Bento Time, Pt. 2: Yum-Yum Bento Box Book Review

Today, I continue on the bento theme. This time, we will be looking at bentos aimed at children instead of adults.

Yum-Yum Bento Box, by Crystal Watanabe and Maki Ogawa.
Charaben, (character-themed bentos) are the focus of this book. Don't expect sophisticated dishes or unusual combinations. This book relies on old standbys that appeal to young kids. The presentation of these foods, however, are what make it special.
This book was authored by two mothers, and it is obvious they agree with the popular idea that bentos can be used as expressions of love for children. Every bento featured is tiny and perfect for little fingers.

Of course the book starts off with a brief history of bentos as well as a photographic list of different supplies you can use in your bento. Because this is a book for kids, the supplies are especially bright and colorful and cheerful. They are great fun to look at.

The bentos are divided up into "Cuties and Critters", "Fairytale Friends" and "Special Day Treats". Each bento has a full-page photo of the finished bento, with a brief description of what's in it as well as recipes for the food on the opposite page. The recipes are fairly simple. Rice balls, grilled cheese, spaghetti, etc. Occasionally it will call for things like making hamburger patties.
The back of the book does contain additional recipes which are a bit more involved, but still very easy.

Helpful tips given by cute vegetable characters add to the appeal. Some of the bentos, which require more elaborate food characters, have step-by-step instructions to do so. For example, one bento shows you exactly how to cut octopi out of sausages.

It's amazing how cute you can make these using everyday ingredients and some imagination.

Now, on to the flaws. This book is adorable and helpful, but by no means perfect. As Little Red Riding Hood shows up above, some of the bento are photographed in such a way that the front is sharply focused, but the back of the bento is fuzzy. I can tell those are strawberries, and I'm guessing a pink rice ball, but what is that brown stuff? I can read the ingredient list to figure it out but I still don't know how it's supposed to look. While this isn't terribly confusing, I still think bentos (especially if you're a beginner) are much more effective when the whole thing is in focus and you can see all the little details. The first bento book I reviewed was great about this.

The recipes themselves are usually only for one or two portions. A few do make enough servings for a whole family, but the majority of these are not. Making an entirely separate meal for one's children is time-consuming. I would have liked it much better if they had all family-sized meal recipes and suggested ways to divide it up so kids get healthy portions. Though with a little tweaking, I'm sure one could do this on their own easily enough without the help of the book.
Obviously this nitpick is referring to actual recipes, not things like sandwiches.

The food used makes me raise my eyebrows a bit. Plenty of fruit and veggies and rice, yes, but also a lot of processed cheese, sausage, bologna, some fried versions of dishes, and SPAM. I'm not feeding my children SPAM. I don't care if it's an old standby and if it's popular in bentos. (Tidbit: Apparently SPAM is extremely popular in Hawaii). Also, for me at least, any pork products are a no go. I'm not going to condemn the book for failing to meet my personal dietary needs, the same way I wouldn't be angry if I needed vegetarian dishes, but the fact so many processed cheeses and meats are used is rather off-putting. I want my kids to eat as healthy as possible.

Listen to me...I don't even have kids yet and I'm pulling the "Only the best food for MY babies!" stuff.

So much emphasis is placed on making the individual parts of the bento that there are really no photographic tips for actually packing the bento and putting it all together. Though the bentos are pretty simple in terms of the amount of dishes in each one, showing which food to put in first would be very helpful.....written instructions for packing the bento are included for each one though, so I admit this is a small nitpick. I just prefer visual reference.

One more thing. I was able to get a gently-used copy for $7, but the retail of this book is $16.95. In my opinion, that's a bit much. The book is 143 pages, but its dimensions are a bit on the small side. I can get huge, hardcover books for only a few dollars more.

In summary, this book offers very cute inspiration that is sure to delight your children....but inspiration is the main positive tribute in my opinion. If you are creative enough to figure out how to assemble bentos on your own and you don't mind a little tweaking, this could be perfect for you. I will probably swap out the processed foods with foods I've picked myself and use the ideas featured to decorate the bentos I make.
And hey, if the food featured doesn't bother you, you'll probably love this book completely! Pick up a copy if you can find it for cheap. Just flipping through it will probably brighten your day.

Disclaimer: The book Yum-Yum Bento Box, its content and photos, are copyrighted Crystal Watanabe, Maki Ogawa, the publisher, and any other creators. Pictures and content featured here are for the purpose of personal review only and no copyright infringement is intended.

Bento Time, Pt. 1: The Just Bento Cookbook Review

The tradition of bento is very old indeed. While it has been a part of Japanese life for a long time, it is just recently catching up in popularity here. It's easy to see why; many Japanese mothers make their children bento lunches as a beautiful, healthy display of love to be taken to school. Decorated bentos---charaben---are often used in school lunchroom competitions. The presentation of these can get quite elaborate.

Which begs the question: does a bento have to be fancy to be considered bento? Certainly not. A bento is simply a meal in a box. Bentos are not quite able to be lumped in with Western-style lunchboxes however. Bentos are packed and presented with a little extra care. The size of many bento boxes requires that some thought be put into how the different food items are arranged and prepared.

And while there is nothing wrong with the cutesy character-themed bentos, many working adults do not want or have the time to take to prepare these lunches for themselves.

The Just Bento Cookbook, by Makiko Itoh.
Mrs. Itoh is a Japanese woman, who has spent most of her adult life in the USA and Europe. This affords her a unique approach: the fact she has lived several places gives her not only knowledge of her native cuisine, but also what different countries have to offer and what they can and can't easily get for bento. Because of this, even her Japanese-style bento meals contain ingredients that are quite accessible. So far, I have had no issues, and I definitely do not live in a big city. She also lists substitutions one can make if the proper items simply can't be found.

The book starts out with Makiko's bento rules (such as one should never sacrifice taste simply because something is supposed to be healthy) and tips for making the bento process faster. Throughout the book are little text boxes with extra tips and comments.

There are 15 Japanese-style bentos, and 10 alternative style bentos (Western, but even French and Indian too!) Each bento starts with a full color picture, with the recipes of the ingredients featured next. It's important to note that while the finished bentos are in color, the other little pictures used to accompany some of the filler recipes are not. Personally, this does not bother me. The author then expounds on the theme and offers many variation recipes that you can switch out if you want to try different vegetables or flavors. Because of this, even though there are only 25 finished bentos, this book has a whopping 125 recipes! This book offers tips on what to put in your pantry for bento staples, the proper way to make authentic Japanese white rice, and the different types of bentos and supplies.
And if you need extra help:

Each and every bento has a timeline, to show you not only when to start on a certain item, but how long it should take. There are a few night-before steps for some of the bentos, but most of them take a mere 20 minutes or so to complete in the morning.

This is a bento cookbook like no other. It's obviously Makiko Itoh loves good food, and she has made that the focus of her book, instead of the frills that overtake so many other titles. This is the perfect book for novices to bento, who want to incorporate portion control and healthier eating into their lives, but not sacrifice taste. It's a wonderful "grown-up" bento book.
The true test of any cookbook is how successful the recipes are, and I am pleased to say that the many I have tried are delicious. Though to be honest, the plain white rice is too plain for me. I know it's a traditional part of the Japanese diet, but I'm a seasoning and spice kind of girl, and have to doctor it up a bit. I love cumin in my rice!

In short, by this book if you're interested in diving into the world of bento, but are more concerned with its health benefits than making really over-the-top decorated lunches. Highly, highly recommended.

Sukiyuki-style beef donburi bento.

Mini-hamburgers with carrot and cheese flowers, red onions, seasame-salted rice, and fruit.

Salade Nicoise bento (a seriously delicious French food made of hard-boiled eggs, potatos, tomatos, capers, olives, and tuna.)

Mediterranean Mezze-style bento...lamb/beef koftas, baba ghanoush, edamame hummus, pita bread, and vegetables.

Disclaimer: The Just Bento Cookbook, its content and photos, are all copyrighted Makiko Itoh, the publisher, and any other creators. The pictures used here are purely for the purpose of personal review and no copyright infringement is intended.