Japanese food bento. Detailed information about bento

Bento, or bento, is a traditional Japanese lunch packed in a box; occupies an important place in Bento is prepared for those who will have lunch at work, at school or on the road.

There are varieties of bento for special purposes, such as soraben, a lunch box served on an airplane, and ekiben, a packed lunch for train travelers. Charaben is a children's bento. Among the ready-made bento are quite expensive, with exotic ingredients, or designed for children and connoisseurs of kawaii - with products in the form of anime characters or cute animals.

Bento boxes

Some Japanese restaurants sell bento, but what sets it apart from a regular meal is its portability. Usually, although not always, bento is designed for one person. Bento boxes are also interesting - they can be beautiful lacquered boxes (jubako), a real work of art, but more often they are plastic containers with a lid or disposable boxes. There are jubako in several tiers, with many branches. They are designed for special occasions: holiday picnics or a visit with your own food.

Sticks and wrap

In addition to onigiri, not all bento dishes can be eaten with your hands - chopsticks are pushed under a ribbon or elastic band that holds the box closed. The ceremonial jubako is tied into furoshiki, a large square of cloth that is usually used to wrap gifts and offerings. Furoshiki plays the role of an elegant wrapper, but also covers her knees so as not to stain clothes while eating.

Bento composition

A standard daily bento includes a serving of rice, protein foods (meat, fish, or tofu), and boiled or pickled vegetables. Steamed rice with a small red umeboshi (pickled plum) in the center resembles a Japanese flag with a red circle on a white background. - rice balls wrapped in seaweed - also a favorite dish of many as part of a bento.

When choosing bento products, consider their ability to hold room temperature. Traditionally, a bento meal is not chilled and does not require refrigeration. Bento items should be placed in the box when they have cooled to room temperature. This way they stay fresh longer.

How to make bento. Recipe Options

Here are a few variations of a typical bento that anyone can make:

Bento 1. Steamed rice and pickled plums in the center. Chicken cutlet katsu, cut into pieces. Vegetable salad namasu. A small portion of oden - stewed vegetables with spices.

Bento 2. Steamed rice. Salmon fillet teriyaki. Boiled broccoli florets. Blanched green beans with ponzu sauce.

Bento 4. Somen noodles. Edamame - boiled young green soybeans.

Bento 5. Curry with rice sprinkled with tonkatsu - crispy fried dough drops.

Bento 6. Steamed or fried white rice. Gyoza (Japanese dumplings) and a separate small container with sauce. Steamed vegetables. Tsukemono pickles.

Bento 7. Makizushi rolls. Tsukemono.

As you can see, any food is good for a bento, as long as two conditions are met. First, the dish should be stored and eaten at room temperature. And secondly, you can carry it with you.

Japanese bento benefits

Many of us enjoy picnics in nature, hiking in the woods and parks, and all-day walks. But not everyone wants to carry heavy thermoses, grills, disposable utensils and bags of food and feel like a draft horse rather than a vacationer. For such occasions, a Japanese bento is perfect, as the entire meal fits in one compact package. You can focus on the surrounding beauties, and not lug heavy backpacks and bags. Moreover, the problem of the garbage remaining after eating is not worth it, because all the food is suitable for consumption without a trace, so you will only need to throw away the box if it is disposable.

Buy a traditional bento box with separate compartments. Bento boxes are divided into sections that separate portioned products from each other. They also allow you to store your food in the most compact way, so it's easier to carry to work or school. Choose a box with 4 separate compartments, but don't be afraid to experiment.

• Bento boxes come in a variety of sizes and may also contain additional vertical sections, so choose the box that best suits your needs. If you plan to reheat food, the box should be made of microwave-safe material.
• If you don't want to buy a new box, use a regular lunch box with small, airtight compartments to separate food.
• If you're buying a bento box for a child, find something cute with fun colors, anime characters, or just a nice look.

Fill 50% of the box with rice or another high-carb meal. Rice traditionally makes up half of the food in a bento box, but it can be filled with other starchy foods as well. Opt for healthy carbohydrates such as rice, whole grains, potatoes, pita chips, rolls or sandwiches.

Add protein to make up 25% of the meal. Protein foods serve as a garnish and should take up about 1/4 of a bento box. Raw salmon, tuna, or whitefish are sometimes added to the classic bento filling, but these can be substituted with other lean meats, hard-boiled eggs, or grainy cottage cheese.

Bento (弁当) is a one-on-one meal that is taken with you or a kind of “dry ration” common in Japanese cuisine. Traditional bento includes rice, fish or meat, pickled or boiled vegetables. Typically, products are packaged in a box-shaped container. Food boxes are produced in a variety of ways, from simple mass-produced disposables to handmade lacquerware.

Bento boxes are available in many places throughout Japan, including convenience stores, bento shops (Bento-ya, 弁当屋), train stations, and department stores. However, true Japanese housewives often spend their time and energy preparing bento for their spouses, children, and themselves.

Kiaraben bento 1

Kiaraben bento 2

Kiaraben bento 3

Bento can be made in a style called kyaraben (bento character). Kiaraben bento are usually designed as popular characters from Japanese cartoons (anime), comics (manga), or video games. Another popular style of bento is the “oekakiben” (oekakiben or “picture bento”). This bento is decorated in the form of people, animals, buildings and monuments, or objects such as flowers and plants. Competitions are often held in which the organizers choose the most beautiful, most liked Bento.

Oekakiben 1

Oekakiben 2

There are similar forms of dry rations in the Philippines (Baon, Baon), Korea (Dosirak, Dosirak), Taiwan (Bindan, Biandang) and India (Tiffin, Tiffin). In addition, Hawaiian culture has adopted localized versions of bento with local flavors added after more than a century of Japanese influence on the islands.

Story:
The origin of bento can be traced back to the end of the Kamakura period (1185-1333), when boiled and dried rice called “hoshi-ii” (hoshi-ii, 糒 or 干し飯, literally meaning “dried food”) was invented. Hoshi-ii rice was eaten both in normal and boiled form. It was kept in a small bag. During the Azuchi-Momoyama period (1568-1600), wooden lacquered boxes were made, similar to those made today, bento was eaten during hanami or tea parties.

During the Edo period (1603-1867), bento culture spread and became more sophisticated. Travelers and sightseers could carry a simple “koshibento” (koshibentō, 腰弁当, “bento belt”) with them, consisting of several onigiri wrapped in bamboo leaves or placed in a wicker bamboo box. One of the most popular styles of bento called "makuno-uchi bentō" (makuno-uchi bentō, literally means "between-act bento") was first prepared during this period. People who came to Noh and Kabuki theaters ate specially prepared bento between acts (maku). Numerous cookbooks have been published that describe how to prepare and pack bento, and what to cook for special occasions like Hanami and Hinamatsuri.

During the Meiji period (1868-1912), "ekibento" or or "ekiben" (ekibentō, 駅弁当 or ekiben, 駅弁, "train station bento") appeared on sale. There are several records that state that ekiben was first sold on July 16, 1885 at the Utsunomiya train station and included two onigiri and a serving of takuan wrapped in bamboo leaves.
Students were not provided with lunch, students, teachers and many school staff took bento with them. European-style bento also appeared during this period.

During the Taisho period (1912-1926), aluminum bento boxes became a luxury item due to their ease of cleaning and their silvery appearance. Likewise, the movement to abolish the practice of drinking bente in schools has become a social issue. The disparity in income spread during this period, following the export boom during World War I and subsequent crop failures in the Tohoku region. The bentu often reflected the student's wealth, and many wondered if this had an adverse effect on the children both physically, due to the lack of an appropriate diet, and psychologically, from poorly made bento (as students compared their bento) or the high cost of food. After the Second World War, the practice of bringing bento to school gradually began to fade away, and standard meals appeared in school canteens for all students and teachers.

Bento regained popularity in the 1980s with the rise of microwave ovens and convenience stores. In addition, expensive wooden and metal boxes have been replaced in most stores with inexpensive, disposable polystyrene boxes. However, even handmade bento boxes are back on store shelves.

Bentos are still used by workers today as dry rations, taken by families on day trips, by schoolchildren on picnics and on sports days. Homemade benta are wrapped in furoshiki cloth, which acts as a pouch and table mat.

Bentu made it to Taiwan in the first half of the 20th century from Japan and remains very popular to this day.

Airports also offer ekiben: a bento filled with ingredients from local cuisine, for passengers waiting for a plane or during a flight.

Noriben

Sake Bento

Hinomaru bento

Kamameshi Bento

Makunouchi Bento

Shokado Bento

Bento types:
Shokado Bento (Shōkadō Bento, 松花堂弁当) is a traditional black lacquered bento box.
Chuka Bento (中華弁当) is a bento filled with Chinese food.
Kamameshi Bento (釜飯弁当) is sold at train stations in Nagano Prefecture. It is cooked and served in a clay pot. The pot is kept as a souvenir.
Makunouchi Bento (幕 の 内 弁 当) is a classic-style bento that includes rice, pickled ume fruit (umeboshi), a piece of fried salmon, a cooked egg wrapped in a roll (tamagoyaki), etc.
Noriben (海苔弁) is a very simple bento with nori seaweed (seasoned with soy sauce) topping boiled rice.
Sake Bento (鮭弁当) is a simple bento with a piece of fried salmon.
Shidashi Bento (仕出し弁当) is prepared in restaurants and served to order at lunchtime. This bento is often eaten at gatherings, parties or funerals. Usually includes traditional Japanese food such as tempura, rice, pickled vegetables. Shidashi bento with European food is also available.
Tori bento (鳥弁当) - bento with rice and chicken pieces cooked in sauce. The meat is placed on top of the rice. This bento is popular in Gunma prefecture.
Hinomaru bento (日の丸弁当) is a bento consisting of only white rice and an umeboshi plum placed in the center. The name was taken from the Hinomaru (which means "sun circle"), the Japanese flag, which has a white background and a red circle in the center.

Other:
Hokaben (ホカ弁) is any type of bento purchased to take away from bento shops. Freshly cooked hot rice (hokahoka) is usually served with side dishes.
Hayaben (早弁), a bento consumed before lunch or sometime after lunch.
Ekiben are bentos sold at railway stations (EKIs) or on trains. There are many types of ekiben. Many of them are inexpensive and filled with food.
Soraben are bentos sold at airports for in-flight meals.

Basically, a bento is a container or box of lunch. There is not much difference between a lunch box and a bento, since a bento is the Japanese version of a lunch box.

Bento is a tradition and a must in Japan, a way to easily eat on the go. Often, a bento contains a healthy enough set of foods - fruits, vegetables, meat, rice and fish - to make a healthy and balanced lunch. And also beautiful. The Japanese like everything to be perfect.

A bit of history

The first reliable record of bento-style dining in Japan was during the Kamakura period (1185 to 1333). During this period, the process of preparing rice and then storing and eating it became popular among the people of Japan. Cooked rice during this time was often kept in traditional lacquered boxes to be eaten afterwards. Also, this storage method allowed people to eat while working or traveling without any difficulty. The word bento literally means "convenient".

In the past, bento was exclusively a lunch made at home for lunch at work, or caring mothers for their children to take bento to school. Now you can find bento in all grocery stores, and if you go to any store or supermarket in Japan, you will see a whole section dedicated to bento boxes. And if in the past bento boxes were served in varnished wooden boxes, today they are made in plastic containers, which are usually beautifully decorated.

How to make bento in Japan

Perhaps the most well-known international image of the Japanese bento box - with a cute design and intricate details. It has become something of a mania, especially for parents who make the cutest bento boxes for their kids, painstakingly shaping and carving smiles and choosing colors to make the food appealing.

Initially, the idea behind the attractiveness of the lunch box was that children would be interested in eating healthy food and enjoy it. It is not uncommon for a housewife to get up early in the morning to prepare beautiful and mouth-watering boxes for her husband and children.

In Japan, they say that you eat with your eyes - this means that the food must be beautiful and must be tasty in order to really enjoy it.

How to make bento at home?

There are several conditional rules for the formation of a bento box:

• Prepare box. You can use a regular container/box with one compartment or buy a special bento that has multiple compartments or tiers.
• Decide what you are going to catch in the bento. The traditional ratio is 4:3:2:1, which is 4 parts rice, 3 parts side dish, 2 parts vegetables, 1 part pickled vegetables. Side dish is the protein part of the dish, which will consist of fish or meat. If you don't like pickles (that's the pickled vegetable part), it can be replaced with a small dessert.
• Pack food tightly in the box, whether it has separate compartments or not. If you want to make a cute design, think about it carefully before preparing dinner.

You can use thin slices of nori to add details, or slices of cheese and ham to "draw" something with them. Try sketching your design on some paper first so you have a cooking guide.

So, bento is not difficult at all, it is enough to show a little imagination or peep

Bento is a Japanese version of a packed lunch, which is often taken to work, school or just on the road. As a rule, this type of food is divided into two parts: half of the whole package is rice, and the second part is protein products (fish, meat, eggs) and vegetables. But it also happens that a bento from a simple lunch becomes a real work of art.

Bento is the Japanese term for a cooked-to-serve meal.

Often the components for bento are used in the following proportions: 4:3:2:1 parts. That is, 4 parts includes rice, 3 parts of meat or fish, 2 parts of vegetables, and the rest of pickled vegetables or dessert.

It also happens that culinary specialists create bento in figurines of people, famous characters from movies, animals, as well as from various forms - flowers, plants, trees, leaves.

Bento packaging can also vary - sometimes it's a primitive plastic box from a supermarket, and sometimes it's a work of art carved from wood and covered with a shiny varnish.

There are several different types of bento:

Bale bento- when Chinese food is used.

Kamameshi bento- Sold at train stations in Nagano Prefecture. Packed in their clay pot and heated. The clay pot is often left as a souvenir.

makuno uchi bento- a classic consisting of rice, pickled plum, a piece of fried fish, as well as a hard-boiled egg.

Noriben- the most common bento with rice and nori.

sake bento- rice and fish are used, most often a piece of salmon

Shidashi bento- Sold in restaurants by order. This bento is often eaten at an event such as funerals, parties or weddings. Usually includes traditional Japanese food such as tempura, rice and pickled vegetables.

jukuben- bento, which is put in school for children.

Sushizume is sushi in a bento box.

Hayaben can be eaten quickly before or after lunch, in fact it is an afternoon snack.

Hinomaru bento- this composition symbolizes the Japanese flag - Hinomaru - from which the bento got its name. Consists of rice and one pickled plum.

Kyaraben- a bento made in the form of men or animals.