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Corselia In reply to kkck1994 [2009-09-09 05:11:53 +0000 UTC]

one way the japanese do it is to prepare all the ingredients the night before. That way everything is ready and all they need to do is cook everything the morning after and place it in the box before work/school.

They tend to make items that will not spoil so easily... this is why some bentos feature rice and pickled items. Another tips is to make sure everything is not directly touching each other if you have items that are moist and items that are dry. it helps to keep them fresh and tasty. It is best to keep raw foods, cooked foods and condements in their own separate containers (sauce containers, cupcake papers, etc)

I would use rice, fruits, raw veggies, cooked sausage, breads... anything that can stand sitting around for a while and not go bad. if you have items that will spoil easily i'd bring an icepack to keep it cool. basically the whole idea of bento is to make foods that do not necessarily need heating. hope that helps?

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kkck1994 In reply to Corselia [2009-09-10 03:09:21 +0000 UTC]

Wow, thank you soo much for that detailed answer ^ - ^
I think I'm going to start using a good ice pack and things that will last for a bit

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Corselia In reply to kkck1994 [2009-09-10 03:13:36 +0000 UTC]

XD your welcome! hope it works out better for you!

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Corselia In reply to Mel-P [2007-08-14 21:10:31 +0000 UTC]

XD no I'm not. I only lived in japan....

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Mel-P In reply to Corselia [2007-08-14 21:14:03 +0000 UTC]

AWESOME! XDD what's it like? I wasn't sure since your bentos are so authentic like X3 I wish I could make more but I can only make really simple things I can't even get gyoza wrappers anymore -_-; and I have to order things like tempura flour and umeboshi online. >_>; why does everything have to be so complicated in this damn state X_X; I can't even find EGG NOODLES for lomein ; iiyaa...

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Corselia In reply to Mel-P [2007-08-14 21:54:09 +0000 UTC]

Um. i lived on a military base in the city so there was often alot of traffice once you exited the base. there was a building in almost every nook and cranny so there were often alot of oddly shaped buildings like triangular shapped or something. always alot of people walking to work and it felt safe enought to walk down the street at night. weather was usually very nice. but it gets very cold in winter and very hot in summer. its very nice think! but i've lived there for years so its what i am most use to. i only lived in a actual japanese house for a year which was interesting to say the least. i had one of those hazel nut tree's growing in my back yard so i often stepped on their spikey seed casings which hurt alot. japanese house sucks for heating in the winter tho. unless you've got big bucks.. your stuck using kerosene heaters all winter long. and hot water is limited.

[link] [link] these sites might help you out some things. i've ordered my bento from one site but the other i have yet to order myself from. the food site i got from a friend. XD and i'm not doing anything hard when making my bentos. i bought cupcake wrappers which can be bought at any grocery store. you can check amazon for more decorative cupcake wrappers if you want. if you use fruit you should make it look colorful like i did with the apples and Kiwi. since i didn't have another fruit i just stuck left over macaroni with it. bento 7 was actually my most easy and crappiest bento so far really. Look at other bento pictures... thats how i model mine. i try to keep in mind that i can cut things in to pretty shapes or cook foods that have a apitizing look to them. [link] is a site that i sometimes look at. you can really use anything... its just you have to figure out what arrangement looks nice. not hard at all.

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Mel-P In reply to Corselia [2007-08-15 14:48:23 +0000 UTC]

That's awesome XDDD I wanna go to harajuku and go clothes shopping... if anything will fit XD;;; ROFL! How could tropics get so cold in winter o_O Asia is weird...

I have asianfoodgrocer X3 but they lack allot of things like egg noodles ;~; I like cooking Asian food X3 allot of western food makes me sick =/

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Corselia In reply to Mel-P [2007-08-15 22:42:33 +0000 UTC]

in japan the sizing is usually smaller then americans. like a large in women's size is like a small medium to us. - - it sucks cuz i bought some cute shirts one time... and couldn't wear them at all. Japan does not tropical. it has a temperate climate and depending on the area you live in the weather can vary. I believe in the northern parts of japan it snows during winter. the area i lived it, however, snow was rare. it snowed when i moved there... and snowed when i left. a 5-6 year gap in between the two. but winters become very cold because it becomes so dry and windy. anyway temperate climates can have very unpredictable weather... In okinawa, where i've also lived... Its generally nice year round. btw, okinawa has the most beautiful beaches in comparison to japan. you'd cry if you saw them. try looking online for japanes recipies. if you can't get all the ingredients try to see what you can improvise with... like panko... thats just bread crumbs so if you can't find panko just cook up some toast and scrape the hell out of it. there are alternatives to making missing ingredients. Or you can just go on amazon and find it.... i know for a fact that hon-dashi in powder form is sold there which is was i need to make katsudon, my favorite jap food. if you find a recipe that calls for a lot of soy sauce tho... go very easy with it. i've ruined alot of foods by doing what the directions say to do. always add soy sauce a little at a time and taste test it to how you want it to be. XDDD;;;;;;;;;;;;

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Mel-P In reply to Corselia [2007-08-15 23:28:22 +0000 UTC]

i never use soy unless its called for ; lol

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