Bento Tutorial

What is Bento?

            Bento is a well-balanced, compact and visually appealing lunch that is packed in a box. This method comes from Japan where it is very common where mothers see making bento as an expression of love for their children (and husbands too!). Children share and even enter their bento into cafeteria competitions. Bento is also becoming increasingly popular for workers to take each morning and is increasing in popularity in North America. Japan has the highest longevity and lowest obesity rates in the world, so it wouldn’t hurt to take a page out of their book!

            Bento is yummy, healthy and interesting. A great perk about bento is that they are very eco-friendly! It helps reduce waste and most bento parts and accessories are highly reusable. Bento allow for easy portion control, saving money and for one to pack a wider variety of food for lunch. It is important to realize that a bento does not need to be filled with Japanese food. You can fill it with whatever food you like! You can make the food from scratch, or it makes great use of leftovers. The foods used can be premade, or prepared in advance. You can use a rainbow of assorted foods to keep things interesting! Despite the beautiful images we all see online or in books, there is no pressure to have a bento look like an image, landscape or character. Just aim to make it visually appealing and thoughtfully arranged. Once you get the hang of that, if you feel like it you can aim for some more complicated arrangements, but in reality, that's not really necessary. The important thing is that it appeals to you and is arranged in a way to be highly portable, and well organized.

            Bento is a great way to motivate yourself to pack a lunch, eat healthy and also to diminish picky eaters. Lets make packed meals fun again with bento!

Bento Supplies & Tools

There are a lot of different tools and supplies one can use to make a bento but they are not all necessary at first. The main tools one needs are a bento box (even just Tupperware will do the trick), some utensils (whatever you feel comfortable with), and some cupcake paper cups. In the following descriptions I will explain the basic tools/supplies one can use for bento in further detail, and you can decide for yourself what you want to use!

Bento boxes: Come in a wide variety of types, styles and designs.

            Lacquer: heavy, long-lasting, but not microwave safe

            Plastic: usually microwave safe (but not the lid) affordable, modern

            Metal: not microwavable, uncommon, may not have a tight seal

Bamboo: good for sandwiches or onigiri (rice balls) because it allows for            

breathing, but must be lined.

Wooden: Traditional, not microwave safe, expensive, require plastic lining

Donburi: has 2 layers, one for rice and the other for the rice topping (stew, chili, etc.)

Onigiri: for one or multiple onigiri, is or has a compartment specifically shaped for onigiri (triangular)

Chopsticks: useful for eating and cooking

Utensil sets: come in cases with forks, spoons, chopsticks, etc. Very useful for transporting utensils.

Toothpicks/Decorative Picks: useful for eating, decorating and packing

Baran: food dividers, such as grass (often seen with sushi), keeps food separated

Little Sauce Containers/Bottles: a mess-free way to store and transport sauces]

Plastic, Paper, or Silicone Cups: good for keeping foods, particularly moist foods, separated

Oshibori: small, wet, reusable towel in a case, used to wash hands before and after a meal

Rice Paddle: Typically plastic, is a small paddle used in the making of rice

Freezer Packs: to keep food cool and safe

Straps: used to keep containers safely closed

Bag: one can use either a cloth wrapper or a bento bag with a zipper or drawstring

Gadgets: can make lunch a little extra fun, or make being creative with food a little easier.

            Condiment Pencils: allow for drawing or writing with sauces

            Weiner Shapers: make tulips, crabs, octopuses, penguins, etc out of wieners

            Nori Punches/Hole Punches:  for making faces and such on food

            Egg Molds: for shaping hard-boiled eggs

            Plastic Cutters/Cookie Cutters: for cutting veggies, bread, etc, multi-use

            Onigiri Shapers: help shape rice balls

            Sandwich Cutters: cut sandwiches into cute, fun shapes

Packing Bento:

            The key here is balance. That balance applies not only to the nutritional content, but also visually by using a variety of colours and textures and with arrangement.

            One should keep in mind a general guideline for food ratios: (There are many different ones, but I picked this one)

1/3 – ½ : Carbs (Bread/Rice/Pasta) (when mixed with other foods, can be as much as 2/3)

1/3 +: Veggies (Can include fruit/jelly)

1/3 : Protein

Try to avoid junk foods, oily food, or candy, but occasional treats can be included.

Please vary this approximation to your personal need!

Remember to use variety of flavour, colour and cooking methods, and to keep in mind: ease of eating, drain moist/wet foods and divide them, season well (cooled food requires more seasoning than hot), safe packing, and cute and interesting arrangement.  Feel free to experiment with different methods and foods. If you are using leftovers, try to give them a makeover to stave off boredom. Another important factor to keep in mind is: do not leave empty spaces! Make your bento look full and attractive by using garnishes and fillers. Some examples of fillers are: dried fruit, nuts, cooked beans, mini jellies, veggies, fruit, wrapped cheese, etc.

Packing Method

Step 1: Set the rice: Spread the rice across the bottom of the container to allow cooling and avoid condensation. Next, pack the rice, push it against one side of the container until it is even and full on that side.

Step 2: Put in Fixed-Shape Foods: place food that has a shape that cannot be modified

Step 3: Place moist foods: Place moist food that has been drained and separated in dividers/cups

Step 4: Place Shapeable Foods: place food that can be shaped/ is flexible

Step 5: Place Space Fillers: use the fillers to make your bento nice and full

Step 6: Enhance: visually enhance the box by adding picks or seasoning like nori or furikake

Step 7: Cool: allow your bento to cool completely before replacing the lid to avoid condensation and sogginess and to ensure food safety.

This concludes my bento tutorial. I hope I haven’t left out anything important, if you have any comments and questions feel free to let me know!

Tutorials!

So I know I've been absent for some time now, I am sorry, unfortunately things were a bit busy and I was not able to post anything new, and then I had finals, and now I am on my winter break, so as you can guess, I am not really making bento to eat at home. The good news is that I do plan to have new bento to post in January once I start my classes again, and also I spent some time writing up a bento tutorial! So with no further ado, I give you my first tutorial!

Car Bento

This bento is a car bento for two reasons. First, the car wouldn't start this morning! So while we were waiting for help to come, I decided to make a bento to send to work with my fiance. I am luckily on reading week right now, so I don't need a bento. It kinda worked out well, because I got to make a bento and I am also certain that he got to leave after eating a breakfast (made by yours truly) and a bento for lunch. To keep with the car theme, I used a car themed bento box too.

In addition to the car themed bento, I used a standard lunch container. I wanted it to be microwavable and without too many restrictions, also I needed it to be larger.

As for what is inside today's bento, that is the following: in the blue container: A rosemary and ham sandwich, a mini gouda cheese, a cocktail tomato, almonds and taro mochi. In the clear container: leftover sweet and sour chicken and rice. I hope that he enjoys it! Well that is all for today, until next time, happy munching!

Pokeball Bento

This is the bento I packed for my fiance for his work today.

As you can see, today's bento theme is pokemon! When I saw this awesome bento box that looked like a pokeball, I could not resist. It was so unique :). Unfortunately, it isn't very large, and it's shape isn't ideal to packing much inside it, so I paired it with a matching additional container. I also added a halloween themed ziplock.

As for lunch contents, I have packed here a rosemary ham sandwich, some hummus (with a paprika in the shape of a bunny (I know it isn't perfect but it was my first try!)), and in the ziplock are some mini pita crackers. Inside the bottom of the pokeball are some carrots, and almonds as well as a mini kit-kat bar, and a green apple jelly. I am sure this will be filling and help him have lots of energy throughout his work day! Well, that's all for today, until next time, happy munching!

Egg Bun Bento

I did not have a lot of time this morning because I really wanted to make turkey soup for dinner tonight. So I had to spend most of my time peeling and chopping vegetables. Needless to say, I am very excited to try that soup because I am sure that it is going to taste good. This is my first time making turkey soup from scratch. I even made my own stock using my leftover turkey carcass from Thanksgiving. :) I will definitely post details about it after I have tried it, I can even post my method if anyone is interested in making their own!

So because I was short on time, my bento is pretty small, but it still looks really good. :)

I used an egg bun here and cut it in half and spread on some Laughing Cow cheese, I also included a few slices of dry hungarian salami, rolled up beside them, as well as some dried apples, almonds and two  apple gummies. The egg bread and apple gummies both came from my local asian grocery store, its quite large and I really enjoy visiting it. They have so many things. The other day I also picked up a pot to make shabu shabu, so I am really looking forward to making my own :). 

Anyways, that is all for today, so until next time, happy munching!

Snack Bento

Today, I was home most of the day, so making a bento for lunch wasn't really necessary.  Also, I had plans to eat dinner with a friend during my break in class, and we had decided to eat out. Therefore, I decided to make a little snack bento because even though my class started late, it also ends late and it is inevitable that hunger will strike.




This little snack bento contains two jellies, strawberry and green apple (I bought these for the first time the other day and really am looking forward to trying them!), a couple pieces of beef jerky, and some soya bean trail mix.


Well that's all for today, sorry for the short post, but until next time, happy munching!

Sesame Pasta Salad

There are so many different styles of bento boxes and bags and accessories. It is really fun to mix and match them together to create something fun and unique. Today's bento is in this cute, pink little bag.

 I stored my lunch in this adorable red box with silver rabbits and flowers on it, and kept it closed with a pink rabbit themed strap. I also included a pink ikea spoon.

 

Lunch today consists of a sesame pasta salad in the lower tier, and pepperoni, swiss cheese, carrot sticks and dip in the bunny shaped container, and some almonds. I rolled up the swiss cheese so it could not only be easily stored, but also provide as an edible divider. Often bentos contain dividers that keep the foods separated from each other, these come in the form of anything from plastic grass, to animals or even using little silicone baking cups. It really is useful when trying to keep something "wet" away from dry foods like dip or pickles. Since I didn't want the flavour of the pepperoni getting on the carrots and almonds, the swiss cheese serves as a good divider as well as part of my lunch!

Well that's all for today, until next time, happy munching!

Weekend Work Bento

Little insulated zip-up bento bag

My future-husband likes to work 6 days a week. During the regular week, he usually makes his own lunch at work. He has this tendency not to give himself enough time when getting ready in the morning and never has enough time to make a lunch. On Saturdays, this problem is compounded. His desire to sleep in because its a weekend (and he doesn't have to be to this job until an hour later than his real job) fights his common sense that it is time to get up (also my known as my voice repeating that fact periodically during the span of about an hour while he continually hits the snooze button)... Needless to say, this predicament usually results in him not only not having time to eat breakfast, but also not having a lunch, which means he's buying 1-2 meals at this weekend job every week! To combat this, I made him a tasty bento, and also pushed him to eat a quick breakfast this morning.
Here's today's bento.

Today I used two small one tier bento boxes with the Sanrio Shinkansen theme (for those of you who do not know, a Shinkansen is a Japanese bullet train, which is a high-speed train). The larger, train-shaped bento contains the main meal and the smaller clear one contains a snack/dessert. I also included chopsticks and a fork.

In the larger box, I filled it with a stir-fry with wild rice, tomatoes and an artichoke heart, as well as some octopus smokies (see yesterday's bento for instructions on these!).

 In this smaller bento, I included some dried apple slices, a few chocolate truffles and some almonds.

Hopefully he will find this bento tasty and filling! That's all for today, until next time, happy munching!

Lunch with a Friend

Today, I have lunch with my friend. We share the same break between our classes so every week we meet at this time to have lunch. So, at 9am, I panicked. I wasn't sure how long it would take me to make two bentos, so I figured I ought to get started before I run out of time. I realize now that making two bentos at the same time was not that difficult. To make things simple I made them exactly the same.

This bento box style is very similar to yesterday's in that it is made up of two tiers that can be placed inside one another. I also included matching chopsticks and a little dessert bento. I did not include a picture of the bag today because I couldn't decide at the time what the best method for packing them was, as I had to be able to fit these two bentos nicely inside my backpack, rather than my usual one box. I ended up putting them in two separate drawstring bags.

As for the contents, I have included in the bottom tier a bit of hummus, and garlic pita crackers and some sliced baby carrots. In the upper tier, it is mostly wild rice with herbs (a good time saver here is to use some precooked rice, whether that is rice you cooked yourself at an earlier time, or by buying some precooked rice that only needs to be warmed up, either way will work :)), two smokies cut into octopuses (which is not very evident from this photo) these octopuses can be cut into their shape by hand, which is how I like to do it, or by using a special cutter made for that (as my friend calls them "blank-blankers" (items which have only one specific use)) One can either boil the smokies or hot-dogs after they have been cut or fry them in a pan (my preferred method), which allows them to curl slightly and brings out the shape of the octopus. In this bento I rolled them in a bit of BBQ sauce after cooking. In this tier there is also a pig shaped container filled with soya sauce and a mini gouda cheese. I think it will be a rather healthy and satisfying lunch. Let's not forget that mini dessert bento, inside that small container I put four chocolate truffles and a few almonds. I think it will be the perfect end to our lunch. 

Just to let you know, I am going to be adding some tutorials soon! So if you are interested in making your own bentos, please stay tuned for these additions!

 Well that's all for now, so until later, happy munching!

Hasty Bento

I didn't have much time this morning to make my bento so I used some leftovers. Thats one of the great things about bentos. They are perfect for getting rid of leftovers and remaking them into something interesting! Since Thankgiving was this week, I have lots of turkey leftovers, so I tried to incorporate a bit of them into this lunch. As well as some other leftovers I had.

A bit about these bento supplies: I utilized a more "classic" type bento set up here. A simple yellow two tire box with a tone-on-tone flower print. The nice thing about this box is that once it is empty, the bottom tier is small enough to be placed inside the top tier for easy storage and transportation. (You may recognise here the ikea fork. Seeing as the bento was so simple, I did not feel the need to bring any fancy utensils with me today.) There is also a matching drawstring bag, and also to make sure everything stays contained, a band to put around the box.


A close up of the food components:

In the upper tier I made a quick, easy potato salad, because I was short on time today I steamed my vegetables instead of boiling them. This potato salad is made up of potato and carrot only. Also in this tier are some pickled beets, a cocktail tomato, dried apple and dried mango.
In the lower tire there is a little stir-fry, here is where I used leftovers. I used some leftover coleslaw, turkey, salami, tomato and some celery and onion that I had already cut up. Next to that is a mini-gouda cheese and also some soya bean trail mix.

I wanted to include a recipe today, so here it is:
Quick, Savory Potato Salad
Ingredients:
- one small potato
- a few baby carrots or a small portion of a larger carrot
- Salt
- Pepper
- Dill Weed (fresh, chopped, or dry)
- 1 tbsp mayonnaise
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- a pinch of sugar (or a drop or two of honey)

First peel and chop up the carrots and potato. Now boil them in a small saucepan on medium heat. Once tender, strain and place in a bowl. Next crush the potato and carrots with a fork or spatula, add salt and pepper and mix. Next add mayo, vinegar and the sugar. Mix well. You may also top it with some chopped cucumber. Please note that you may substitute the apple cider vinegar for white vinegar, or any type vinegar that you like!

Well that's all for today, so have a good one, and happy munching!

Kiki Bento

I whipped up a quick bento today before I headed off to class. I thought to myself, I should really take a picture of that. So... I did.

Recently, I have decided to put my extensive bento supply collection to use, I have acquired all these items in order to fulfill my desire to make a bento every day. I have often liked the idea of bento and owned a few bento boxes which I enjoyed filling with delicious food on occasion, but it was inconsistent and lacking any true skill. So after playing around with the idea of becoming truly involved in making bentos, I decided "why not?" and decided to go for it. I started really investigating the websites I liked to browse from time to time and started seriously finding out "what do I need?" and then decided to build a collection and purchase a few books.  So when it occurred to me today to take a picture of what I'd done I decided that I wanted to share my "journey" in bento-making, and that way people who are interested can look, and maybe try it for themselves.

Now, enough about how I came to decide to create this blog, and more about the food!

So today's bento box is Kiki's Delivery Service themed. I really love Studio Ghibli movies, so when I saw this particular box, I could not resist. In this picture you can see the 2-tired bento box, a chopsticks case and a small fork case and an insulated lunch bag as well as a small sauce container.

INSIDE! The fun part! I packed two potato croquettes, one white potato with herbs mixed in and little cheese in the middle, and the other is sweet potato. Next to those are a few pieces of pickled cauliflower that I have patted dry a little to prevent the croquettes from becoming soggy from them. In the upper container I have carrot sticks, almonds, some beef jerky and some dried apples. Lastly, the sauce container is filled with a home-made sauce that is good for the croquettes as well as the carrots. 

I am really excited to dig into this bento! I am sure that it will be delicious.

As for details on the food, everything in this box save for the vegetables, nuts and beef jerky are 100% homemade and made in advance in order to ensure that I can pack this lunch in a reasonable amount of time. If anyone is interested I can post the recipes, please let me know and I'll be glad to do so. :D

Thanks for taking a look, and happy munching!