Those of you that follow me on Twitter know that a few weeks ago someone sent me the link to the coolest thing I’d seen in just about forever: the Bento USB drive. Luckily, I was able to buy two before the drool shorted out my keyboard. They took a while to get here, but when they did I practically screamed like a little girl.
They’re only 2 gigs so they aren’t good for holding your collection of bento images for long, but really, WHO CARES?!! It’s a freaking USB drive with a tiny bento on it!! I don’t think I’ll even use mine, I just want to look at it and grin ear to ear.
Like I said, I bought two. One for me and one for one of you. To enter, simply comment on this blog post and tell me what bento tool you feel you can’t live without and why. Is it a nori punch? An onigiri mold? A simple toothpick? Scissors? Tell me all about it! I’ll accept entries until September 18th then pick a random winner from the bunch. The contest is open worldwide and I’m limiting it to one entry per person.
I should also mention that today is the official day that Kawaii Bento Boxes: Cute and Convenient Japanese Meals on the Go
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Scissors, definitely. Given that I have a scarce number of bentou tools at hand I need the scissors to make cool shapes with nori.
I would say I am loving my new smiley hole punch. With my son starting first grade next week, I have been practicing with it and it is so cute!
The tool I need the most? My paring knife. With a good knife you can do anything you really need to do. I thought about this for a while and realized with out an actual box and a very sharp knife there just is no point.
I totally love my onigiri mold! it makes things soooo much easier!
The best tool? Your website! I’m fairly new to bento-making, and without your website I wouldn’t be as far as I am! Always great inspiration, tips, tools, recipes and reviews!
I cannot live without my bunny food cutter and my animal sauce bottles !
Definitely my silicone baking cups that I repurposed for bento. They keep things so tidy!
the most helpful tool I own is an onigiri mold.
Other than that, I use baran and little wax-lined cups quite often.
Right now my “can’t live without” are the cute Halloween “poison” paper cupcake cups because my kids adore them.
Non seasonal? the bone shaped food picks for their fruit.
I could not live without my food coloring markers. They have become my main staple. Almost anything else I could improvise some other way, but I must have my markers!
My favorite tool would have to be my plastic wrap from Ichiban Kan ( ;_; ). I can wrap individual portions of warm rice in it, freeze it, and pop a serving in the microwave when I need it. Supposedly, the plastic wrap doesn’t leak any chemicals when heated, so that makes me feel better. The rice comes out perfect every time! And, since I can’t get it online anymore, it’s even more precious to me!
I love all my little food picks…especially the teddy bear ones!
OH! I need this USB key, it’s soooooo cute!
My faborite bento item has to be my triangle shaped onigiri mold. Cheap, but oh so useful to make individual rice portions to keep in the fridge for a few days, or in the freezer for a few months.
I LOVE divider cups and printed foil! I don’t use them much for myself (because I’m hoggy and want full portions of food in my lunches) but I use several in each box for my son. He’s never expressed that he doesn’t like his food to touch but I’m not taking chances!
The bento tool that I can not do without is the internet. Without the ability to look at other people’s great work and how they managed to create them, I would be lost. My horses would look like dogs and everything would be held in place with staples and scotch tape.
At the risk of sounding boring, the one thing I can’t live without (literally) for my bentos is not a tool, but a nutrient — Protein, my favorite form being eggs. I have severe hypoglycemia, and eggs have been my favorite food ever since I was young.
A few years back I was in a Japanese immersion program in Monterey, CA. I wanted to start making bentos for myself after I left my Japanese home, mother and brother. My Japanese mom knew about my low blood sugar and she always made dishes with eggs every day.
Ever since I started making bentos for myself I’m able to have eggs in all kinds of forms every day. I have a great and beautiful reminder of how wonderful she was to me, and I can always have that slow-burning protein pick-me-up to get me through the long afternoons at work.
OMG! That USB key it tooooo cute!!! I would pick toothpicks because they help withe finishing touches.
Essential is… me! So I can make them and eat them. Or umm… no, really, it’s just me. lol
The bento item I can’t live without is silicone cups. I have all kinds of cutters and shapers and dividers and picks, but the one thing that goes into nearly every bento is a square silicone baking cup from Wilton. I got mine at Hobby Lobby (craft store), but they are also available through Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Wilton-Square-Silicone-Baking-Count/dp/B000NBNHHE/
My Nori face punch, my SIL got it for me from Japan, and I use it almost every day for DD’s lunches, a cute little face on her food seems to encourage her to actually eat her lunch at school.
I couldn’t bento without my OXO mini santoku (did I spell that wrong?) knife. Having that has really sped up the process and I can use it for almost everything! I can not use cute cookie cutters on my carrots or cucumbers without being able to slice them nicely.
I got to say my little cute picks. They add an easy touch of colour and cuteness to even the most boring lunch and are useful too!
The tool that is most indispensable in bento-making is my little Kom-Kom kitchen knife with the orange handle. This thrifty buy has become an all-purpose knife, from carving carrot and cucumber leaves to cleanly slicing sushi and tamago.
My tiny cookie cutters. Ive got star, flower and sakura and i love them for cutting out cheese and veggies :)
I would have to say at the moment my favorite tool are my silicon dividers. They help me keep things in place and not have food mixing when I don’t want it to.
I can’t live without little tiny sauce bottles and cups. I use at least one every single time I make a lunch. Soy sauce, ponzu, peanut butter… So many things that can’t be packed without those tiny containers!
That is so cute :)
I can’t live without my cookie cutter. It is 6 sided and each side has a different shape. It’s great for all sorts of things, cookies, sandwiches, slices of fruit or veggies…it’s awesome.
I have to say the boxes too… I know that you can do just as good a job in any container but for me to make the effort I have to be using one of my bento boxes… the fact that I have a set size & dividers means I have to really think about what I’m putting where.
I could never survive a Bento-making without my onigri molds. I just love them. Hearts, triangles, BEARS! Oh my!
That’s just the coolest thing I’ve seen in a long time. And it looks so real, I first tought it was one of YOUR bento, it’s crazy!
As for my favorite bento tool, it is probably toothpicks. It is so cute, it is reusable, and it can really change a bento from normal to awesome!
My favorite bento tool is my onigiri maker. I would be totally lost without it!
The one tool I can not live without is my lunch box. If I did not own a lunch box I would not be able to pack my cute lunch!! :)
I hope this counts. :)
At first I thought my silicone cups. That seemed a common sentiment. But then I really thought about it. The silicone cups sure are handy, but what REALLY makes my day, is when I open the box and see my little penguin mayo cup grinning up at me.
Seriously. That little penguin always causes me to smile. I guess, in a way, it helps me feel like a child, and makes me enjoy my lunch all that much more.
As a tool for decorating, I only have one so far so I will say it; A small plastic hole puncher with a star and a crow I got when I was a little girl. My mom saved it for decorating cards and stuff and today I use it to make nori stars for my little creations!
Except for my boxes, I would never be able to make any bentos without my chopsticks. It serves in many way : placing little bento filler, and of course eat it. What’s the point of doing great bentos (or not so great when I run out of time) if not eating it? None. Ahaha
Cloth/linen napkins used as furoshiki. It makes the bento feel fancy and it makes for a great way to store chopsticks.
my penguin mayo cup. so far it is mostly a salad dressing cup instead, but oh well. i have an entire collection of penguin things i’ve built over the years (stuffed toys, little china figurines, antique metal windups, salt and pepper shakes, cheese knife set, scarves, etc etc.,…) and this one is the most useful of the whole bunch. it just makes me smile to take one of my penguins to work with me.
Picks! those little 3 prong ones, they are the greatest thing ever for those ‘too smooth and/or hard to pick up with chopsticks’ kind of foods
I love food picks. They make such a simple way to decorate your bento without having to think too much.
I could not do bento without my husband. I’m always indecisive on what to cook, and he always knows what he wants =D
I have to go with my rice cooker-one of the few luxuries in the kitchen. Cutting everything up by hand I have enough to worry about without rice on top of it!
ok i have to laugh at the screaming like a little girl cause well my husband laughs when i do it so i know now that im not alone!! i think honestly what i use the most is the hot dog cutters. my kids havent eaten a regular hot dog on a bun in a year! so if its a squid or a crab or a penguin i think i need that the most for my sanity and the kids.
My mini microwave steamer! It’s sooooo handy for reheating anything that comes out of the freezer (veggies, meatballs, onigiri, etc.) without drying it out.
My two (regular and small) onigiri molds, now that I’ve mastered the tecnique! How lame of me, I know… XD
I love my lock and lock box because I can put anything in it without fear of leaking. Sure it’s not super cute but it’s convenient when I just want to throw the box into my purse!
I absolutely couldn’t live without veggie sushi rolls, which means I absolutely couldn’t live without my bamboo sushi roller mat! Simple, ancient, and totally useful.
I cant live without my onigiri mnoulds, no matter how hard I try I just cant get a great onigiri without using the mould!
That is a hard one!! But a sharp knife springs to mind and my two-tier bentoboxes!! I cannot live without them :)
@The USB, it is extremely cute!!!
((Wow, that USB is EPIC. O.O))
I’d probably say that I couldn’t survive making onigiri without my little onigiri maker. We found it in a box in the basement, and Mum didn’t even know what it was at first! I immediately freaked out in joy, though.
Definitely a good knife and a cutting board too. No idea what I’d do without those.
I cant live without my Hello Kitty´s chopsticks… made by wood, because i dont like plastic materials.
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