Bento

Bento (弁当 bentō^?)^[1] is a single-portion takeout or home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine. A traditional bento consists of rice, fish or meat, and one or more pickled or cooked vegetables, usually in a box-shaped container. Containers range from disposablemass produced to hand crafted lacquerware. Although bento are readily available in many places throughout Japan, includingconvenience stores, bento shops (弁当屋 bentō-ya^?), train stations, and department stores, it is still common for Japanese homemakersto spend time and energy for their spouse, child, or themselves producing a carefully prepared lunch box.

Bento can be very elaborately arranged in a style called kyaraben or "character bento". Kyaraben is typically decorated to look like popular Japanese cartoon (anime) characters, characters from comic books (manga), or video game characters. Another popular bento style is "oekakiben" or "picture bento", which is decorated to look like people, animals, buildings and monuments, or items such as flowers and plants. Contests are often held where bento arrangers compete for the most aesthetically pleasing arrangements.

There are similar forms of boxed lunches in the Philippines (Baon), Korea (Dosirak), Taiwan (Biandang), and India (Tiffin). Also, Hawaiian culture has adopted localized versions of bento featuring local tastes after over a century of Japanese influence in the islands.

Types of bento

Hinomaru style rice in a Makunouchibento

"Tōge no Kamameshi" bento

An example of an Ekiben bento, sold on board the Shinkansen bullet train, served in a lucky Daruma container.

• Shōkadō bentō (松花堂弁当) is a traditional black-lacquered Japanese bento box. It inspired IBM's (later sold to Lenovo) ThinkPaddesign.^[3]
• Chūka bentō (中華弁当) are filled with Chinese food. While Chinese do have cold plates, it is more for appetizers or midnight "snack".
• Kamameshi bentō (釜飯弁当) are sold at train stations in Nagano prefecture. It is cooked and served in a clay pot. The pot is a souvenir item.
• Makunouchi bentō (幕の内弁当) is a classic style of bento with rice, a pickled ume fruit (umeboshi), a slice of broiled salmon, a rolled egg, etc.
• Noriben (海苔弁) is the simplest bento, with nori dipped in soy sauce covering cooked rice.
• Sake bentō (鮭弁当) is a simple bento with a slice of broiled salmon as the main dish.
• Shidashi bentō (仕出し弁当) is made in a restaurant and delivered during lunch. This bento is often eaten at a gathering like a funeral or a party. It is usually packed with traditional Japanese foods like tempura, rice and pickled vegetables. A shidashi bento packed with European-style food is also available.
• Tori bento (鳥弁当) consists of pieces of chicken cooked in sauce served over rice. It is a popular bento in Gunma prefecture.
• Hinomaru bento (日の丸弁当) is the name for a bento consisting of plain white rice with an umeboshi in the centre. The name was taken from the Hinomaru, the Japanese flag, which has a white background with a red circle in the centre. Pure Hinomaru bento only consists of rice and umeboshi to flavor rice without any other side dishes. The metal bento boxes, once popular in Japan, were often corroded by the acid of umeboshi, eventually making a hole in the middle of the lid.

[edit]Other

• Hokaben (ホカ弁) is any kind of bento bought at a take-out bento shops. Freshly cooked hot (hokahoka) rice is usually served with freshly prepared side dishes. The name was popularized after a pioneering take-out bento franchise in the field, Hokka Hokka Tei.
• Hayaben (早弁), literally "early bento", is eating a bento before lunch, and having another lunch afterward.
• Ekiben is a bento sold at railway stations (eki) or onboard trains. There are many kinds of ekiben. Most are inexpensive and filling.