Bento Japanese Lunch

Washoku - Japanese Cuisine

● Seasonal ● Balanced ● Small Portions ● Beautiful

Photo Credit: www.wahokufood.blogspot.com

Japanese Spinning Top

Obento “Lunch in a box”

Photo Credit: www.justbento.com

Obento Meal

Picnic Bento

Photo Credit: www.soyandpepper.com

Ekiben/ Eki Bento Train station Bento

Character Bento

Photo Credit; www.foodforlife.co.uk

Everyday Bento

Photo Credits: www.justbento.com

Bento Components (Design Specifications) ●  Portable - food safety & visual ●  Aesthetically appealing ●  Balanced Nutrition

○  4 parts rice: 2 parts protein: 1 part other ingredients

●  Japanese techniques or seasonal components

●  Consider the consumer’s likes/dietary restrictions

Bento Size 3-5 85-110 450 400

6-8 116-128 500-550 500

9-11 134-147 600-650 600

12-14 155 770 700

15-17 157 735 700

18-20’s

158 685 600

30’s 157 670 600

40’s 157 670 600

50’s 152 650 600

60’s 152 650 600

70’s 147 520 500

80’s 147 520 500

Age (Men)

Avg. height (in cm)

Calories per meal (kcal)

Bento Box Size (in ml)

3-5 85-110 450 400

6-8 117-128 500-550 500

9-11 133-145 600-650 600

12-14 160 885 900

15-17 170 920 900

18-20’s

171 885 900

30’s 170 885 900

40’s 170 885 900

50’s 165 800 800

60’s 165 800 800

70’s 160 620 600

80’s 160 620 600

* Source: http://item.rakuten.co.jp/yellowstudio/c/0000000352/

* Source: http://item.rakuten.co.jp/yellowstudio/c/0000000352/

Teaching Bento Unit ●  Investigation (Inquiring & Analyzing)

○  Access Prior Knowledge

○  Watch bento video from BBC & Japanese commercial

○  Investigate Obento through cookbooks, internet,

interviews

○  Investigate and Test Kitchen different common Bento

Techniques

■  Demonstrations

■  Food Lab Bento Technique Stations - QR codes

QR Codes

Teaching Bento Unit ●  Design (Developing Ideas)

○  Set design specifications (given or created by

students)

○  Potential ideas

○  Design Justification

○  Sketching

■  Recipes (if needed)

■  Techniques

Teaching Bento Unit ●  Plan and Create (Creating a Solution)

○  Create step-by-step

○  To be created in one class period

○  Create Bento

○  Final Product Photo

Teaching Bento Unit ●  Evaluate (Evaluating)

○  Feedback from consumer

○  Objective feedback from others

○  Reflect on process and product

Resources Just Bento

Adventures in Bentomaking

Happy Little Bento

Japanese Cooking 101 YouTube Channel

Other resources in Shared Dropbox folder

Bento Challenge Now it’s your turn -

Your challenge:

Create a balanced, attractive bento lunch using the pantry items provided