The Inspiring Japanese Bento Box

When in Japan one of the most exciting things to experience is the traditional bento box. This is traditionally a compartmentalized container either square or round and with a lid or tiered section to separate ingredients. This ensured that an individual was able to enjoy a meal prepared fresh at home and eaten still later in well preserved condition. This was to ensure that family members were looked after as far as nutritional needs went.

Today the bento boxes have reached new levels of gastronomic experience

Ranging from basic to deluxe with the quality of the box and the assortment of the ingredients offered .Try and choose from the variety offered to you!The best ones are usually found at the largest train stations and airports though the smaller stations have very good regional bentos from stalls and vendors.

You could spend a lot of time perusing the ingredients and working out which is the best one for you, I found it was better to try a different one each time and I was never not satisfied or happy. Yes we did find that living out of a bento box was a great way to do lunch economically if we were on the road.

The basic will usually cost around 1100yen and will offer such things as filled rice cakes, smoked fish, pickled vegetables, and simple nori rolls, Note these are all long term items which will not deteriorate quickly and are very sustainable. This basic bento box would keep us happy til dinner time!

Middle of the range would be a faux laquer box and we tried a tempura bento....prepared to order and it was the best tempura I have ever had anywhere and I could not believe here I was eating it on a fast train to Hiroshima out of a bento box.....We wanted to stop the train and go back for more! This tempura bento can be found in the small town of Mishima in case you are ever there, it is truly good and the photo does not do it justice.

Another middle of the range coasting between 1200 and 1500 yen would contain sashimi, seafood nori, grilled chicken skewer , rice, pickled vegetables, a bean paste cake or jelly.

Now the deluxe range costing from 1800 to 2800yen and I think more but you can be assured that you if you closed your eyes and ears and just let the flavours and textures of all the morsels in a deluxe bento overtake you it is a truly sensual experience. Open you eyes and look at how perfectly everything is arranged in each compartment each with its own sauce or garnish, the care they have taken in choosing the quality and look of the box and the freshness of the ingredients..... sometimes you just have to pay a little extra!

Each deluxe bento specialised in one ingredient be it seafood or chicken or such, and if you were in a certain region such as Hide you would get Hide Beef Bento boxes full of beef tataki and hide beef sushi, and marinated beef from the region and of course all beautifully presented.

I saw beautiful regional mushroom bento and beancurd bento both regional and if you see them try them they feature all the specialties of the region and once you leave you will not see this type of ingredient again.

But what makes a bento box so special is that it is  the best take a way lunch in a box I was ever going to have! Something the Japanese have truly got right.