I decided to go with pop culture again this week. And I’m returning to one of my most successful pop culture bentos in the past, My Neighbor Totoro. I’m changing the way I made him though. Last time I did a Totoro made entirely out of rice (some mixed with toasted black sesame seeds).

This time I decided to do a Totoro spicy salmon sushi roll! I still used sesame to ‘dye’ the rice a grayish color, but instead of toasted black sesame seeds, I used black sesame paste. I felt this gave a more consistent gray color. I then filled the inside with spicy salmon and cucumber. Once it was rolled and sliced, I added the accents that really made these ‘Totoro’.  Cheese rounds for the eyes and belly, and nori for the pupils, whiskers, and belly accents. I’m super happy with these. I think they came out adorable. I wonder what else I can change into a sushi roll?

I decided to do mushrooms again because they remind me of a forest or garden, the same place Totoro is found in the films. Plus they just add to the whimsy. For some more veggies, I boiled some edamame and had seaweed salad as well. To pump up the protein, I made octopus shaped sausages (I really need to figure out how to cut these in different shapes, lol).

On the sweet side, I had candy packets. I’m kind of getting obsessed with these. I also had strawberry and apple sauce cups. These are one of my crunches when I’m really having a sweet craving. But my lunch was so filling that I ended up eating these later in the day as an afternoon snack.  

Overall, I was very happy with how these came out, and am already trying to figure out what other cute characters I could make into a sushi roll to maximize taste and adorableness. What do you think would work well? Hope you enjoyed this!