Happy New Year, everyone! I know it’s not so new anymore, but it’s my first post of 2017 so let’s give it up for procrastination haha. Anyway, as you may know by now, a bunch of us over at Fandom Foodies have been participating in month long themed collaborations and January is no different, or should I say #Nyanuary.  Katharina, the Pretty Cake Machine herself, is hosting a month full of cat themed fandom food which you should definitely check out! There are some really cool submissions this month :D.

You may remember I made the Parfait from Neko Atsume last year, so it seemed fitting that I revisit the game and try making something else from it. Unfortunately all I could find was cat food…. but hey, that might just be crazy enough to work!

Now cat food recipes are not something that you spend a lot of time on in culinary school or the restaurant so I took to the internet to do some research on the subject. I would highly suggest that you do the same before attempting to make anything for your feline friends. Here are some links to get you started:

• http://www.care2.com/greenliving/gourmet-kitty-homemade-cat-food.html
• http://familypet.com/are-freeze-dried-bonito-flakes-a-healthy-treat-to-serve-my-cat/
• http://www.thedailycat.com/theanimalrescuesiteiframe/nutrition/dietingredients/flavors_cats_love/index.html

That all being said, this recipe complies with the recommended ratio of nutrients in cat food and has been thoroughly tested by our two brave quality controllers.  Speaking of which, let’s introduce them shall we?

Meet the mittens! Jax on the left is super playful, talkative, and has a tendency to get himself into trouble. On the right is Tanner, the strong, silent type, but he’s very sweet if he deems you worthy of his time. They’re snowshoe siamese cat brothers, about 6 years old, and they’re the best. They also LOVE bonito flakes as we found out!

In order to take care of adorable friends like these you want to make sure that the ingredients you are feeding them are as natural as possible. When picking out the canned fish we were very adamant about checking labels and putting back anything that had been heavily processed. Honestly, the the only two ingredients you should see are 1) the fish and 2) water or oil.  Salt is also a touchy subject as too much of it can upset a cat’s electrolyte balance. To that end I haven’t added any salt to this recipe.

I know there’s probably many of you out there that are allergic to cats and are feeling a little left out, but fear not! Even if you don’t have any furry friends around the house, these Bonito Bitz are perfectly palatable for humans as well! (Yes I ate cat food for this post :P) Really though, it’s not too far off from a tuna salad and would probably taste great in a sandwich.  If you feel like trying it out for yourself, just add a few pinches of salt, maybe some dried herbs and garlic powder and it’s surprisingly tasty!

+ Bonito Bitz +

ITEMS

EQUIP

• A sharp knife and cutting board
• 2 small sauce pots (with lids preferably)
• Medium mixing bowl
• Wooden spoon

WALKTHROUGH

1. Start by cooking the rice. We want it to be nice and soft for kitty teeth so we’re going to boil it pretty hard. Into a pot pour 1.5 cups of water, add the rice, and cover. Bring the water to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer until the water has evaporated and the rice is super tender. Set aside.

2. While the rice is cooking we can also boil the potato. Peel and cut it into small chunks and dump them into a pot. Add enough water to cover the potato and bring it to a boil over medium-high heat. Test the doneness of the potato every so often by poking it with a fork. You’ll know it’s ready when the potato no longer provides any resistance and the fork pushes through it easily. At that point you can remove it from the heat and drain the water off.

3. Once the rice is done, use a sharp knife to chop up the nori into very small pieces and add it to the pot along with the cooked potato and packet of dry bonito flakes. Use a wooden spoon to stir these ingredients and smash up the potato pieces into smaller, kitty sized bits.

4. Get ready to be set upon by your feline companions because you know they can hear that can from a mile away haha :3. Empty the contents of each can into a medium sized mixing bowl. If you’re fast enough you can get the empty cans on the floor for your cats to investigate before they get to the kitchen. It’s certainly a nice alternative to them trying to claw their way up your leg! Use a fork to gently break apart the fish while still keeping some larger chunks.

5) Now we can put it all together. Add 1.5 cups of the rice mixture to the canned fish and mix gently to combine. Cat’s enjoy a variety of textures in their food so we want to be careful to not turn it to mush. (Alternatively, you CAN turn it all to mush by using a food processor, if that’s what you or your mitten prefers.) Once it’s all together, top with more dried bonito flakes and you have a dish Guy Furry would be proud of!

Hey! Thanks for reading all the the way to the end! You’re awesome :D! If you haven’t already and are looking for more nerdy food stuff, consider following me on Twitter, Facebook, tumblr and Instagram. I post a lot of work in progress pictures for the blog as well as some stuff from my real job as a pastry chef. If that sounds like something you’d be into, please check out those links above! Anyway, take care everyone and I’ll see you soon with an all new recipe!

– Bryan