Fit Fare

Good things come in small packages.  In Japan, mothers treat the practice of packing a daily lunch as an opportunity to present edible gifts in small packages to their children.   These lunches are known as “Bento or Bento Boxes.”

In the United States, many of us think of Bento Boxes as a divided lacquer dinner tray from a Japanese restaurant, with a scoop of rice in one section, a meat entree in another, a bit of shredded salad and an orange wedge in another. 

Translated literally, however, “bento” means a small, portable meal containing cooked rice, and side dishes which can be served at room temperature, including protein, fruit, vegetables, and sweets. 

Bento Box Lunches are a long standing tradition in Japan, and Japanese mothers go to great lengths to present attractive, whimsical and inventive snacks. Very often, the evening meal is created specifically to produce the type of food which can be packed the next day for the bento. The Bento Boxes themselves come in many shapes and sizes, from small containers for children or small eaters, decorated with popular animated characters (Hello Kitty, Disney characters, and Studio Ghibli animation), to larger undecorated multi-level boxes or jars  favored by Japanese executives.  Bento Box enthusiasts also collect an assortment of accessories, from picks for spearing olives and fruit, to sushi-styled dividers, meant to seperate orange segments and carrot strips.

My interest in Bento Box Lunches came about for practical purposes. As a post-operative weight loss surgery patient, I eat small portions. I always have leftovers, but packing my lunch can still be a challenge.  Bento Box Lunches help me meet those challenges.

First, I need to ensure my lunch is nutritionally adequate. Second, I try to prevent boredom and repetition. Third, I try to make my meals visually attractive to maximize sensory pleasure for a very small meal; and, Fourth, I still need to practice portion control to prevent overeating.  I realized that bento box lunch systems would enable me to practice creative and healthful portion control.  You can’t overpack a Bento Box, and the aesthetic presentation forces you to be creative, which often means more nutritious. The more colorful your lunch, chances are the more nutritious it is.

Looking for inspiration, this summer, I stumbled on several photo sharing groups on Yahoo’s Flickr website, focusing on  Bento Box Lunch enthusiasts. 

One of the more popular and active groups is devoted to users of the Mr. Bento Lunch Jar.  Made in Japan by Zojirushi, the lunch jar pictured at left (courtesy of Zojirushi) consists of a thermal outer jar filled with smaller insulated jars which, when packed with hot or cold food in the morning, will maintain the temperature for up to six hours.  Mr. Bento users report packing hot soup in the morning, and lifting the lid at noon to watch steam escape from the still hot soup. 

I searched for additional Flickr groups and also found the Bento Box Group, and, the Laptop Lunch Group, aimed at using that popular reusable lunch box system for school children. 

Members of each of these groups, who are each devoted to a particular type of bento-inspired system, are enthusiastic about their lunches.  They upload pictures of their daily menu, share ideas for maximizing space and decorating food, take inspiration from one another, and compliment one another on creative food choices, inventiveness, aesthetics, and just plain cuteness.

The lunch pictured at right is provided courtesy of my friend Karen Ho, a Flickr user (Aktiviston’s Bento Photographs).  It is colorful, rich in texture and flavor, and looks like a gourmet lunch from a bistro.

Karen has packed her Mr. Bento Lunch Jar with Green Leaf Salad topped with a sliced pear, roasted sunflower seeds and golden raisins in one container; orzo with parmesan and basil in another container; and, yogurt drizzled with honey and topped with frozen blackberries in a third container. These individual containers will stack together in the main jar and be unpacked for her lunch.  What looks like a  complicated and time-consuming meal to pack is actually a lunch she assembled in ten minutes, but will rival anything on the cafeteria line, I’m sure.

I acquired the same Mr. Bento system from Amazon for $35.00  (free shipping is available this month).  The Mr. Bento system is my choice for a hot or cold lunch.  For room temperature snacks and sandwiches, a variety of other bento box styles are available from sellers on eBay and from following tips provided by the Flickr users. 

I quickly amassed a collection of every type and style of bento box and bento accessory I could find.

My lunch is packed in 15 minutes or less, usually the night before, but sometimes in the morning if I plan to heat a hot lunch before packing it.  My cold lunch is usually yogurt or cottage cheese for protein, fruit segments, vegetables, and a sweet treat (one piece of sugarless candy or a sweet date, or unsweetened applesauce).  My hot lunch is soup, stew, or sliced meat and a small boiled potato or a few crackers with a bit of cheese.   The Mr. Bento is so efficient my soup seldom needs reheating, and my yogurt is still chilly.

The Laptop Lunch System is more popular in the United States and permits school and office lunches to be packed in reusable containers with a minimum of waste.

Another popular bento lunch site is Cooking Cute, which showcases both traditional bento lunches, and more contemporary laptop lunches.  The laptop lunch shown at left is courtesy of the Cooking Cute site, and shows stir-fried baby zucchini, broccolini, onion, and tofu in one container; brown rice topped with a sprinkling of sesame seeds and salt in another container; blackberries and raspberries in a third container; and, a bit of hummus and crackers in the fourth container.
 
There have been interesting results from packing my bento lunches for the past six months.  Most importantly, the portion control is a help to me. But I also look forward to my lunch much more than I did in the past — it is simply a visual treat, each day.  My food choices are varied and interesting — I may have one or two bites of five different things.  

Apart from my rapidly growing collection of bento supplies (boxes, picks, dividers, and decorative elements) my actual lunch and food expenses have decreased significantly.  My co-workers look on with great interest, agreeing my mini-buffet is both more interesting and nutritionally balanced than their sandwich and chips from a deli.  Even my employer respects my lunch hour now, and doesn’t encroach on my time.  My daily ritual of spreading a bamboo placemat and unpacking my bento box has created a boundary he doesn’t cross.  I no longer hear “Can you stop eating a minute and come make a photocopy for me?”  Instead, he says “I’ll come back when you’ve finished eating your beautiful lunch.” 

And it is a beautiful lunch.  Like many of life’s good things which come in small packages, Bento Lunches are surely among them.

Resources:

Cooking Cute
A bento box enthusiast with wonderful photography, recipes, tips, and a glossary of common terms

Mr. Bento Flickr Group
Daily inspiration from users of the Mr. Bento Lunch Jar

Laptop Lunch Website
Purchase the Laptop Lunch System

Laptop Lunch Flickr Group
Packing a nutrious and colorful lunch for you and your child

Bento Box Flickr Group
Daily inspiration from users of Bento Box Lunch Kits