If you’ve spent any time in the Japanese Pop Culture Thread then you know that I love to make bento (弁当), and sometimes I take pictures of my bento and post them on the site. But maybe you don’t hang out in that thread, and maybe you have no idea what a bento is, so today I’ll show you some bento and share some resources for making your own! Bento is a meal in a box, usually lunch, most likely served at room temperature. Some bento are super elaborate and cute (kyaraben キャラ弁). You may have seen these before. They’re great for kids, and I love them, but I’m not skilled enough for that, and I don’t have the time. Instead, I keep my bento fairly simple, but with small cute flourishes. Because the main reason I make bento is it makes me smile when I open it up at lunchtime. I only have a reason to make bento once or twice a week now, but it’s always a delight. Everything I know about making bento I learned from food blogger, cookbook author, and translator Makiko Itoh. She specializes in healthy, simple, bento, so she’s a great resource for beginners. If you’re interested, here a few tips I’ve learned over the years:
Bento Tips!
- Freezer-friendly dishes are a bento’s best friend. For example, every few weeks I make a big batch of rice and freeze individual portions (for me that’s usually around 3/4 cup). Two minutes in the microwave, and you have a perfect serving of rice. Anything you can cook ahead of time and then reheat and pack in the morning is great for bento. Just make sure it’s fully cooled down before you close the box.
- Color is key. Ideally, I try to include something white (rice), green (get your veggies!), red (radish, apple, pickled plum), orange/yellow (carrot, egg), and brown (protein). Why? It’s a good way to balance a bento, but also you eat with your eyes too, right? It looks nice! This is a variation of the Japanese goshiki (五色) five colors concept.
- Cute food picks and containers for sauces are an easy way to add something fun to your bento. You can also get some molds for rice and vegetable cutters (like cookie cutters) to easily create fun shapes!
- Silicone food containers can add color to your bento too! Plus, you can freeze portions of dishes in them so it’s easier to pack your bento in the morning.
- Don’t forget about food safety when making bento! Because bento are made to be eaten at room temp, dishes are packed with flavor, but if you want to pack something that needs to stay cool, you should include a small freezer pack or something. And you don’t have to buy fancy bento boxes (although you definitely can), you can use any container you have. You’d be surprised by how much you can pack in one container.
If you want to start making bento, Makiko Itoh’s Just Bento website has a ton of great recipes and information. I also highly recommend her books. And if you need more inspiration, you can check out some of the bento I’ve made in the slideshow below.
Left: Meatballs w/ tonkatsu sauce, kinpira, spicy broccoli, orange carrots. Right: Soba (w/ dipping sauce), honey-orange carrot salad, boiled eggs, (green onions & togarashi are inside containers). 
Left: Inarizushi, spicy broccoli, chili cucumber salad, apples. Right: Curry beef soboro with carrots, green beans, and egg. 
Left: Stir-fry chicken, spicy broccoli, cucumber salad, rice w/ umeboshi. Right: “Octopus” sausage, cucumber salad, lotus root, tuna mayo onigiri (riceball). 
Left: Tamagoyaki, rice w/ carrots, turkey & cream cheese rolls, pickles. Right: Tuna mayo sushi rolls, veggies, buttery kabocha squash. 
Had to include the ultimate bento: osechi ryouri (お節料理) for New Years! Too lazy to list everything.
Have a nice day/night! 💖