Every Monday Chi Chi gets up early to make our kids a special Japanese bento box lunch. We have twins who are the opposite of each other when it comes to food. Our daughter loves her fruits and vegetables and has a soft spot for anything that has dashi flavor. But, she does not like meat (like her mama) and we have to find other ways to get her protein. Our son, on the other hand is very particular and really only will eat about ten things. So, to be honest, this bento box post is really about what Chi Chi puts in our daughter’s bento box since I’m sure its not that interesting to see almond butter and honey sandwich bentos week after week!

Bento boxes are a rainbow of color

When planning out his bentos, Chi Chi focuses on incorporating all of the colors of the rainbow. With this strategy he’s sure to include a veggie, fruit, carb and protein for a balanced and delicious lunch. Chi Chi believes that one of the best ways to eat healthy is to incorporate 30 whole-food ingredients in your diet every day. Color and variety is the spice of life, isn’t it? Bento’s are a perfect expression of this.

Bento boxes are made with dishes we made ahead of time

Bento boxes can appear very elaborate, as if it took hours to make. But, in reality its just about putting several small portions of things we already had in our refridgerator into the box. Once of the things that is special about Japanese home cooks is that they will make several dishes in advance and then those get shared at the family table in a rotation. For example Chi Chi’s mom would make spinach with sesame (goma-ae), pork and veggie miso soup (tonjiru), and pickled cucumbers (tsukemono) one night and then save the leftovers for bento boxes and meals later in the week which she would incorporate with other things. Its strategic meal prepping.

Whats in the box? We want to know, what’s in the box!

For this week’s Bento Box we have a spam musubi bento box:

Whats in the Box? Bento Box Mondays

Recipe by Chi ChiCourse: LunchCuisine: Japanese

The instructions below will make several servings and you will only need a little bit of each for the bento box. Save the rest and rotate each dish during the week in lunches or at dinner.

Ingredients

• Pre-made Ingredients to Add to bento:

• Strawberry

• Kurobuta Sausage (cut diagonally in half)

• Fish Cake (sliced)

• Spam Musubi

• 2 Slices Low Sodium Spam

• 1 tbsp Teriyaki Sauce

• 1 sheet nori

• 1/2 cup cooked white sushi rice

• Spinach w/ Sesame dressing (Goma-ae)

• 1 bunch of fresh spinach (washed and trimmed)

• 3 tbsp roasted sesame seeds

• 1 tbsp mirin

• 1 tbsp soy sauce

• 1/2 tbsp brown sugar

• Omelette

• 2 eggs

• Natto (optional)

• Salt to taste

Directions

• Spam Musubi: The night before make rice in a rice cooker and have it ready for making your bento box. Let rice cool down. Prepare 1 long sheet of nori rice place rice on 1/2 of nori sheet (make sure it is twice as long as the spam slices so that the rice will wrap around the spam). Drizzle teriyaki sauce along rice. Add spam pieces on top of rice. Tightly roll nori making a long rectangular shaped nori maki roll. Cut in half and add to bento box.
• Spinach w/ Sesame dressing (Goma-ae): I recommend you make this dish the night before you assemble your bento to cut down on the time it takes to assemble your bento box. Par boil spinach in salt water for about 3 minutes until the spinach turns bright green then plunge in cold water bath to cool. Grind sesame seeds to a paste in a small Japanese style pestle. Add brown sugar, mirin and soy sauce to sesame paste to make goma-ae sauce. Mix spinach and goma-ae sauce and add a small portion to your bento box. Save the rest in the refrigerator for another meal.
• Omelette: Heat small frying pan with oil. Whisk eggs in a bowl (and optional: add about 1 tbsp natto beans). Pour egg into hot skillet and pan fry eggs. flip egg omelette over when bottom side is done, then fold eggs in half to finish cooking. Remove from heat and cut into 1 inch strips.
• Assembly: Use a bento box with multiple sections or use small paper baking cups to separate each ingredient. Add each of the ingredients above in a creative design.