501 Bento Lunches: 501 Unique Recipes for Brilliant Bento [Paperback]

Korero Books (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2009

Home-packed lunches with small portions of varied delicious foods are a Japanese tradition that fits perfectly into a contemporary, healthy foodie diet. Organic, sustainable bento recipes are included, ranging from traditional Japanese to modern bento. With 500 unique recipes, stunningly vibrant illustrations, and easy-to-follow instructions, this is the perfect cookbook for a busy lifestyle.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Long on ideas but short on recipes, this guide to eye-catching bento box lunches delivers its promised 501 variants on the iconic Japanese single-portion takeout meal, even if the final product may be out of reach for its readers. Roughly organized by theme-art, cute, colorful, traditional, stylish, holidays-contributors provide plenty of ideas for vibrant, healthy lunches. After a brief overview of basics from Dye-quick assembly, packing for maximum efficiency-the volume sets some high standards with showpieces featuring edible geese made out of mushrooms and a whimsical green eggs-and-ham meal, before moving to more traditional fare incorporating sushi, teriyaki chicken and yakitori. Menus stretch beyond the Pacific rim, with easy-to-assemble staples like beef stew and, for younger diners, sandwiches in the shape of scowls or grins. Some empty-the-fridge scavenger hunts (wraps, taco kits) can feel like little more than repackaged leftovers, and some impractical suggestions (french fries, eggs or pancakes, arcane ingredients) prove misleading. Still, these are the exceptions to the rule, which includes practical instructions, emphasizes assembly rather than preparation, and employs a wide range of kitchen tools. Those well-versed in Japanese cuisine and who own lots of culinary doodads will benefit most; novice cooks looking for simple, whimsical school lunches will likely be overwhelmed.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Most Americans may be unfamiliar with bento boxes. Ubiquitous in Japan, these lacquered boxes or partitioned trays serve to pack lunches or dinners for easy transportation. Mothers pack bento boxes with children’s school meals, and travelers grab prepackaged boxes at station kiosks before boarding trains. This little book aims to educate Westerners in the art of the bento box. Although it has a few brief recipes for the pictured foods, they are too abstract for those not adept in Japanese culinary practice. The book’s real value lies in its illustrations, which show what the fertile imagination can do to turn the bento box into a panoply of artistic invention. Rice takes on fantastic hues, vegetables get carved into just about every conceivable shape, and meats combine to create animal shapes, flower arrangements, echoes of museum paintings, and many, many more. Food stylists can glean plenty of ideas here. --Mark Knoblauch

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Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Graffito Books (April 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0955339855
• ISBN-13: 978-0955339851
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #841,432 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

58 of 60 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Sorely disappointing, October 6, 2009

By 

Crystal Watanabe "Pikko" (Honolulu, HI United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 501 Bento Lunches: 501 Unique Recipes for Brilliant Bento (Paperback)

Before I start my review, I'd like to mention that I'm one of the contributors for this book.

That being said, I am not happy at all with the way the book turned out. I was approached by the publisher and was so excited to be published that I didn't think through things carefully. When I sent my images in, I believe I stated that all of them had been touched up with Photoshop for my blog. When they were published, however, they were published as is.

When I first started my bento blog I knew absolutely nothing about lighting. I took my photos in my kitchen with a point and shoot while standing over my bento blocking the light. I had hoped that a book publisher would recognize that the second they looked at the images, so I don't know if they had a new graphic artist or they simply didn't have the time to touch them all up, but my dark and sometimes blurry photos are now printed on paper for the world to see.

Don't be fooled by the title, there are very few recipes in here. The "recipes" are actually instructions for putting the bento together, which are useful, but probably not what people were imagining. The format of the instructions is very compacted and difficult to read. If there is a recipe in there, it's very difficult to find because the ingredients list is all in one paragraph instead of a list.

Since these were obtained with permission from bento bloggers, you can find all of these online. It makes a decent coffee book due to its volume, but as other people mention, it's physical size is very small. The cover is bright and inviting, but the images inside are completely different.

33 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing, June 17, 2009

By 

Brett A. McNamara - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 501 Bento Lunches: 501 Unique Recipes for Brilliant Bento (Paperback)

After waiting months for the arrival of this book, I am sorely disappointed.
It has ideas for bentos, not recipes.
It's well organised, but the format is difficult, the text is miniscule, the photos are hard to parse.

My hope and expectation was for a book which dealt with cooking the small amounts appropriate to single servings, and for good pairings of items for meals.
What you get is a tight, cluttered list of ingredients, a dense set of basic instruction, and a photograph of the hoped-for result.

It's fine for experienced bento-makers who want more ideas, but for those of us who have a passing interest and a taste for home-style Japanese food, it's a bit of a clunker.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A lot of creative ideas to get your bento juices flowing, July 3, 2009

By 

WLS "Amazon Addict" (USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 501 Bento Lunches: 501 Unique Recipes for Brilliant Bento (Paperback)

I seem to be in the minority, but I really like this book and I'm happy I purchased it. I am a very visual person and the bright gorgeous pictures provided a lot of inspiration to me to begin creating my own bento works of art. There are recipes and instructions so you can duplicate any of the orginial creations. I'm going to start creating my own when I go back to work in the fall. Maybe this book is more for beginners rather than those with a lot of experience at this art. I found it to be a lot fun and really inspiring.