Comments on: Kawaii Bento Boxes Review

By: Biggie

Biggie — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:57:52 +0000

You’re totally on the mark about it being a translation of a Japanese bento book, Pikko! When writing a review for Lunch in a Box I realized it was *exactly* the same as a Japanese-language bento book I already had in my kitchen (Ichinenju Yakudatsu Tsuen Obento)! Details here: http://lunchinabox.net/2009/09/10/book-review-kawaii-bento-boxes/

By: missuswing

missuswing — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 04:51:42 +0000

i bought this book at the bookstore next to Uwajimaya in downtown Seattle. i had stopped making bento lunches for my family (a teen, a tween, hubby and me) because i was getting so tired of the same things every day. this book got me inspired and made me want to go home and make lunches again. (just in time for school to start)

a lot of the dishes i wouldn’t do because of limitations – for example, the donburi dishes, i know the winglets would like to have heated up but they don’t have access to a microwave at their school. but the riceballs wrapped in a thin omelette? totally something they’d enjoy, since one of their favorite lunches is soboro beef. i tried making it the last week of summer vacation but messed up on the omelette bit.

and thanks to this book, i bought a container of quail eggs today. hard boiled them, then made dharma dolls out of four of them for tomorrow’s lunches. *very* cute. i also bought agar powder at the same store, and will be making some jellies soon. (i have little molds from Daiso that say to use only konnyaku in them and don’t know if i can ignore than and use the molds for the agar jellies.)

all in all, i view this book like the rest of my cookbooks. great to look at, but with only a couple of recipes i’d actually make.

By: Patrice

Patrice — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 00:22:24 +0000

I reviewed the book at Borders in town. I am a pretty easy sell for Bento books since I am new to Bento and highly impressionable. I did not buy the book because the ideas did not seem unique to me. Maybe I surf the web too much but I only liked the section where it catagorized color choices for bento. This section seemed too basic to spark new ideas.

By: LeeAnn Balbirona

LeeAnn Balbirona — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 19:34:08 +0000

I noticed the uncooked spam in that photo too. But I have to say, until I married a man with Hawaiian relatives, I never knew of any one that cooked it. Growing up in WA state, it was always served like ham, cubed or sliced uncooked. Let me tell you, cooked is much better!
I have read four or five bento books this year and I think my favorite for the beginning American bento enthusiast is “Hawaii’s Bento Box Cookbook” by Susan Yuen of Hawaii. First of all, she uses ingredients that are more likely to be available in most US grocery stores.

I have the “Kawaii Bento” book too and I like it fine, especially the color-coded pages and it was obvious to me that the text had been translated from the Japanese. But it’s good to see how things are done there too.

Another good beginner book is “The Manga Cookbook” which is for kids as it’s illustrated but has a photo section too (the color is terribly washed out for some reason). The directions are nice and clear though and the recipes are simple.

By: BB

BB — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 00:35:33 +0000

Ha ha, I guess it would be weird if you always eat your spam cooked, but in the UK, most people wouldn’t be shocked. It’s like corned beef! You can eat both from the can. It’s not raw, it’s just cooked ham mashed up.

By: Siegy

Siegy — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 23:23:07 +0000

What is wrong with all you people who think raw spam is gross?? It’s good!

Everyone else I know eats it that way too, I guess it’s just a local thing.

By: Kirsty_girl

Kirsty_girl — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 04:53:12 +0000

I’ve lived in Japan for six years and have never seen unfried spam in musubi. I also wonder if the writer really has ever made them. Spam has to be bought in international supermarkets or stores with imports.

On the point about the workers starting to make bentos. A large number of full timers in Japan, Tokyo especially, buy bentos from convenience stores every day – gross! I’ve never actually seen a single guy bring a lunch that he’s made. Now with the economic downturn, even some, but not that many, single guys are bringing lunches.

By: spunkz

spunkz — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 01:47:42 +0000

hie, my dad used to slice spam and have them raw. I got a taste of it, thanks to him. it tasted kinda mushy. But since mum’s a health advocate, raw spam’s a no-no in our house ever since. :)

By: WitchBaby

WitchBaby — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 05:50:18 +0000

I so want this book now, it looks like it would be most helpful.

My husband likes spam sliced raw on bread w/mustard. That’s the only way he will eat it.

By: vampyra1

vampyra1 — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 18:09:16 +0000

I skimmed through your post the first time and realized that from the pics alone it did look like a Japanese bento book but in English. I think its a good start; I know you’re like me and have a ton of bento books at home in Japanese and are trying to figure out what they’re saying by interpreting pictures!

But you’re right, the spam thing is a little weird. :/