Just Bento Cookbook: Everyday Lunches to Go: 1

This book is a must-buy if you are considering trying to make your own bento. The instructions are clear and well written and the pictures are mouthwatering! This book would be worth it for the recipes and lovely presentation pictures alone - but there's so much more packed in here! What I especially love about this book is the practical advice from the author on how to make things easy. She includes helpful shopping lists of things both Japanese and not-so-Japanese to stock up on and things that can be prepared in advance and frozen/defrosted/nuked in the microwave as needed. The author also gives great advice on substitute ingredients if you can't get hold of the real deal. Additionally there is a little guide on different types of bento boxes and how to care for the more expensive types. There are plenty of clear pictures demonstrating the techniques described and I thought the book was well laid out and presented. It's fantastic value for how much you will get out of this book, especially if like me you are new to making bento lunches. The author's blog (justbento.com) is a wonderful additional resource that's well worth checking out too.

I was not expecting this book to be that good, but i was totally wrong. I'm a single father from the UK and i learned to cook from an early age. i own a lot of cook books and this is easily up there with the best. That's because its absolutely crammed with very imaginative and very fast to prepare meal ideas. i don't have much time to prepare food so quick healthy meals are important. mow i have a hundred plus new ideas for myself and my children. A lot of the recipes are actually cooked (which is why i am classing it as a cook book) and they can be eaten as regular meals not just cooled and used in a bento. and im fusing many of the recipes with my own way of cooking to encourage my kids to eat healthier foods. my kids are now trying lots of new foods and i have a new enthusiasm for preparing my work lunch. Getting into bento was a good decision. when i get in to work i cant wait to eat my lunch! A fantastic book and very well presented. the only minor quirk is that some of the ingredients cant be found easily here in the UK, some alternatives would have been nice. for example 'mirin' is hard to come by, but a little research on the net was all i needed to find out an alternative such as sherry or dry vermouth with added sugar can produce a similar product. I highly recommend this book for its fresh ideas and fast preparation times! a little slice of every day Japanese food!

Beautiful book. I've tried out a number of the recipes now. My husband was thrilled! Delicious food, which is easy to do. However it can be a little time consuming. The japanese way is to plan their evening meals around their Bento box for the next day which obviously cuts the time (and money) commitment considerably. This includes shopping time! This is not quite so easy to do in the UK, unless you are switching on to a japanese diet. The other way of course is to make things in bulk and keep them in the freezer, which is you have the space is the ideal option. However, for us it is a lovely treat from time to time. It's fun and also quite spoiling for picnics and things too.

For years, I'd taken the same old boring lunch to work - ham sandwich, crisps, yoghurt, maybe some fruit. I knew that Japanese bento lunches were fare more exciting than my usual midday fare, but like many other people, I'd always been daunted by the effort. Looking online seemed to justify my fears - if I tried this, would I spend my days decorating rice balls with faces and cutting out sandwiches in animal shapes? Nonetheless, I decided to give it a go, and it was fortunate that I took a chance on Makiko Itoh's Just Bento Cookbook. Ms Itoh's philosophy is that you shouldn't spend hours on the presentation - what you really want is something that tastes delicious. Which is not to say that the bentos presented in this book don't look great, but that the focus is quite rightly on a selection of recipes that aren't too hard to make. Yes, there is some startup cost involved in buying a few bits of equipment and sourcing Japanese ingredients (although over the past couple of years more supermarkets have begun stocking the essentials), but once you taste a few of the recipes, you'll realise that it's worth the effort. The book offers a range of both Japanese and non-Japanese bentos, usually consisting of several components. There are plenty of variants to try out, and having worked my way through the book, there were only a couple of recipes that I really didn't get on with. In fact, for the most part, it's taught me new dishes that I don't just rely on for lunch - I've served them to friends for dinner as well. Of course, preparing a bento is always going to be more effort than making a sandwich, but none of the recipes in this book are particularly long or complicated, and most of them can be made a night or two in advance, or even put in the freezer so you have a ready supply of bento dishes for busy weeks. And don't worry if you feel like you've done the book to death - Makiko Itoh also runs a Just Bento website packed with even more recipes to try. All in all, this is probably my most-used recipe book, and certainly one of the best investments I've made. If you're considering trying out bento, or even if you just want to try a few easy Japanese recipes, this is definitely the place to start.

J'ai acheté ce livre car je suivais déjà les blogs de Makiko Itoh sur Internet, c'est d'ailleurs en tombant sur Just Bento, en 2008, que j'ai découvert le bento japonais, ainsi que des dizaines de recettes qui ont complètement changé ma façon de cuisiner pour ma famille. Ce livre explique les fondamentaux du bento, il reprend les bases de la cuisine japonaise authentique, dans une optique "à emporter" : les éléments principaux du repas (riz, légumes et viande/protéines) sont bien expliqués, et ce qui est très appréciable, pour chaque recette, l'auteur vous montrera des variantes pour que vous puissiez varier les menus de façon simple ! Il y a également une sorte de frise chronologique qui vous aidera à prévoir le temps qu'il vous faut pour préparer chaque élément de votre bento. Vous y trouverez aussi des idées simples pour que vos bentos soient jolis, sans tomber dans le charaben (bentos très décorés), car ici la priorité est : bon, sain, et harmonieux ! La préoccupation nutritionnelle est toujours présente, les repas sont équilibrés. Il y a pas mal de recettes non-japonaises, car ce n'est pas parce qu'on est Japonais qu'on ne mange QUE japonais, tout comme on ne mange pas que des blanquettes et des cassoulets quand on est Français, et parce qu'il y a de nombreux plats dans le monde qui se prêtent bien à être emportés dans des boîtes :) Les recettes sont délicieuses, les sushis enveloppés dans des crêpes à l'omelette et le potimarron mijoté sont devenus des classiques chez nous. Ce livre est vite devenu indispensable dans ma cuisine, je le consulte lorsque je dois préparer les déjeuners à emporter et que je n'ai pas d'idées. Vous vous approprierez vite les méthodes et les grandes lignes, ce qui vous permettra de voler de vos propres ailes et d'aller encore plus loin dans l'art culinaire japonais. Le seul hic est qu'il n'existe qu'en anglais, donc si vous n'êtes pas anglophone, il sera peut-être un peu difficile à aborder. Mais pas besoin d'être parfaitement bilingue pour comprendre. Un super livre, très utile pour ceux et celles qui veulent manger sainement au bureau, ainsi que pour celles et ceux qui veulent mettre un pied dans la cuisine japonaise.

Adoro la cultura del bento. Mangiare dentro una scatola di plastica, magari rovinata da anni di lavastoviglie, penso non piaccia a nessuno. Pur di mangiare sano l'ho fatto per molto tempo, fino a quando, un giorno, mi sono trovata a buttare pranzo e contenitore nel cestino perchè davvero non ce la facevo a mangiare quello che vedevo. Ho poi comprato un bento per me e uno per il mio compagno. Spesso ci portiamo da mangiare in questi contenitori molto carini. Questo libro è perfetto perchè l'autrice riesce a fare bento super sani e molto carini usando ingredienti semplici, sani e che richiedono poca preparazione, magari un po' di fantasia e qualche accessorio Consigliato per chi mangia con gli occhi e per chi ha bambini che mangiano fuori casa

英語が読めなくても、写真だけで十分楽しい一冊。異国の方が日本の中学生のお弁当に感動……という動画サイトもみたことがあるのですが、『お弁当』は日本のかあちゃんたちが誇れる文化だと思います。

Me encanta este libro. Tiene un montón de recetas y como además incluye variaciones no acabas aburrirte nunca. Las recetas son sencillas, rápidas y fáciles de seguir. Incluye una tabla para organizarte en las elaboraciones para que tardes el mínimo tiempo posible. Te aconseja sobre lo que puedes dejarte preparado de antemano, para facilitarte las cosas. También incluye ayuda para la decoración y que el montaje del bento quede bonito.

I recently purchased a bento ( Zojirushi SL-JAE14 Mr. Bento Stainless Steel Lunch Jar, Silver ) and my search for easy to make and healthy recipes brought me to this book. At first glance it is a little intimidating but once you read it, you realize that it is very easy and uses a wide range of ingredients backed with great instructions to help you. It also offers great time lines so you know what you need to make in order to save you a lot of time. What this book is: It is a great recipe book that focuses on the food and offers useful tips on fresh items as well as leftovers as bento fare. It also includes a lit of foods that should not be included in the bento as well as ideas for which bento would be right for you (all of which are available on Amazon). The author uses a mix of Asian and American ingredients to make the recipes included. The book also offers substitutes should some of the ingredients used prove impossible to find in your area. Beautiful photos and instructions on how to pack each bento are included so you don't have to panic to make everything fit in your bento. I've found all the recipes easy to follow and not that intimidating. The website addresses included inside the book lead to very helpful sites geared towards bento enthusiasts and have given me many great ideas on new foods to try for my bento. What this book isn't: This book is not geared to making cute character bento that are famous overseas. While a few ideas are given on how to use color and simple shapes to make the meal look better, this book focuses more on the food and preparation and less on the looks. Some of the ingredients may prove a little hard to find but one of the ideas behind the use of bento is improvisation. I've been able to find most of the ingredients used in this book at the grocery store as well as health food stores. Note: Most, if not all of the ingredients are available on Amazon at very good prices. Overall: I would highly suggest this book to anyone who is getting into the idea of using a bento and looking for great meal ideas. My family quickly adopted the bento and has enjoyed may great foods from this book.