BENTO - JAPANESE STYLE LUNCHBOX

Japanese people take great pride in preparing bento for their families. Many Japanese mothers get up quite early in the morning to make bento. They put a lot of effort and time into creating a bento that is nutritionally balanced, tastes great and looks appealing. In Japan, the appearance of the food is just as important as the taste! Generally, the bento will have rice, fish or meat and some kind of vegetable or fruit. Since the bento box is divided into different compartments various dishes can be stored in the box together.

It is surprising how quickly you can become immersed in this bento culture. When I lived in Japan the thoughts of bringing my bento to work every day seemed like a chore but it didn't take long before I was looking forward to making my bento every night.

Here is a bento that I made for my family at the weekend. It is served in a bento box used by Japanese restaurants and can be used to serve a Japanese meal at home. I bought this online from Amazon! The bento box used for work/ school lunches is smaller and more compact.

BENTO BOX MENU

1. Japanese rice - click here to see my post on how to cook Japanese rice. You can use any type of rice of this meal.

2. Japanese style pan fried cod fillet 
Ingredients:
1 tbsp vegetable oil or rapeseed oil (for frying)
Cod fillet
2 tbsp sake

Pinch of salt

Thumb size piece of ginger root (peeled and finely grated) 
2 tbsp Japanese soy sauce

Instructions:
Marinate the cod in sake and salt. Leave for about 10 minutes before frying.
Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium to high heat. 
Place the cod on the pan and seal one side by frying for a minute or so. Then turn the cod over and seal the other side. 
Reduce the heat and continue to cook for another 5 minutes or less. 
Mix the ginger and soy sauce together in a small bowl and then pour over the fish when ready to eat. 

3. Japanese style stir fried spinach/pak choi with beansprouts

Ingredients: 
1 tbsp vegetable oil or rapeseed oil (for frying)
2 large garlic cloves (peeled and finely grated)
Thumbsize piece of ginger (peeled and finely grated)
200g Spinach/ Pak choi
200g Beansprouts

Seasoning (mix all in a bowl together):
2 tbsp sake (Japanese rice wine)
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp mirin (Japanese sweet rice wine)
2 tsp caster sugar

Roasted sesame seeds (optional to garnish)

Instructions:
Heat the oil in a heavy based saucepan on medium to high heat. 
Add the garlic and fry for about 10 seconds. The quickly add the ginger and fry for another 10 seconds.
Toss in the beansprouts and stir. 
After less than one minute add the spinach. 
Pour the seasoning evenly over the vegetables. 
Fry for a few minutes until the seasoning has absorbed into the vegetables.
When ready to serve sprinkle roasted sesame seeds over the vegetables. 

4. Sliced melon and mango sprinkled with pomegranate (Japanese people often eat fruit as dessert)
Ingredients:
Honeydew melon 
Mango
Handful of pomegranate seeds

Instructions:
Peel and cut the chilled melon and mango into small bite size cubes.
Toss a handful of pomegranate seeds over the fruit salad.

How to eat:
Bento goes well with miso soup if you're eating it at home or in a restaurant.

Tips:
Pack a smaller version of this bento into a lunch box by using cupcake cases or tinfoil to separate the dishes.
Be adventurous by swapping the dishes in this bento with your favourite Japanese dishes.

Why not:
You can get takeaway bentos in a few places in Dublin including Kokoro on Lower Liffey Street in Dublin http://kokorosushibento.com/
Musashi noodle and sushi bar and Michie sushi in Dublin, Ireland have a reasonably priced bento lunch deal 

Japanese Rice Balls Recipe - Onigiri

Now that the children are back to school I started to think about the challenge that faces parents to pack a healthy and appetizing school lunch for their children. In recent years, schools have started to play a role in encouraging parents to pack healthy lunches by not allowing children to have sugar filled snacks as part of their lunch. My sister actually mentioned in passing the other day that her son's school gives awards for the best packed lunch!

Japanese rice balls called onigiri in Japanese are a popular lunchbox filler in Japan. So if you're stuck for ideas when packing your children's lunch or your own lunch for work then try these easy to make and very healthy rice balls! Since Japanese rice is very sticky the rice balls won't fall apart so it's easy to eat these with your hands. You can wrap them in cling film in your lunchbox so that they keep their shape and stay fresh.  

The recipe below is very basic using only rice and seaweed with some seasoning on top but you can add whatever fillings you like in the middle or mix the filling with the rice and then shape the rice ball. Tuna mayo is a popular filling for rice balls and generally liked by most people.

Ingredients:
Japanese sushi rice (320g uncooked)
Pinch of salt  
1 Nori sheet (roasted seaweed)
Dried shiso leaf (optional for seasoning)
Roasted sesame seeds (optional for seasoning)

Makes 6-8 rice balls

Instructions:
1. Cook rice (please click here to see my post on how to cook Japanese rice).

2. Fill a small bowl with cold water and then add the salt. Use this water bowl to coat your hands before you start making the rice balls. I tend to use sushi rice seasoning to coat my hands if I have the ingredients and time, click here to see how to make sushi rice seasoning.

3. Coat your hands in the seasoned water and take a handful of warm rice. Start to shape the rice into a oval or triangular shape. Make sure you hands are firm when shaping the rice to ensure that the rice ball won't fall apart.

4. Place a sheet of nori on a chopping board. Cut off a small piece of nori and wrap it around the bottom of the rice ball as shown in the picture above. 

5. Sprinkle dried shiso leaf or sesame seeds over the rice ball.

How to eat:
Eat with your hands like a sandwich.

Tips:
1. Don't try to shape the rice ball when the rice is hot as you'll burn your hand!

2. Don't put the nori on the rice until you're ready to eat it if you like the nori crispy.

3. Only use Japanese sushi rice as the rice has to be sticky to make rice balls.

Why not:
Cover the rice ball completely in nori if you like the taste of nori.