A bento box is a lunchbox, essentially.  Because the visual aspect of
nutrition is so important in Japan, people take a great deal of care in
arranging to-go meals in attractive containers and in attractive
patterns.  

I started taking bento boxes to school as a child in Hawai'i, and I have
a couple bento cookbooks that are well-used, in addition to my more
general Japanese cookbooks.  

I've moved all the responses about bento to this item so we don't derail
the portion size item.

10 responses total.

Here's an interesting link to the Japanese government's information on
portion sizes (it's an English translation, actually).

"In Japan, bento box size is described not by its dimensions (inches or
centimeters), but instead by its volume or capacity (in milliliters  
ml). Why? Because a rule of thumb in Japan is that when you pack a bento
box normally (A: 3 parts grain dishes, 1 part protein dishes, 2 parts
vegetable dishes; B: without candy, junk food or fatty food; and C:
without empty space), calories correspond directly to capacity. So a
600ml box should hold a 600-calorie meal."

This link:
http://lunchinabox.net/2007/03/07/guide-to-choosing-the-right-size-bento-
box/

(be sure you get the full url)

will help you figure out what size bento box the government suggests you
use.  

I'm intrigued by the idea of choosing a plate or bowl that holds the
correct number of calories/milliliters, and then filling it in the 3:2:1
pattern for a meal.  

Essentially, you would use half the space for the grain, then 2/3 of the
remaining space for vegetables, and the remaining 1/3 (of the 1/2) for
protein.  

Neat trick.  I'm off to measure the mL capacity of all my favorite bowls
and boxes.  (Yes, I already own several bento boxes).  

BTW there is a flickr group that photographs their bento boxes and posts
them.  
http://www.flickr.com/groups/bentoboxes/


jadecat
Anne 

A friend of mine, on LJ, has been putting together bentos for herself
and her mother, and taking pictures of them. They're rather interesting.


slynne
S. Lynne Fremont        

I love the idea of bento boxes. It seems to me that one could prepare
2-3 days worth at once and then have easy lunches. I was thinking that a
good one would be brown rice, celery sticks, and bbq shredded chicken or
something. 

Here's a link to some wonderful ideas for kids' bentos.

The themes are: soccer, mom, ice cream, girl, watermelon, cat, panda,
star, and shrimp boat.  


http://www.pbs.org/opb/meaningoffood/food_and_family/obento/p2/

What a cool way to fix food [and appetizing, too]!  
And that looks like an interesting website. I just
bookmarked it so that I can check it out when I have
a bit more time.

Speed Bento Tips:

A great thread with lots of photos and links about how to speed up the
preparation of your bento box.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/bentoboxes/discuss/72157601115407832/

Some ideas for essentials to get started on making bento.

http://www.flickr.com/groups/bentoboxes/discuss/72157602225405012/

There's a new place to get really, really inexpensive nori, too.

The Garden Cafe at Huron Towers has been leased by the company that runs
Mr. Sushi.  Mr. Sushi is a wholesale sushi maker, whose products can be
bought at various grocery stores and restaurants around town.

Sushi supplies and food products are now available there.  

It is also a nice little cafe, with coffee, tea, panini, pastry and
other cafe-type food.  

I found a LiveJournal page that looks like it's an aggregater for a
number of bento blogs.  

http://mmmbento.livejournal.com/friends

I like the whole concept of using bento boxes to facilitate portion 
control.  Thanks for the cool links.

Yesterday I made a modest homemade bento lunch:

http://idisk.mac.com/mremmers-Public/bento.jpg

Did I capture the spirit of the thing?

Do I need a life? ;-)

Nice! 

We're going to have to find you one of those nori-cutters that makes
smiley faces to put on everything.  

Nice looking lunch!  I also like the countertop.  Tile?

(Sorry - I watch HGTV about as much as Food TV and really am itching 
to redo a bit of my kitchen.

When I start putting smiley faces on my muffins I won't be needing a life 
I'll be needing a sanitarium.

The tile is our kitchen table.  Our counter is old white formica.  At some 
point we too will be updating and I'm hoping to get granite.  If I didn't 
have to think of resale value I'd go stainless.  I'm pretty hard on 
kitchen surfaces and appliances and having grown-up in a restaurant family 
I'd be pretty comfortable going industrial.

Looks good, Mary!

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