Bento#174: Hamutaro (Hamtaro) Char Siew Pao Bento
My kids love char siew pao (barbequed pork buns), and previously, I did a char siew pao bento before, and this is my second attempt. I wanted to fix something like Hamutaro (or Hamtaro), so I cut some cheese and ham last night, and thought that I would speed things up in the morning. But then, I realized that I might have to reheat the char siew pao if it’s too hard and cold by the late evening, and cheese is not suitable for heating up. It might melt and I don’t think my kids like the taste of cheesy char siew pao. LOL!
Thus, I prepared an egg sheet in the morning, and quickly cut out the shape out with exacto knife. I would say, you must get an exacto knife because it definitely makes things easier in bento-ing! Then, I cut the eyes from nori and punched a few more details with a shoe puncher and Carl’s smiley puncher. Everything was done in lightning speed so I didn’t have time to snap any photo while preparing the bentos.
Besides char siew paos, my kids will have mangosteens, cherimoya (nona), blueberries and lychees too.
Here’s a closer shot of Hamutaro:
Tottoko Hamutaro is a hamster, but I think mine looked more like a cat. LOL! The ears are cut from kamaboko, and pinned to the buns with spaghetti strips. Then, I placed the egg sheets and hams on the ears.
Oh well, it’s worth trying it out, and maybe I will fix Hamutaro again and make it more lookalike.
Hey Amy, it is a BEAUTIFUL and cute Hamtaro! Not like a cat but look really like the real thing! Well done and so creative lor! Can think of using a pao to make! Keke!
I agree the exacto knife v good! I din even know tt is called an exacto knife…I bot it s I used to use that last time for cutting so thot it’s good to cut things cos…like the name..quite exact..so exacto? Haha!! wat a pun!
A winning bento again!
wah…u work magic la…!! sigh….how come i cannot be half as good as u???
Tona-mama, izzit? If very alike, I won’t try next time. LOL! Just kidding…if my kids like it and if they ask again, I will give it a try.
Chinnee, thanks! Don’t worry, one day you will.
Just keep on packing food!
It’s very cute!
I just got some cutters from Bentomarket.com. Thanks for the great shopping link!
Also, those are huge blueberries! Never seen them that big.
Wena, glad to hear that you got some nice tools!
I can’t remember where the blueberries are from, but this batch are more expensive than those I bought previously. I think it’s the same packaging, but maybe the price increase already. 
But the size is almost the same so far, or maybe my bento boxes are very small so that berries looked comparatively bigger? LOL!
U r marvelous! I can’t think of anything that u cant think of! It looks so, so real. U r number 1!! U won it all!
Cherilyn, Thanks, I’m blushed with your comment. LOL!
Amy, YES, I really mean it!! It looks flawless and just like the cartoon lor! I know it cos my nieces used to like this character and I always bought Hamtaro stuff for them!
Can make again cos your kids will love it & not cos it doesnt look like it!
Amy, pls pls never stop bento-ing ok? What to do w/o ur lovely ideas and posts?
Great pao. Love the eyes.
I love the Char Siu Bao!! After ban-leng-leng it certainly looks more appetising!! Thanks for sharing the tips
BTW, what is an exacto knife???
WOW!!! Very cute char siew pau! Another nice bento!!
[...] interested to see my other bentos with barbecued pork buns, check out Mickey and Minnie Mouse, and Hamtaro. Today’s bento is speedy again and it won’t take a lot of time in preparing Pandapple, [...]
Where can I buy the exacto knife here in Malaysia?
Thanks everyone!
Caroline, exacto knife is an art knife. Sara, you might be able to find one from the blade and scissors section of the stationery shop.
[...] wanted to fix Hamtaro again since it’s so cute. But without using pao, just like the previous Hamtaro Char Siew Pao Bento, I resolved to using cheese with this [...]