How to Make a Japanese Bento Box
A Japanese bento box is similar to a Western lunchbox or bagged lunch, but it is usually packed with the goal of being as beautiful as it is healthy. In Japan, bento is packed for elementary-aged children by their mothers, by high-school children, as well as by adults for work, picnics and special events. Color, texture and type of food play an important role when deciding what to pack, as well as using foods that are easily eaten with fingers or a pair of chopsticks. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Food-storage container
- Rice or carbohydrate
- Protein
- Vegetables
- Fruits, pickles or dessert
- Cooking utensils
Instructions
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Fill the bento box halfway with the main carbohydrate dish. In Japan, this is usually white rice, but you can substitute fried rice, noodles, potatoes or bread if desired.
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Prepare one or more protein or meat dishes for the bento box. Use small pieces of cooked chicken, beef, fish or tofu to add protein. Protein takes up one-third of the remaining half of the bento box.
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3
Cut up vegetables into bite-size pieces. Use them raw or lightly steamed or boiled so they retain much of their color and nutrition. Use two to three vegetable side dishes, so they fill up the remaining sections of the bento box.
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4
Use five colors to ensure that the meal is both nutritionally balanced and visually appealing. The colors are: red or orange, yellow, green, white and black. For example, use carrots for orange, cut-up omelet for yellow, steamed greens for green, rice for white and seaweed for black.
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Cook dishes in at least two ways to add variety to the bento box. If you fry the meat, then serve vegetables steamed. Varying the cooking techniques provides textural differences, taste differences and ensures that an unhealthy technique such as frying is served in a limited quantity.
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Place a single dessert in the bento box. Use two small cookies, a small sweet fruit or Japanese-style pickles. Dessert should only consist of two or three bites, as it is meant to signal the end of the meal and not as a separate course.
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Tips & Warnings
You don't have to pack only Japanese foods in a bento box. As an example, a box consisting of a peanut-butter sandwich, purple grapes, a small salad, baby carrots and sliced boiled eggs follows bento rules.
Japanese grocery stores carry traditional bento boxes, but you can use any food-grade container as a bento box, including regular lunchboxes or plastic containers with lids.
Remember the 4-3-2-1 ratio when packing bento. Four parts rice or carbs, three parts vegetables, two parts protein or meat and one part dessert or pickles.
Keep cold foods cold and hot foods hot to prevent food-borne illness. Most bento foods are eaten cold or at room temperature, so avoid foods that spoil easily, such as mayonnaise, and keep the box refrigerated or packed with ice until ready to serve.
References
Resources
- Photo Credit sushi image by cherie from Fotolia.com
