I have recently gotten into Bento Boxes and cooking Japanese food and I am learning all about it from one of my favorite sites Cookingcute.com
Bento, or o-bento, refers to a packaged, single-portion, portable meal that is usually eaten at lunch, but also comes in larger sizes meant for use at picnics, dinner, and parties. A bento generally consists of rice or noodles and some form of protein (e.g., meat, poultry, fish, tofu) accompanied by side dishes of raw, simmered, or pickled vegetables. Bento is an art form in Japan. Japanese women spend a good part of their mornings preparing bento for their families – there is even a sense of competition among mothers to see who can produce the most cute, appetizing, and healthy lunch for their children
1 Comment
Flo
April 19, 2007 at 2:18 amBentos are big here in Hawaii. You can buy them at 7-11. I would not take great pride in those though. They tend to have lots of white rice, something fried (spam, chicken, pork), and a slice of pickled something as a nod to vegetables. They are also huge!! You see the construction guys buying 2 or 3 of them for breakfast and/or lunch.
I much prefer the “bentos” I put together at home 🙂