Bentos (2003-2008)

[Sencha]

That was a good laugh!

[JasonTrue]

About a year ago I visited the home of one of my girlfriend's close friends, planning a slightly premature cherry-blossom viewing party at a nearby park. Of course, I learned, such an event is about drinking and eating, not about the cherry blossoms, so it worked out anyway.

In preparation for the Hanami gathering, we made an insane number of sandwiches on shokupan, using egg salad or Japanese-style processed cheese or other toppings.

I thought this was an excellent opportunity to introduce our friend's children to the joys of the classic grilled cheese sandwich. I made it with a few slices of tomato, and mom was quite surprised to see her youngest daughter, who usually rejects tomatoes without a second thought, devouring food that had tomatoes in it... she wasn't sure if it was the grilled cheese format or the novelty of a strange white guy making it that made the whole thing work.

Tonight I was reminded of children's food as Hiromi referred me to this nifty site:

Kasumin Yoroshiku Bento Gallery

This site features one mom's efforts to make attractive (and apparently time-consuming) bento for her son. Complete with contemporary cartoon characters illustrated with the benefit of nori and other such accoutrements, the presentation is inspiring, even though I've never been much of a food surrealist. A few years ago, my pottery instructor sent me a batch of similarly cartoonish bento, and it didn't occur to me that people could make a fairly substantial hobby out of such endeavors...

Any other homey children's food in your Japanese cooking repertoire?

(I'm still trying to avoid having children, so I don't have much to contribute here).

Edited November 18, 2005 by JasonTrue (log)

[SuzySushi]

Tonight I was reminded of children's food as Hiromi referred me to this nifty site:

Kasumin Yoroshiku Bento Gallery

This site features one mom's efforts to make attractive (and apparently time-consuming) bento for her son. Complete with contemporary cartoon characters illustrated with the benefit of nori and other such accoutrements, the presentation is inspiring, even though I've never been much of a food surrealist. A few years ago, my pottery instructor sent me a batch of similarly cartoonish bento, and it didn't occur to me that people could make a fairly substantial hobby out of such endeavors...

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I donn't know whether to be impressed or appalled!

I'm glad my daughter wasn't watching over my shoulder when I clicked the link!!!

[Sencha]

I find it incredibly amusing (in a good way;not in ridicule) and interesting that some people will actually go to the trouble of making such extravagent bento! Such bento must really brighten a person's day.

[chibirisu]

Here's one of the most jaw-dropping bento sites I've ever seen:

http://www.e-obento.com/

..."boggle" doesn't even cover it really. I think I recall reading on one of the dozens of pages on the site that the site creator is publishing a book in Japan this fall, too...

[torakris]

Since I never grew up as a Japanese bento toting child , I often wonder about these fancy bentos and what they end up looking like by the time the child actually gets to eat them. I am sure the nori (seaweed laver) gets quite soft and a lot of the pieces start to move around, especially if the bento belongs to a 4 year old boy.

My son and I walk about 4 minutes to his preschool in that time the bento that he carries in a small backpack gets turned upside down as he bends over to look at rocks and dead bugs, it gets shaken ( to put it mildly) as he races his best friend the length of the sweet potato field. I can't even imagine what happens as he struggles to get it out of his backpack.....

As to food for children in Japan...

...anything deep fried.

[helenjp]

One of my favorite bento books made the same point - that basically you are creating a decoration which will be smeared all over the inside of the bento lid!

It's worth thinking about an array of colors, and about a contrast of textures, and seasoning so that dishes will taste good cold - but the other stuff is really for mothers, not for the kids!

[helenjp]

This two-layer lunchbox with its own soup bowl, in red lacquer with a Totoro motif...I just can't think of a reason to buy it, though I'm trying very hard

[jeniac42]

Oh, that is far too cute, Helen. Lucky I probably can't buy it here in the US.

Thanks for bumping the thread up, too - reminds me that I'd meant to post a picture of my bento from earlier in the week. A friend gave me one of the Zojirushi Mr. Bento lunch jars. I've decided it needs another container, though!

[Hiroyuki]

Oh, that is far too cute, Helen.  Lucky I probably can't buy it here in the US.

Thanks for bumping the thread up, too - reminds me that I'd meant to post a picture of my bento from earlier in the week.  A friend gave me one of the Zojirushi Mr. Bento lunch jars.  I've decided it needs another container, though!

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Looks yummy!

You have two umeboshi on your rice... Quite ingenious.

What's the name of the fish? And how did you season it?

[torakris]

Jen,

That bento looks great!

I also just noticed the links to your blog, great job. The babelfish translation is hysterical.

[helenjp]

I have one of those Zojirushi lunch jars - I use it for son's dinner rather than lunch though.

Mine DOES have an extra container - the top container has a drop-in half-moon shaped container, so I can divide it in half or not, just as I like.

Otherwise, what about putting some stuff in the rice container, if there's too much rice space and not enough side-dish space for you?

The only thing I have against these hot lunch jars is...hot umeboshi!

[jeniac42]

Thanks.

The fish is just Atlantic salmon, which is easy to get here. I pan-grilled it with some salt, and the sauce in the bottom of the container is some of the liquid from braising the kabocha, which is one of the side dishes. I also had hijiki with carrots, shibazuke, and kimchi.

I put two umeboshi in with the rice because I was a little greedy that day. I love umeboshi! I agree with Helen, though - when they're in the container with the hot rice, they get sort of dried-out. They still taste delicious, though!

There's a lot of food there because I eat it for lunch and dinner. I am usually away from home for about 15 hours a day....

[BarbaraY]

This two-layer lunchbox with its own soup bowl, in red lacquer with a Totoro motif...I just can't think of a reason to buy it, though I'm trying very hard

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That is just so cute. I would probably buy it just to have it even though I rarely carry a lunch anywhere.

[helenjp]

Today's bento - miso-ni made with a light rather than a dark miso: pork, burdock, long onion, and mibu-na greens.

Rice with miso-pickles, including young ginger pickled in miso, and tiny umeboshi.

If you have the chance to make them, the tiny ume that are usually pickled crunchy-style make great umeboshi for kids and lunchboxes if pickled as for regular umeboshi - they turn out much milder in flavor.

[torakris]

Today's bentos for all 3 kids, my husband had a more "adult" bento.

Teriyaki meatballs, omelette with a slice of nori, sweet potatoes simmered with lemon, and broccoli goma-ae (sesame sauce).

All made from scratch, not all today though. The meatballs were made last week and frozen and the sweet potatoes were from dinner two nights ago.

My daughters have no rice because they will get that at school along with milk and a dessert.

[Hiroyuki]

Today's bentos for all 3 kids, my husband had a more "adult" bento.

Teriyaki meatballs, omelette with a slice of nori, sweet potatoes simmered with lemon, and broccoli goma-ae (sesame sauce).

All made from scratch, not all today though. The meatballs were made last week and frozen  and the sweet potatoes were from dinner two nights ago.

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How has your life changed since that fire? Getting up earlier in the morning?... What else?

[torakris]

Today's bentos for all 3 kids, my husband had a more "adult" bento.

Teriyaki meatballs, omelette with a slice of nori, sweet potatoes simmered with lemon, and broccoli goma-ae (sesame sauce).

All made from scratch, not all today though. The meatballs were made last week and frozen  and the sweet potatoes were from dinner two nights ago.

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How has your life changed since that fire? Getting up earlier in the morning?... What else?

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Not much really...

I still get up at 5:30 because that is what time I make a bento for my husband. I do spend a little more time in the kitchen to make the girls' bentos but really not that much more, I would say 10 to 15 minutes more. I do plan the bentos and I think that saves quite a bit of time. I make up a weekly bento menu at the same time I make up my weekly dinner menu and I plan the bentos around ingredints I am using the night before. I also plan dishes that keep well, like the sweet potatoes a with lemon or various kinpira. This way I can use them in the same week but not on consecutive days.

[BarbaraY]

Today I received my order from Amazon.com with Bento Boxes, Japanese Meals on the Go by Naomi Kijima. It gives me a whole new take on Japanese food. I'm really looking forward to trying the recipes even though I will probably just have them for my own lunch at home.

Anyone unfamiliar with Bento Boxes should find this a good book to add to their collection.

[torakris]

another simple bento

[torakris]

These are some of the creepiest bentos I have ever seen.

[torakris]

This site shows some of the goods needed to make kawaii (cute) bento.

[torakris]

Bento making has also just gotten easier!

Recent years have seen a huge influx of frozen bento foods but they all needed to be heated with either a microwave or toaster oven. Now Nissui has introduced some frozen bento foods that do not need to be heated, just give them 1 1/2 hours to defrost and you are ready to go.

The current line-up

Is it really too hard to pull out a frypan???

[helenjp]

The Nissui link is very interesting, particularly because it goes against the Great Rule of bento-making, that you are supposed to heat everything up hot again before putting it into a bento.

I'm curious, Kris, with your background in food hygiene etc., how important do you think this rule is? Or is the Nissui stuff likely to be shoyu'd way past what a mortal bacteria could bear?

I've just finished my first week of 5am bento making. The wretched bento boxes are bigger than they were when my kids were small, and I could certainly not get everything done if I cooked every item in the morning -but so far, I've always gone with the old school and reheated previously cooked items very hot before packing.

This week:

Pork slices rolled with a dab of miso/sesame/scallions paste and burdock root.

Rolled omelets

Salmon pickled in white miso/sake lees and then grilled

Pork simmered with daikon shreds in a kochujang and sesame sauce

Chicken meatballs in ginger sauce

Myouga shoots in sweetened vinegar

Broad beans - plain, and in a chili-dressed salad with onion shreds and ham

Nuka pickles (bless my nuka bed!)

Hijiki - the usual mixed nimono, with some sesame added

Deep fried gobo dropped hot into soy sauce and vinegar

The usual dressed spinach and other greeens

Red beans and rice

Okowa rice with green peas and salted cherry blossom

[jschyun]

These are some of the creepiest bentos I have ever seen.

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Ahaha! AAAAHHH!