All posts filed under: Tips

How to Pack Bento – 4 Steps Bento Packing Video

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After you have planned for the presentation of your bento and prepared delicious dishes that will go into your bento box, now it’s the time for packing bento. (See The Healthy & Balanced Bento Presentation Guide for how to plan for a beautiful and nutritious bento box!) The general tips for packing your bento nicely is to pack it tight and neat, so that the food won’t be toss around in the box while being transported. The packing process which I prefer is: Step 1: Pack the rice in one corner of the bento box Step 2: Pack vegetables from the opposite side of the box Step 3: Place the mains in the center Step 4: Adjust and add garnishments to fill the gaps In this video, the carrot coins falls apart easily so I have to start with the main and then tuck in the carrot coins. You can also adjust the process based on the presentation and shape of food.

The Healthy & Balanced Bento Presentation Guide

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Packing bento without using a compartment bento box may seem strange for many of you. But the truth is that you can actually pack your bento neatly and nicely without the help of compartments. As the bento box with compartments are usually bulky and heavy, using bento box without compartment Step 1: Plan for the portions There are three main elements in bento: protein, staple, and vegetables. When preparing your bento, these elements can be seen as mains, rice, and sides. 3 Portions=vegetable: Protein: Staple=1:1:1 4 Portions= vegetable: Protein: Staple=2:1:1 I usually divide my bento into three or four portions. If it’s four portions, I would double the amount of vegetable/sides since I enjoy eating lots of vegetables and it also makes bento more colorful and balanced in nutrition. Step 2: Plan for the presentation Depends on the shape of your bento box and the food, you can plan for the presentation of the bento accordingly. Most bento can be generally categorized to these 12 presentation styles. You can also follow these patterns to arrange …

Effortless Bento Picnic Guide – Hanami Bento

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I’m always a fan of picnic, I enjoy eating with friends on the grass and chilling together. Especially during this pandemic, I call myself a picnic-holic for the picnics that I had in the past few months were more than the sum of my pre-pandemic life . Speaking of picnic, Japanese are definitely experts in it. Their well-celebrated tradition of Hanami, or Cherry blossom viewing, can be interpreted as a picnic festival which everyone participates at least once a year. What is Hanami? During cherry blossom season, friends and family have picnics under cherry blossom trees to enjoy the view while eating homemade bento together. I had my Hanami picnic this year with 3 other friends in the Golden Gate park. We visited Japanese tea garden but we decided to have a picnic outside for safety reasons. It’s really relaxing to enjoy bento surrounded by beautiful scenes after one year of shelter in place and working form home. The food and planning for the picnic came out well. I didn’t feel exhausted or pressured and …

Mealprep Timeline: Cold Bento, Warm Bento, and Hot Bento

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You might have learned that bento originated in Japan as a form of packed dried rice, but do you know that even in nowadays, most Japanese people still eat bento without reheating it? Up till today, most Japanese bento makers still wake up at 4 or 5 am to cook for their loved ones or themselves, so that they can enjoy fresh and delicious bento at lunch time. As a result, most Japanese bentos don’t require reheating and can be served at room temperature. However, it’s extremely difficult to follow this traditional bento preparation schedule. I for one am a lover of delicious bento, but I also love my beauty sleep. I deal with this dilemma by: (1) Breaking up the time of mealprep and assembling bento (2) Reheating bentos based on the type of dishes Separating meal prep and assembly process brings more flexibility to my schedule. Usually I meal prep most of the ingredients and dishes in the weekend, so that during the weekdays, I can quickly bring together meals and bentos. Besides, …

Repurpose Pickles for Salad Dressings!

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I try to have as many vegetable as possible in my bento, thus I’m actively searching for different seasonings to create new flavors in my vegetable dishes. Recently I’m exploring various Taiwanese pickles from Asian grocery stores. When I was in Taiwan, I used to eat these pickles alone with rice porridge. Now I don’t eat rice porridge often, and I found these pickles very flavorful, so I use them as seasonings and pair with different vegetables. Pickled bamboo shoot is one of my favorite. It is mildly spicy and full of fermented acidity. I used it as a salad dressing to mix with blanched cauliflower and thinly-sliced cherry radish. With few drops of lemon juice, its flavor is so refreshing and can serve as a cold entree or a reheat-able bento side dish. Repurpose Pickles for Salad Dressing What you need: The pickle A medium bowl A whisk or a pair of chopstick for stirring A courageous mind What to do: Adjust the taste and texture of the pickle to make it become an …

How to eat vegetables without noticing? Welcome to my Fried Rice Bar!

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The other day when I was on clubhouse, I heard people talking about meal prep by making a salad bar in the fridge. I’m not a huge fan for salad, but as a vegetable lover, I have something even better—a fried rice bar in my fridge! Now you might be wondering what is a fried rice bar(tm) ? This is an invention of mine. A fried rice bar is a selection of ingredients that you prep ahead to make fried rice in time. My fried rice bar includes diced carrots, diced mushroom, sliced cabbages, trimmed kale, baby spinach, frozen edamame, frozen corn kernels, and most importantly, diced cauliflower and broccoli stem. I love the process of prepping cauliflower and broccoli stems. The outcome is the same as store-bought cauliflower rice, but much more rewarding. I feel so powerful after transferring these tasteless stems into something tasty and valuable. Making vegetable fried rice is my way of eating vegetables without noticing. It’s full filling, easy to make, and so yummy. 3 Steps Vegetable Fried Recipe Yield: …

3 Tips on Selecting Your Bento Box

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So, you have decided that you are starting a new life with bento. No matter it’s for you or for your loved ones or both, the first question you face will be what/which bento box you should get. There are various kinds of bento boxes with different design, material, and sizes out there. It could be quite puzzling for beginners to pick a bento box without any context. That’s why I wrote this article to help you sort out the bento box that best fits your needs. I also consolidate an easy comparison table of different bento box materials for you in the end of this article. When selecting a bento box, it’s all about your diet and lifestyle. Yeah, this sounds vague, so I break it down into three simple questions. By answering these three questions, you will have an idea of what bento box to get. Afterall, life is too short for a not fully-functional bento box. I. Do you reheat your bento?  When it comes to bento box selection, the first and …