With back to school and work, we’re always looking for new ways to make lunch more interesting. A Bento box is a fun way to have the best lunch and the envy of your friends and colleagues. The recipes in Ultimate Bento: Healthy, Delicious and Affordable 85 Mix-and-Match Bento Box Recipes will get you started!
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Thanks goes out to Tuttle Publishing, who provided us with a copy of Ultimate Bento by Marc Matsumoto and Maki Ogawa to try out and and share our honest opionions with you.
One thing I love about this book, is that it reminds you that you can mix-and-match different elements to create a bespoke box using what you have in the fridge and cupboards, as well, of course, what is currently in season. This book doesn’t include very difficult moves, although you will see that we do need a little more practice in a couple of boxes – however – that certainly doesn’t affect the flavour!
Food safety is important, and I’m glad to see it included
Get your children involved, in prepping lunch and it will take some of the weight off your shoulders and they will be learning life skills and also take pride in their creations. If you have picky eaters, this is also a great way for them to learn what’s in their food and they’ll be more likely to try it for a win-win situation.
Bento Boxes We’ve Made
Kallista and I made a few recipes and bento boxes from this book. We had beautiful lunches at home, while Phil took his to work. They are easy to transport, and if you wrap it up in a furoshiki which acts as a bag to carry your bento, as well as a table cloth. Elegant and functional!
Karaage Fried Chicken Bento
My family loves karaage, and it works so, so well in a bento. The chicken is so tender and as good cold as it is hot. Add some zucchini and tomatoes over a bed of rice, and you’re good to go.
Hanami Bento
Get yourself a set of Japanese vegetable cutters and it’s easy to press out designs into fruit, veg, cold cuts, and more! I brought mine back from Japan, but this is a similar set. This bento contains broccoli, carrots, and daikon over rice.
Sukiyaki Beef, egg, and rice sandwich
I have yet to introduce my family to the joys of real sukiyaki (but I now know of a restaurant in Belfast that has it on the menu 🙂 ), but for this lunch, we formed a rice, egg, and sukiyaki beef ‘sandwich’ (we need to practice this technique a little more to perfect it), again with tomatoes and zucchini on the side. Silicon baking cups are a great way to separate elements in a bento box.
Omurice Bento
This is a rice omelette bento – omurice was one of my favourite meals while traveling in Japan. Filling and nutritious when you’re walking all day long. The filling inside the omelett is made from rice, tomato sauce, chicken, and seasonings. On the side we have cherry tomatoes, carrots, and daikon.
More Recipes
There are 85 recipes in this book, and Kallista has stuck her list inside the front cover of the book, with the top 6 recipes she’d like to try next! She’s also helpfully included on the back of the page, a grocery list to ensure we have all the ingredients before we start. I love how she’s included love, kindness, and care in between rice and noodles, too – so cute! Her top choices are:
Potato snowflakes (decorations)
Small egg rabbits (decorations)
Fried egg and chicken meatball
Karaage fried chicken (again)
Taco rice
Honey lemon chicken
Where to Purchase Ultimate Bento
If you’re interested in purchasing Ultimate Bento, it’s available through:
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