About bento

What is bento?
The original “bento” is a Japanese boxed lunch. My own bento lunches very rarely include Japanese food – my bento lunches usually include salads, sandwiches, dinner leftovers, or fried rice that I’ve cooked specially for my work lunch. I like to include something sweet in my bento lunches as well – for example: mini strawberry jam or kaya sandwiches or fresh or dried fruit – seedless fruit that does not need peeling is the best for easy eating.

My bento notes

Whenever I pack a bento lunch for my partner Jac, I always include a little note, usually featuring a cartoon I’ve hand-drawn. They often feature a pink-nosed cartoon cat named Tubby (some of my readers call him “Bento cat”).

Read my bento posts
My bento lunch posts
Bento Tips – Dealing with bento leakage
Bento Tips – How to prevent your sandwiches going soggy

My bento gear

I live in Perth, Western Australia, where bento gear is not readily available. I’ve bought my Japanese bento items from eBay Australia and from a couple of online retailers: iloveobento.com and J-Box. I’ve also received bento items as gifts from my family.

Bento blog posts featuring some of my bento gear

Decor Tellfresh Quarters
These are not bento boxes as such, but they are a decent size for lunch. They can be purchased from Woolworths and Coles supermarkets for around AU$7.00 each. They are excellent for lunches that require reheating as they are microwave-safe. They come with four removable white compartments (hence “Quarters”), but I tend to only use one or two of the compartments when I pack lunches. See examples:
Bento lunch with one compartment used
Bento lunch with two compartments used

My favourite bento items from eBay

It’s easy to find bento gear at eBay – just search for bento
New bento items I bought on eBay (includes a YouTube video)
Shinzo Katoh two-tiered bento box
Japanese lacquered lunch boxes
Hard-boiled egg shapers

My favourite bento items from J-Box

Vegetable shaper assortment set
NORI-NORI animal food picks
Lunch animal sauce dispenser set

My favourite bento items from iloveobento.com

Shinzi Katoh domed lunch boxes

My sandwich bento containers

Tupperware Sandwich Keepers, bought at a Tupperware party years ago!
They are currently available from Tupperware in different colours.

My favourite bento gifts

Applecats bento box
Dragonfly bento bag
Rick Rack Queen oilcloth lunch bag

Bento frequently asked questions

How long does it take you to pack bento lunches in the morning?
Depending on whether I’m merely assembling leftovers, making sandwiches or quickly cooking up a batch of fried rice, it can take me anywhere from 20 to 40 minutes. This includes my time taking photographs of the bento lunches for the blog. :) Leftovers can usually be packed the night before, but salad and sandwiches are much nicer prepared fresh in the morning.

Why do you bother?
I enjoy the creative aspect of bento and gain a lot of pleasure in assembling attractive, delicious lunches for Jac and me. I also find bento lunches fun to eat.

Do you eat your bento lunches hot or cold?
I eat them cold most of the time.

More bento information and inspiration

The Food Pornographer isn’t really a bento blog – I just dabble in bento from time to time. There are many more excellent bento blogs out there. Start with these great sites:

• Lunch in a Box
• Just Bento – especially the Bento Basics and the Weekly Bento Planner
• See some amazing bento lunches at the Bento Boxes Flickr group

Search for bento in Google – there really is a lot of great information and inspiration out there!

Share/Bookmark