Just Sushi

‘Bento’ is basically the Japanese word for lunch box, or a complete portable single portion meal, but like most Japanese things, this is a deceptively simple way of looking at something which has become an elaborate phenomenon. In Japan, convenience stores on every street carry a huge range of pre-prepared bento lunches, and Japanese mothers are encouraged to lavish much time and attention on making these lunches nutritional and visually appealing. Time and time again when reading Japanese writing on the subject, you’ll discover that the bento is as much a connection to home as it is something to eat – like many things in Japan there are layers of meaning tied into what in the west is a relatively simple and unexplored part of everyday life.

Of course, it’s not all mystic tea ceremonies and inscrutable ancient wisdom – in recent years, just as many other Asian cultural curiosities have made their way across to the west and been adapted by foreigners, bentos have too. Bento boxes can be snapped up on eBay and a good many American internet sites (nothing in the UK yet, but I’m working on it!), and books containing bento box recipes have been translated into English. In many areas, Oriental ingredients aren’t that hard to find, and as a bento subculture has emerged on the net, fuelled by sites like Livejournal and Flickr, westernised substitutes have been popularised.

The truly authentic bento box has some rule governing what specifically should be included (for example, the 4:3:2:1 ratio – see below), but these days if you’re making bento boxes as a hobby, you shouldn’t concern yourself too much with restrictions. As a test of your cooking skills, your creativity and your imagination, you won’t find much more of a challenge than a bento.