Table of Contents

The Table of Contents is organized into 3 sections by type. This makes it easy to go straight to the bento recipes themselves, or find a particular tip or how-to.

Tips and other matter

• Introduction
• Makiko’s Top Ten Bento Rules
• Tips for Speeding Bento-making
• Timelines
• Bento Safety Tips
• Great-tasting Bento Rice
• How to Pack a Bento Box
• How to Cook Rice
• Different Types of Onigiri
• Pre-assembled Sandwiches
• Salad Bento Rules
• Using Bentos for Weight Loss
• Real Cheese for Lunch!
• Makiko\s Essential Bento-making Equipment
• Bento Boxes and Accessories
• Weekly Menu Planner with Bento Lunch
• Bento Staples
• Glossary of Japanese Ingredients
• Index of Main Ingredients
• Bento-related Web Sites and Resources
• Acknowledgements

Recipes: Japanese-Style Bentos

There are 25 total bentos; 15 Japanese, and 10 Not-so-Japanese. That may not seem like a lot…until you consider that each bento has tons of variation recipes. So you can mix and match to come up with dozens of combinations that work!

• Chicken and Three-color Pepper Stir-fry Bento
• Tamagoyaki Bento
• Fried Shrimp Bento
• Mini-hamburger Bento
• Ginger Pork Bento
• Chicken Karaage Bento
• Mixed-vegetable Rice and Salted Salmon Bento
• Soboro Bento
• Chicken Kijiyaki Bento
• Sukiyaki-style Beef Donburi Bento
• Tofu Nugget Bento
• Soba Noodle Bento
• Onigiri and Meatball Bento
• Egg-wrapped Sushi Bento
• Sushi Roll Bento

Recipes: Not-so-Japanese Bentos

I’m quite proud of the Not-so-Japanese bentos. I tried to come up combinations that have a ‘bento aesthetic’ - colorful, varied and appetizing meals packed into a compact box, that taste good hours after they are made. I hope I’ve succeeded!

• Bunny Sandwich Bento
• Deconstructed Salad Niçoise Bento
• Pan-fried Chicken Nugget Bento
• Mediterranean Mezze-style Bento
• Summer Vegetable Casserole Bento
• Spanish Omelette Bento
• Quinoa Pilau and Chickpea Salad Bento
• Soup and Muffin Bento
• Everyone Loves a Pie Bento
• Indian Tiffin-inspired Bento

I am really my own worst critic, but looking through the book several months after completing it, I have to say that I am really very happy with the results. As I wrote previously, this is a practical, everyday bento lunch book, for people who want to bring, or make for their loved ones, tasty, healthy and varied lunches to work or school, on a regular basis. As I keep saying - I hope I’ve succeeded!