If you love our mischievous little penguin friend Badtz-maru as much as you love sushi, try your hand at making this super fun bento box for International Sushi Day! Also known as kazari sushi, this sushi art recipe features bad Badtz-maru and his two best pals, Pandaba and Hana-Maru. Serve with fresh fruits and veggies and this XO crew is ready to enjoy!
Bonnie Eng is a content creator & recipe developer based out of Southern California. She has a passion for cooking, baking, crafting and all things tea. To see more of her work, please visit her Instagram!
Badtz-maru & Friends Bento Box
Ingredients:
- 2 cups prepared white sushi rice
- 1 ½ cups prepared black sushi rice
- 1 sweet yellow pepper
- 2 slices of thick white cheese
- 1 package sushi nori
- 1 sweet red pepper
- fruits and veggies, for decorating the bento box
Directions:
1. Print out one of your favorite Badtz-maru, Pandaba, and Hana-Maru images and use as a template. Badtz-maru’s face should be 2” in diameter, Pandaba’s face should be 2 ¼” in diameter, and Hana-Maru’s face should be 1 ¾” in diameter. Cut out the face templates carefully.
2. Use a craft knife to cut out the character’s features from the template, including eyes, ears, and mouths. Use the templates to cut out the same features onto the edibles. Cut out Badtz-maru’s beak from a yellow pepper. Cut out Badtz-maru and Pandaba’s eyeballs from a thick slice of white cheese. Cut out the rest of the features from a sheet of nori.
3. Cut out “XO” letters from a slice of white cheese and a red pepper. Use a craft knife and round cutters if you have them.
4. Use a dab of water to adhere a piece of nori to the “X” cheese cut-out. Use a craft knife to cut the nori in the same “X” shape.
5. Make the sushi rolls for the character’s faces. Use clean, wetted hands. Cover a sushi mat with plastic wrap for easy clean-up. Arrange the rice in a row along the bottom of a sheet of nori, leaving an edge to help with rolling. Roll upwards with some tension for a neat and tight roll. Using scissors, cut off any excess nori after rolling upwards. Use dabs of water to seal the roll.
* For Badtz-maru, you will need 1 cup of prepared black sushi rice.
* For Pandaba, you will need 1 ¼ cups of prepared white sushi rice.
* For Hana-Maru, you will need ¾ cup of prepared white sushi rice.
6. Roll up the mini sushi rolls for the character’s extra features. Use the tips from #5 to shape these small rolls.
* For Badtz-maru’s spikes, you will need ¼ cup of prepared black sushi rice.
* For Pandaba’s ears, you will need ¼ cup of prepared black sushi rice.
7. Make sure to roll up the sushi rolls tight. Check the shapes and sizes of each face and feature from the side. Wrap each roll in plastic wrap and allow it to rest for an hour before cutting.
8. Use a sharp sushi knife dipped in cold water to cut out sushi pieces to a thickness of ¾”. Wipe the knife blade with a wet cloth and dip in cold water each time you want to cut out a new slice. Use dabs of water to attach the spikes to Badtz-maru’s head and the ears to Pandaba’s head. Lay the corresponding cheese eyes and cut nori features atop each sushi piece.
9. Arrange the fruits and veggies to create a beautiful bento box. Top with the Badtz-maru and friends sushi and enjoy!
