This last spring I became a little obsessed with sakura (cherry blossoms). I was looking at everything sakura related on the internet. From papers, to cell phone charms, to photos, to food! My sakura viewing quickly turned into an obsession with pickled sakura leaves and blossoms. I wanted them so bad. I had to have some!

Makiko Itoh didn’t make my obsession any easier to bear with her article on sakura either. It’s a wonderful piece, you should go read it, and it only fueled my sakura dreams.

Guess what? I finally, after months, got so lucky and Shirley of Little Miss Onigiri posted a Facebook link to Anything From Japan and they sell both the leaves and blossoms. This was my first time ordering from them and I was very impressed with how quickly my package arrived. Everything was exactly as stated and arrived in perfect condition!

My first foray into the world of eating sakura had to be a bento. ^_^ Hellllllloooooo sakura ongiri! Both onigiri are wrapped with a preserved sakura leaf and topped with a preserved sakura blossom. Oh my. I’m in love. The blossoms are packed in salt, so the flavor is quite intense (you can rinse some of the salt of if you want, but I like it) and they taste like a cherry blossom crossed with an umeboshi (pickled plum) because they are pickled in ume vinegar. I am in salty/sour heaven right now!

Along with the onigiri, the bento has beef stir fry, a simple salad, and plum and pluot wedges.

Have you had preserved sakura before? Or sakura mochi? What is your favorite sakura dish? I’m also thinking of making a salad dressing with them, do you know of any recipes?

Happy Bento-ing!

Tags: bento, onigiri, steeltainer, salad