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Bento Box

Bento boxes are popular and a great way to bring lunch to school! A bento box is a single portion home-packed meal common in Japanese cuisine. This recipe is all about picking and choosing your favourite food pairings, and putting them together in fun ways.





Yield
4 servings
Prep Time
20 min
Cook Time
30 min
Total Time
50 min


Ingredients

Rice balls:

  • 1 cup (250 mL) short grain rice
  • 1 cup (250 mL) water
  • 2 tbsp (30 mL) rice vinegar
  • 1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
  • 2 tbsp (30 mL) black sesame seeds
  • 2 tbsp (30 mL) white sesame seeds
  • Filling option 1: Teriyaki meatball
  • Filling option 2: avocado, carrot and cucumber
  • Filling option 3: hard-cooked egg

Egg rollups:

  • 6 eggs
  • 1 tbsp (15 mL) water
  • Pinch each salt and pepper
  • 2 tbsp (30 mL) butter, divided
  • Filling option 1: cheese, ham and spinach
  • Filling option 2: rainbow veggies
  • Filling option 3: salsa and cheese

Directions

Rice balls:

  1. In a medium-sized saucepan mix together rice and water. Bring to a boil. Once boiling turn heat to low and cover. Cook for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit covered for 10 minutes. Remove lid and stir in vinegar and salt. Set rice aside to cool.
  2. Prepare you’re preferred filling for the rice balls. In a small bowl, pour 1/4 cup (60 mL) rice wine vinegar and 1/4 cup (60 mL) of cold water. Dip clean hands in the water/vinegar mixture and place 3 tbsp (45 mL) of rice in your hands. Place filling in the centre and roll rice into a ball. Use an additional 1 tbsp (15 mL) of rice to close the ball if needed. If rice starts to stick to your hands dip them in the water/vinegar mixture as needed. Repeat until all of the rice has been used. On a small plate mix together black and white sesame seeds. Roll each rice ball in sesame seeds. Optional: serve with soy sauce for dipping.

Egg rollups:

  1. Whisk together eggs, water, salt and pepper. Heat half of the butter in 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Pour in half of the egg mixture, swirling to coat bottom of pan.
  2. Cook for 1–2 minutes or until eggs begin to set. Flip over and top with desired toppings. Cook for about 1 minute or until eggs are fully set, then transfer omelette to cutting board. Repeat with remaining egg mixture and butter to make another omelette. Roll up the omelette tightly to enclose filling. Slice each roll into 6 pieces.

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