Bento box
Posted on August 23, 2009
This last paycheck, I ordered a Mr. Bento jar/box/thing and a rice cooker. At work, I normally get food from the Riley cafeteria or McDonalds, neither of which is very cheap. The least expensive thing I sometimes get is a grilled cheese and fries from the cafeteria, which costs around $3.00. A wrap from the cafeteria costs about $4.50. On a day-in/day-out basis, this gets to be sort of expensive, and the variety is sort of limited, which is why I wanted to try something different.
In Japan, a bento box is a bit like a lunch box or a box lunch in the US. Bento boxes can be bought in stores or from some restaurants as ready-made meals, like a box lunch in the US. However, you can also buy the empty boxes themselves, which are essentially lunch boxes with compartments. Mr. Bento is a model made by Zojirushi. It’s an insulated stainless steel container that holds four microwaveable bowls in a stack. In theory, the bowls on the bottom of the stack will stay hot, while the bowls at the top will be room temperature.
The main downside I can see is that the bowls don’t look that large, so I won’t be able to fit a sandwich in one. However, if I’m planning on eating a sandwich, then a bento box probably isn’t necessary. The main upside is having a variety of food for lunch, which means a sandwich isn’t necessary. When it arrives, I guess the thing will be to figure out what to make for lunch. The challenge for me personally will be to remember to prepare something ahead of time.
I also ordered a rice cooker. My only previous experience with one was a former roommate from Japan who brought one with him. I could never figure it out because all the buttons were in Japanese, but he ate a lot of rice and swore by it. Looking on Amazon on a lark, I found a) there was a variety to choose from, and b) many were reasonably priced. I sort of wondered about the quality, but the one I ordered is from a Japanese company (Zojirushi, as it happens), and had many good reviews from Amazon customers. Strangely, most of the people who gave it high marks said to ignore the instructions that come with it. While the principles of cooking rice are the same, American rice is usually longer grain compared with Japanese rice, so needs more water…or something like that. It may take some experimentation to get it right. It can also be used as a steamer, so that will be nice.
Since boneless, skinless chicken breasts were on sale at the grocery store today, they will probably end up in most of my lunches this week. I need to figure out some good bento sized lunches :-)
Related posts:
- Free Rice!
- Football in Japan?
- Jury Duty
- Review Haiku – Ong-Bak: The Thai Warrior
- Review Haiku – The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Leave a Comment
If you would like to make a comment, please fill out the form below.
