Customer Reviews

The Just Bento Cookbook: Everyday Lunches To Go

5 star:		(65)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is the best and most accessible bento box I've ever seen.

Its for grown ups. Chucking out most of the cute bits and hard-to-find ingredients, this book is perfect for someone who wants to have a fun lunch but not make a scene in the breakroom because of a smiley face on a sandwich (not that there is anything wrong with that!).

Most ingredients in the book are easy to find (cherry tomatoes, egg, chicken, etc), and some of the more specialized ingredients (mirin, dashi stock, etc) are available any almost any asian grocery store or online. There are tons of recipes, with pages followed by variations on those recipes, cooking time charts and timelines, and even a glossary of Japanese food terms. Fantastic.

For many non-Japanese who enjoy Japanese culture, especially the pop culture and have watched many anime series or drama series, or even read the manga, it is no surprise if you are curious about bento. The way they are put together and how creative they are (as well as economical), it's no surprise that more people outside of Japan are catching bento fever and wanting to make bento at home.

So, what is bento? Think Japanese version of the school lunch but instead of a big thick lunchbox, there is creativity on the portions of what one eats and are typically set in a special container in which food is split. There is no big bulky apples or bananas or a big sandwich, for the Japanese, you have your steam rice, egg, vegetables, meats, etc. and it all fits into a container.

And it's no surprise that bento boxes have become popular outside of Japan. People wanting to create economically cool bento boxes and who best to write about it than food blogger Makiko Itoh, owner of justhungry.com and justbento.com.

Makiko has written "The Just Bento Cookbook: Everyday Lunches to Go" featuring 25 attractive bento menus and features more than 150 recipes which include the Sushi Roll Bento, the Chicken Karaage Bento but as it does feature Japanese style bentos, she also has a not-so-Japanese section which has a Summer Vegetable Casserole Beto and Every Loves a Pie Bento.

And what is important is that Makiko doesn't focus on cuteness or for the sake of having cute bento, she writes with care about nutrition and has easy-to-read, concise instructions that go along with photos.

For example, using the cover image (featured above), the photo is for "Chicken and Three-color Pepper Stir-fry Bento". She shows you how to create the stir-fry with a recipe, plus how to make instant cabbage and cucumber pickles and blanched broccoli. Also, information on how to prepare basic white rice.

She also has a time line of how long it takes to create the dish as well.

After you make the dish, she then features how to prepare the food and place it into a single-tier and two-tier box.

So, these are easy-to-follow instructions.

So, what about the rolled up egg? How do they roll it up? No problem, she has pictures on how she does it.

What about the zig zagged vegetables? No problem, she explains how to do it as well.

And it's important to note that the ingredients featured on the Japanese recipes are ingredients you can find at your local grocery store. Especially if you have an Asian grocery store nearby. Granted, sesame salt or kabocha squash may not be at your local grocery store, but the goal is to improvise if you don't find some of these ingredients.

Now, by using Makiko Itoh's "Just Bento Cookbook", you may be thinking...great, we got the recipe down, ingredients for the Japanese and non-Japanese dishes can be found but what about the actual bento box and equipment that Makiko uses. Now, this is the cool part of the book where she actually showcases bento boxes and accessories and where you can purchase them.

Itoh also goes into foods that can be refrigerated or frozen and for those who are not familiar with the Japanese ingredients, she also has a glossary at the end of the book. So, for those who read and are not sure what "bonito flakes", "miso" or what "edamame" are... no problem, she explains what they are.

Overall, this is a fantastic book for those wanting to prepare bento dishes. Sometimes blogs on how to prepare bento are hard to follow and Itoh recognizes the weaknesses of what others have tried to do and focuses on making the experience as easy as possible for those creating bento for the first time.

So, if you are interested in making bento, I can easily say that "The Just Bento Cookbook: Everyday Lunches to Go" is perhaps the best book I have reviewed on bento thus far.

Highly recommended!

This book is not a showcase of selected posts from Makiko Itoh's excellent blog; it contains 150 especially created recipes, and instructive and attractive photos and diagrams and tips you won't find there. The recipes are practical enough for everyday use, with ingredients that won't leave you lost at the supermarket, and much effort has gone into explaining and illustrating the preparation of sushi rolls, onigiri, tamago, and so on; even explaining how to properly lay ingredients into single or two-tier boxes. Makiko has succeeded in distilling her experience making bentos in countries where staple Japanese ingredients are obscure and exotic, into a volume that's readably succinct yet shows impeccable attention to the needs of her audience. She even groups recipes into complete bento meals, with timelines showing how to prepare multiple parts of a meal simultaneously. It's clear that a great deal of effort has gone into producing a bento recipe book intended for everyday use rather than mere novelty.

I've barely made any of the recipes in this book, but I'm already happy I bought it; it's exactly what I was looking for in a book about bento. I was not looking for a book to teach me how to spend hours making cute manga charaben lunches for kids (though I appreciate the artistry), I wasn't looking for a book to suggest ridiculously, inaccessibly gourmet dishes, or dishes with ingredients I can't easily find...I was looking for a book that had quick, healthy, balanced, tasty meal suggestions, with some Japanese influence, but with non-Japanese dishes as well.

This is it.

It has great tips about what kind of food to look for for a particular dish, which parts to make when, planning ahead, food safety, which parts are optional, and little details that many cookbooks seem to assume you may know, without getting all fussy (the explanations about how to make good, basic white rice were great). The photographs are nicely done, though I do wish more of them were in color (I know, color printing is expensive), but the presentations were simple, elegant and visually appealing, the format of the book is easy to parse, and the glossary of Japanese ingredients she mentions in recipes is helpful.

The one gripe I have (and it's certainly not enough to deduct a star) is that some of the ingredients use weight instead of volume measurements--most people use cups and tablespoons where she suggests grams. I've checked out several bento books from the library, and while some had useful suggestions, I wouldn't bother owning any--I'm glad I own this one, I'll be gleefully trying most of these recipes.

This book is everything I had hoped it would be, and my hopes were very high, since I saw the quality of the author's food blogs and subscribe to her Just Bento newsletter.

The recipes are easy to follow, and have a lot of variations for both main dishes and sides. They're also widely varied. It shows just how much you can do with your bento!
There are beautiful photographs that show the meals in lots of different styles of bento boxes.
There are also lots of tips for making your food the best, most efficient way possible. The time lines are a great way to plan out your bento making (though I'm not as fast as she is yet!).

I highly recommend this book.

I waited for this book since Makikoh Itoh announced it on her website. It's fantastic and better than I expected.

Her recipes are simple enough that someone who isn't a cooking master can make, but not so simple that people who want a challenge are left bored. They're all quick and make amazing lunches. I've made several of her recipes before and they are just fantastic.

It is definitely not the kind of Bento book with cute pictures of chara-ben and how to make ham and cheese rolls. No, no, it is MUCH more than that. It teaches you the basics you should know for making healthy, delicious lunches, even if you don't want to make them cute and fancy.

If you're interested in starting to make your own bento, stop looking and start here.

I have never done bento before. When I decided to find a way to eat healthier lunches and stop buying the sodium-packed and carb-crammed "Healthy Choice" packs, I stumbled upon the concept of a bento box. I already loved Japanese culture as a whole; the people, traditions, history, everything! I even have several anime I adore. When I started reading up on what a bento was, I knew it was for me. I realized I probably couldn't just whip up a bunch of stir-fry and shove it in a Gladware, so I splurged on a real bento box, rice molds, sauce squeezers, and this book.

I was absolutely blown away at how much information is in this book and the ease of its use. It gives step by step instructions on not only how to prepare the bento-specific meals, but how to pack the box itself, along with tons of other helpful info. I was worried that I wouldn't have time in the mornings to cook the food and have it fresh the same day, but the timelines are a huge help.

There are countless tips, tricks, and hints throughout the book to make bento fun, easy, and healthy. The author even has website addresses in the back linking to their website with even more information, including a bento meal planner (HUGE help).

Overall, definitely the book to buy for the bento beginner!

I love this book! It has given me so many new ideas for quick, healthy lunches to take to work. It inspired me so much that I sought out an online retailer in Japan just to buy some bento box "supplies" (boxes, dividers, etc).

With that said, I am a busy gal, and I'm not necessarily interested in the ridiculously cute or labor-intensive garnishes normally associated with bento boxes. This book recognizes people like me and keeps the recipes and garnishes reasonably practical.

The options/variations on certain dishes make it so that nearly all of the 25 bento "layouts" are appealing to me, flavor-wise.

I only hope that Makiko Itoh writes more books in this style! I would buy them all.

This book covers everything a westerner needs to know to start making bentos.
Makiko offers advice on what to keep on hand as well as where to get it along with possible substitutions.
Each set of recipes includes variations along with a timeline describing how best arrange your food-making (what can be made the night before, what items to prepare while something else is simmering, etc.) and, of course, plenty of attractive and informative pictures.
Half of the book is devoted to more traditional Japanese lunches and the other half to Western ones with bento flair (cookie-cutter sandwiches, for instance).
The recipes within are all simple to prepare, much less daunting than other bento books.
Even more than the recipes, it's the advice given and the techniques taught in this book that are the best part(s).
Overall a great help for anyone looking to make some healthy, attractive lunches.

This is a great book. Even if you already follow[...], you will see lots of NEW recipes with Maki's excellent directions and suggestions for variations. I started packing lunches after finding her site, and it definitely makes your day more enjoyable when you have a great lunch to look forward to!