. Cook for 2-3 minutes and drain.
  4. Add the Iri Tamago ingredients in a bowl and beat lightly. Heat a small pot or deep small frying pan, preferably non-stick (Note 2), over medium heat and pour in the egg mixture.

  5. Use two pairs of cooking chopsticks together and stir vigorously (Note 3) until the eggs are cooked through. The eggs should be broken up into small pieces, like the beef mince.
  6. Place rice in 2 bowls. Make sure that the surface of the rice is flat and level.

  7. Using a spoon, place half of the cooked beef mince on the rice, covering ⅓ of the surface, then add the eggs next to the mince covering another ⅓ of the surface. Fill the remaining ⅓ with the green peas. Repeat the same for the other bowl.
  8. Place a carrot flower (if using) or any edible substitute in the centre for decoration. (Note 1)
Recipe Notes

1. If you have a vegetable cutter in a flower shape (see the post for samples), that would be the easiest. But if you don't, you can still make a flower carrot with a knife.

To make a plum flower shape with a knife: Slice one round slice (3mm / 0.1 inch thickness) taken from the length of the carrot. Make 5 small v-shape cuts around the edge of the round slice in equal spacing. Shape the edges of the petals by removing pointy edges.

Boil or microwave the flowers to soften them.

2. Iri tamago is meant to be cooked without oil hence non-stick pan would be the best. But if you don’t have a non-stick pan, I would recommend heating a small amount of oil in the pan and wipe excess oil off before cooking the eggs.

3. If you don’t have 2 pairs of cooking chopsticks, you can use a small egg beater or a fork. Or use whatever can break up the cooked egg into small pieces, like the cooked mince.

4. Nutrition below assumes 1 cup of cooked rice per serving.

serving: 434g  calories: 701kcal  fat: 29g (45%)  saturated fat: 9.5g (48%)  polyunsaturated fat: 2.3g  monounsaturated fat: 13g  cholesterol: 257mg (86%)  sodium: 990mg (41%) potassium: 553mg (16%)  carbohydrates: 71g (24%)  dietary fibre: 4.43g (18%)  sugar: 17g  protein: 33g  vitamin a: 46%  vitamin c: 14%  calcium: 6.7%  iron: 34%