Charaben - Food Art

Native princess made of mashed potatoes, cheese, meatball, carrots, corn, and nori.The Peanuts characters are made with rice, tofu wrappers, a hard-boiled egg, and nori.Goku and Krillin on a three-starred dragonball, made of mashed potatoes, eggs, red bell pepper, and nori.Panda steamed baos, made with dough that has been mixed with black squid ink.Inari Rabbits food art made of rice, tofu wrappers, nori, carrots, and cucumbers.Nariodon, made with a tomato, blueberries, bamboo shoots, almond paste, and nori.Totoros, made of soft-boiled eggs partially marinated in a soy sauce/mirin mixture, ginger, and nori.Goku, made of mashed potatoes, orange bell pepper, tofu, and nori.Totoros, made of soft-boiled eggs partially marinated in a soy sauce/mirin mixture, ginger, and nori.Doraemon, made of rice soaked in butterfly pea flowers, yellow and red bell peppers, and nori.Owls made of rice, tofu wrappers, eggs, carrots, cucumbers, and nori.Front and back views of cats made of rice, tofu wrappers, tomato, and nori.Onari, made of bamboo shoots, soba noodles, baby corn, green bell pepper, almond paste, and nori. Peacock, made with cucumbers, carrots, blueberries, and a peppercorn.Santa, a reindeer, a snowman made of rice, sausage, red bell pepper, and cucumber.Savory cracker with a calaveras skull imprint.BB-8 made of crackers and cheese.Grogu, made of dumplings, vegetable powder, nori, noodles, and tofu wrappers.Goku, made of mashed potatoes, orange bell pepper, tofu, and nori.Girl with cat costume food art made of rice, nori, mashed potatoes, and tomatoes.Charlie Brown and Snoopy, made with rice, tofu wrappers, and nori.Doraemon, made of rice soaked in butterfly pea flowers, yellow and red bell peppers, and nori.Totoro, made of a soft-boiled egg partially marinated in a soy sauce/mirin mixture, ginger, and nori.Front and back views of cats made of rice, tofu wrappers, tomato, and nori.A pile of mushrooms carved into skulls.Nariodon and Onari are made with a tomato, blueberries, bamboo shoots, soba noodles, baby corn, green bell pepper, almond paste, and nori.Cats made of rice, tofu wrappers, tomato, and nori.Panda steamed baos, made with dough that has been mixed with black squid ink or beet juice.Brady the dog, made of granola, shredded coconut, chocolate, and a dried cranberry.Grogu, made of dumplings, vegetable powder, nori, noodles, and tofu wrappers.Charlie Brown and Snoopy, made with rice, tofu wrappers, and nori.Three kid faces in a cat, chicken, and owl costumes made of different colors of seasoned rice plus nori decorations.Dim sum egg tart decorated with a face made of nori.

My love of food art was inspired when I picked up a book called Face Food Recipes, which introduced me to Charaben (Character Bento). In 2010, I created my first piece, rabbits made of rice, fried bean curd, carrots, cucumbers, and nori. Spark ignited! I loved the challenge of creating some of my favorite characters in the form of edible food. Some highlights are: Totoro, Doraemon, Grogu, Goku, Snoopy & Charlie Brown, and Onari & Naridon from Oni: Thunder God's Tale.