Today I want to talk about two bento items that I think are really helpful when I make bento for my son. I usually pack my son’s lunch in the morning and it typically takes 15-20 minutes from start to finish. In today’s post, I’ll show you why and how these two items are my favorite when it comes to bento making.
The first one is rice seasonings that you sprinkle on top of rice and it’s called furikake (ふりかけ). It usually contains a mixture of sesame seeds, nori/seaweed flakes, salt, sugar, and sometimes bonito or salmon flakes. Furikake comes in a bottle or in a package and can be found at Japanese or Asian grocery stores. If you are concerned about additives, there are many MSG-free furikake available. If the package is imported from Japan (meaning you can’t find any English on the packaging), look for the word “mutenka” (無添加), which means additive-free.
The other helpful item is frozen Mixed Vegetables. I don’t normally use frozen or canned vegetables for my cooking, but I find keeping a bag of frozen mixed vegetables in the freezer extremely convenient when you need just ONE more item to fill your bento box. All you need to do is to place the veggies in a microwave-safe silicone cup and defrost in the microwave! I sometimes saute vegetables with a little bit of butter and season with salt and pepper to give it a bit more flavor.
Let me show you how these two items can add colors and flavors to a bento box with before and after adding them.
As you see, the white steamed rice received a nice furikake makeover and the big empty void is now filled with colorful vegetables! It’s really a simple technique to bring color to your bento box.
Now let’s go over today’s bento recipe.
Previous Dinner was:
Gyudon! My son loves Tamagoyaki (Japanese rolled egg omelette) in his bento box. So when I was making Gyudon, I removed his lunch portion out of the pan for his bento first before I pour the egg at the last step of making Gyudon.
Lunch Next Day:
- Gyudon Bento
- Small box of fruits
- Water bottle
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Gyudon Bento
Ingredients
- cooked Japanese short-grain rice
- gyudon
- Lettuce (for garnish)
- Tamagoyaki (Japanese Rolled Omelette) (pre-cooked, see Notes)
- frozen mixed vegetables
- Furikake (rice seasoning)
Instructions
- Fill up half of bento box with Japanese rice. Let it cool so that hot/warm rice will not warm up other cool food.
- Reheat leftover gyudon in a frying pan until it's warm thoroughly.
- Wash lettuce and pat dry. Place nicely in the bento box.
- Pack cooled gyudon on in a silicone cup and put in bento box.
- Put Tamagoyaki in the bento box.
- Put mixed vegetable in a silicone cup and microwave to defrost. Put it in bento box after cooled.
- Sprinkle furikake on top of rice.
- Cool down completely before closing the bento box.
[…] Gyudon Bento […]
I discovered your blog and love it. I lived in Japan for many years. Coming back I’ve missed a lot of the food. I knew how to make somethings, but I’m learning so much more from you. Everything is so helpful. I love the pics, and the explanations. Thank you very much.
Hi Jake! Thank you for writing! I’m really happy to hear you enjoyed eating Japanese food while you are in Japan. Hope my recipes encourage you to cook more Japanese food at home and they are close to the Japanese food you enjoyed in Japan. 🙂 Thank you for following my blog!
I love all your reciepts. they are delicious.
Thank you very much Marsha! So happy to hear from you. 🙂
No need to microwave those frozen veggies as your son won’t be eating his lunch for several hours and they will have defrosted in a much healthier way all by themselves.
Thank you for letting me know. The only problem for me is that when naturally defrosted, the water that melted from ice stays in the lunch box (silicon cup). So I usually defrost it in microwave and get rid of water before putting inside the box… Wish I can minimize this extra step!
Thanks for the bento tips. I especially learned from the food safety tips, which were very helpful! I don’t think I’ve read any information on bento food safety, esp. reheating to help prevent spread of bacteria. Thanks Nami!
Hi Julia! You’re welcome. 🙂 If the weather in your area is usually humid and hot (like Japan’s summer), food safety for bento is VERY important! Especially school doesn’t have a proper storage for lunch box (fridge) and we must make sure to keep the lunch safe for our children. Thank you for your feedback!