{"id":9847,"date":"2025-08-04T18:35:02","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T01:35:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.zojirushi.com\/blog\/?p=9847"},"modified":"2025-08-04T18:35:04","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T01:35:04","slug":"world-elephant-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.zojirushi.com\/blog\/world-elephant-day\/","title":{"rendered":"World Elephant Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Zojirushi<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n

Founded by a Canadian filmmaker and observed every year on August 12th, World Elephant Day is a real thing, calling attention to the illegal poaching of elephant tusks for ivory, both in Africa and Asia. In fact, Asian elephants are on the endangered species list with less than 40,000 living in the wild today. It\u2019s sad that these magnificent animals, who travel in groups to protect their young, don\u2019t have many natural predators because of their size\u2014but there\u2019s always the two-legged kind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As everyone knows, the elephant (\u201czo\u201d<\/em> in Japanese) is Zojirushi\u2019s mascot, which was chosen for its symbol of wisdom, reliability and sense of comfort. Previously established as Kyowa Manufacturing, the company changed its name to Zojirushi in 1961 and has been as steady and strong as its namesake since then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To celebrate World Elephant Day and Zojirushi, I made a bento lunch and branded it with their mascot. Pretty cool? So many useful compartments, so many dishes to pack!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Bento<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Lately as I get older (yes, it\u2019s true), I\u2019ve been noticing how my taste buds aren\u2019t satisfied until I get the full flavor bomb of whatever I eat. Meaning it leaves me sad and unfulfilled\u2014even downright angry if I don\u2019t get it, you know what I mean? That goes for cooking at home or going out to restaurants, both. Even worse if I paid for it; that\u2019s when I really get mad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is my wife\u2019s Korean braised chicken, called dakbokkeumtang.<\/em> If you want to be blasted with flavor, look no further than Korean food. Braising is a cooking style that involves searing your ingredients first to bring out the flavor, then letting it stew in its own juices or adding sauces if it needs more liquid. It\u2019s almost the perfect dish for using an electric skillet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"chicken<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The sauce is key. This recipe is from Umma, A Korean Mom\u2019s Kitchen Wisdom, <\/em>one of a number of Korean cookbooks that my wife loves to read. But Braised Chicken is pretty common so I don\u2019t think you\u2019ll have trouble finding the right recipe for you. And you can make it as spicy as want, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"pouring<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The finished dish is so good it sometimes makes me forget that I love Japanese food the best, ha-ha! The trick is to not get the two mixed up, really. By that I mean Japanese-style Korean BBQ is pretty dang good, but it can be somewhat mild if you\u2019ve had the Korean kind. I mean, even the kimchi<\/em> is different. By the same token, Koreans do a good job with Japanese tonkatsu<\/em> or udon,<\/em> but some delicate flavors are missing. I\u2019m not saying anything more on this matter\u2014I\u2019d like to keep the peace at my house.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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