Does anyone Bento?

[Trazzletoes]

DH has just decided we will henceforth Bento for lunch. completely unnecessary Bento boxes ordered. Come to me with your recipes for filling them please except I don't eat seafood.

Thanks! Though I suspect I may be the only Bento person on here...

Have you seen the just bento site? I love it, I used her onigiri recipe which was lovely warm, but not good cold, not sure where I went wrong! But I'm very much a dabbler, couldn't be doing it all the time, although I would love to have an excuse to get some of the lovely bento boxes and accessories you can get....

I used to do a weird mixture of bento & western food for DD - we lived in Japan for a while. The boxes were never really big enough though.

Sticky rice was the mainstay, I bought fancy moulds (in Japan) to make shapes. Onigiri is easy, and you can mould it by hand.

this site is a start

Enjoy!

Ooh excited! Thank you! For no good reason I managed to talk DH in to buying a boiled egg mould! I suspect more often than not we will have bento boxed sarnies, but I'm quite excited about the possibilities!!!

Great minds think alike

Ps. My bento box is pink and gorgeous. Are you jealous?!

The egg moulds are fun - and make the yolk stick into the white so no yolk falling out.

sandwiches go well as do chunks of cheese, sausage, any cold meat.

I had a fried bring an omelette pan and a sush knife back from Japan.

a friend, not a fried

Me too. I started making them when I was pregnant with DD. I needed really filling lunches that can last me till dinner time. I used the justbento website that many have already linked. I subsquently bought the book and it's one of the most used cookbooks I've got.

If you don't have a rice cooker, and don't mind couscous, I found that it's a quick alternative to use in all the rice based bentos. I sub couscous often just to vary the bentos a bit!

Link to Bento box please.

I am an addict of that Just Bento website ... I've also bought little sushi and onigiri moulds. Not that much easier to do than by hand, but fun. Egg mould is going too far, perhaps, I think.

ridiculously expensive Bento box and egg moulds in the actual hope that they may convince DS to try eating hard boiled eggs too. Going to give some fried chicken a go tomorrow... eeeeek! Wish me luck! And thanks loads for the recommendation of justbento... excited!

Thanks for the couscous suggestion terror I am a bit anxious about cold rice and getting sick. I don't know if I am slightly ridiculous about it, or whether the fear is justified!

Have you seen

www.japancentre.com/categories/bento?page=1&scl=bestsellers&srt=desc

instead? Much cheaper! And they have a shop in London if you are based there.

I just use a lock and lock square box though! Found that great. Doesn't leak, dishwasher safe.

Trazzletoes - cool the rice fairly quickly and don't put the lid on until its fairly cold and it will be safe to eat

Millions of Japanese people eat cold rice in their bentos every single day, and there is not mass poisoning over here

I always make sure there are a range of colours in the bento, which usually means a good nutritional range too (cherry tomatoes/carrots/red pepper, broccoli/cucumber/spinach, egg/cheese/sweet corn...etc.)

good luck!

Thanks terror, yes, I{ appreciate that Tupperware would be just as convenient. DH though apparently has more money than sense and likes things to look "stylish"... hoping this isn't just a fad for him! It WON'T be because I, on the other hand, do not have more money than sense

I don't bento, but I've had my eye on Black + Blum's one: www.black-blum.com/products/bento-box/ if that's any use.

With working link this time www.black-blum.com/products/bento-box/

I got my onigiri moulds from the Japan Centre.

We use just normal containers and use those little silicon reuseable cupcake moulds for our "compartments". Surprisingly none has gone missing, after about one whole year of packing lunches for two DSs. Always though the sistema boxes look quite good but someone on here told me you can only have flat food with those.

Re: cold rice - I've always been very paranoid so always cooked in the morning for packed lunches, but recently I gave them leftover rice from the night before and nothing bad happened. (Though I have to admit to sitting there expecting that phone call from school ...)

Thanks to those that linked to the Just Bento site earlier. I had a look and have just made some delicious teriyaki chicken for my DS1's lunchbox tomorrow. Have bookmarked a few recipes already.

Now just have to keep my DH away from the fridge as I foolishly let him try the chicken and I know he's got ideas about pinching some more!