If you’re a parent, you’d know how hard it is to get little kids to actually eat. Children can be extremely picky eaters, so you have to serve them healthy and delicious meals that will keep their interest.
This mother from Tokyo, Japan, has no problem with that at all. That’s because she has mastered the art of meal preparation.
Known as Etoni Mama on Instagram, this mom is the best at making kyaraben or character bento. Kyaraben is the art of styling food to mimic the look of characters, animals, or people.
Although Etoni uses a variety of ingredients, her expertise has been on turning fried eggs into all sorts of figures that are too adorable to eat.
Since Etoni is raising three girls aged 11, 7, and 9, she’s had lots of practice preparing these bento meals.
“I started making it to catch the interest of my daughter,” she told My Modern Met. “I find inspiration by just looking at the ingredients and thinking of a character.”
It takes Etoni around an hour to finish one of her creative meals. From Winnie the Pooh to Woody of “Toy Story,” this incredible mama can turn fried eggs into pretty much anything she wishes!
While most of us are used to just boiling, frying, or scrambling eggs, Etoni knows how to take her egg game a step further by recreating characters using its parts. For example, she uses the yellow yolks to depict faces and bodies, while the whites serve as the perfect backdrop.
Other ingredients include nori—an edible seaweed—which she uses to represent hair and define the facial features of her characters.
Some of her meals also feature bonito flakes, hams, cheeses, and vegetables to complete the picture.
No matter what concept she comes up with, Etoni creates hearty dishes that are good for both the stomach and the eyes.
Amazingly, Etoni hasn’t had any formal training in making food, which means this is just her natural talent shining through.
After a co-worker encouraged her to share her intricate creations on social media, Etoni started posting her delightful dishes on Instagram. So far, she has racked up over 166K followers on the platform.
Her insanely cute food designs have also been featured in magazines like Vogue.
Someone as creative as Etoni is set up for success, and not too long after her viral fame, this mom was able to publish her own cookbook! It features ideas straight from her kitchen to help other struggling parents serve their children food that they can’t resist.
As much as I love my own mother’s cooking, Etoni Mama surely beats her by a mile when it comes to presentation skills.
Check out Etoni Mama’s colorful character bento dishes in the gallery below.
Etoni Mama’s kids are very lucky, indeed! I wonder, though, if they ever struggle to “destroy” these creative dishes once it’s time to eat them.
You can follow Etoni Mama on Instagram to see more of her fantastic food creations.
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