How to Make Bento Box Lunches
Bento is a typical Japanese lunch served or carried in a bento box. The bento box has individual compartments for the different food items. The box is wrapped in a cloth and tied with a set of chopsticks. Inside the box, food is selected not only for its taste, but for how it will appear when the box is opened. Standard fare inside a bento is rice and one portion of meat, fish or tofu, along with two portions of vegetables or fruit. The food can be eaten warm or cold. Does this Spark an idea?
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Things You'll Need
- Bento box
- Paper towel or kitchen towel
- Steamed or sticky rice
- One portion of cooked meat, fish or tofu
- Two portions of fruit and/or vegetables
- Large cloth napkin or handkerchief
- Chopsticks
Instructions
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Open the bento box and wipe it clean with a paper towel or kitchen towel. If your box doesn't have installed dividers, insert the dividers that came with the box into the slots inside the bento box to form compartments. At minimum, you should have three compartments.
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2
Place the rice into the largest compartment. This should be about half to one cup of rice. If you want to make a fancier, more traditional bento, form the rice into rice balls that can be picked up and eaten with your hands (you will need sticky rice or a rice ball form for this).
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3
Place the portion of protein into the smallest compartment. The protein can be fish, meat or tofu that has been cut into pieces small enough to pick up with the chopsticks. With the exception of sushi, the protein must be thoroughly cooked. You can also include a sliced hard-boiled egg for your protein.
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Place two portions of fruit and vegetables in the remaining compartment. The fruit and vegetables can be steamed, pickled or raw. The food needs to be prepared and ready to eat. For example, oranges need to be peeled before going into the box. If you have both fruit and vegetables, arrange the dividers in your bento box to have four compartments.
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5
Fill in any empty spaces in the bento box with pickled or fresh vegetables, garnish or extra rice. Place the lid on the bento box.
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Lay out your napkin or handkerchief on your work surface. Place the bento box in the center of the cloth. Pull up two opposite corners (top left and bottom right, for example) and tie them together once. Don't knot them yet. Place the chopsticks in the center of the tie and then tie a knot over the chopsticks to hold them in place.
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Bring up the other corners of the cloth and tie them off in a knot. Put your bento box in the refrigerator until you are ready to eat.
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Tips & Warnings
If you want to mix your rice and other food, you can leave your bento box with one large compartment.
There are many variations of foods you can put in your box. You don't have to only use it for Japanese food.
References
- Photo Credit sushi image by Maryna Girard from Fotolia.com
