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May 13, 2025

What's in your bento box?

Do you fix a bento box lunch? How often? What do you typically put in yours? When do you prepare it - in the evening or in the morning?

TonetoEdo

TonetoEdo

Living between the Tone and Edo Rivers in Higashi Katsushika area of Chiba Prefecture.

6 Answers



Best Answer

  • BigfamJapan

    on May 17

    Further to my last comment - I have just published the post about free school lunches if anyone is interested! https://www.city-cost.com/blogs/BigfamJapan/GQjEL-living_food_money_education_saitama

    1
  • TonetoEdo

    on May 13

    Opps, I forgot to ask, how many bento boxes do you prepare each time?

    0
  • genkidesu

    on May 17

    It's typically not something I do for myself since I don't work out of the home, but sometimes I do when we are going on a day trip and don't want to purchase meals. I pack them for my kids, though! It's usually a mix of things, but I try to stick to the tried and true formula of some kind of protein, some kind of carb (rice, noodles, etc.), some veggies, and some fruit. One thing they love in bento is salmon, and that is one noticeable difference from living here compared to my home country. Bringing a packed lunch with fish to a workplace or school back home would be something a lot of people would frown at. I think overall lunches here are a lot more healthy/balanced because there's more of a focus on real food.

    0
  • TonetoEdo

    on May 17

    @genkidesu Ah, I also pack either salmon or mackerel on occasion. It's a bit fragrant, but like you say, fish is a common bento box protein, so nobody bats an eye. These days, I do spag and udon a few times a week to stretch out my stock of expensive rice!

    0
  • BigfamJapan

    on May 17

    My husband is the bento box maker in our house! The last bento I made was nine years ago. We've never had a regular need for bento until this year. My eldest needs one daily now that he is in high school. My husband most commonly puts in rice, some sort of chicken, lettuce, tomatoes and some type of fruit. He's been using tinned fruit which works out cheaper these days. This is very timely because I am about to write about free school lunches!

    0
  • genkidesu

    on May 25

    I always like "top" lists for inspiration, and I found this: https://macaro-ni.jp/108528 Probably no real surprises that things like tamagoyaki, grilled salmon, and hamburger steak ranked highly.

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