I'm Biggie: avid cook, speedy lunch packer, mom & former expat fluent in Japanese. 
« « Site look & feel | Main | Ravioli lunches » »
Guide to bento packing and gap fillers
When I first started studying Japanese-language bento cookbooks, I was surprised to find that there are guidelines for how to physically pack a traditional bento lunch. This is separate from bento arrangement aesthetics or the 3:1:2 “Spinning Top” nutritional guidelines put out by the Japanese government (3 parts grains, 1 part protein, 2 parts vegetables). Like any guidelines, though, I think of them as interesting reference points (not rules!), and feel free to pack our lunches however I like.
How to Pack a Bento Lunch
(detailed notes and gap fillers behind the cut)
How to Pack a Bento
|
1) Spread Out Rice If packing warm rice, spread it in one layer across the bottom of the box for speedy cooling. This reduces condensation inside the box for better food safety and ease of opening. |
 |
|
2) Pack Rice When cool, push the rice over to one side of the box. In a traditional bento meal, this would take up one half of the box. |
 |
| 3) Pack Main Dish Pack the main dish or bulky food that can’t change shape to fit the container (i.e. piece of fried chicken, long shrimp, etc.). This traditionally comprises one quarter of the meal. Dividers (plastic or edible) or food cups (disposable or reusable) are often used to keep food flavors from mingling. |
 |
| 4) Pack Side Dishes ln the remaining space, pack side dishes or food that can be arranged flexibly to fill the available space (i.e. small pieces of vegetable). There are traditionally two sides, comprising the remaining quarter of the meal. |
 |
| 5) Plug the Gaps If there is any empty space in the bento box, plug those gaps with small, non-fragile food items. See examples of gap fillers below. |
 |
| 6) Garnish, Accessorize Add any garnishes, decorations (furikake sprinkles, surprise animal cap, or cutouts of nori, vegetables, cheese or meat, etc.), sauce containers or picks for easy eating. Allow the lunch to cool sufficiently before closing the lid. |
 |
(Details on the contents of the lunch pictured above are here.)
Don’t Leave Empty Space!
You can spend a long time creating a beautiful, intricately decorated bento, but if you don’t pack things tightly the contents are likely to shift in transport and ruin your efforts. The list of potential foods that are well suited to fill small gaps in your bento box is endless, but they should be small, sturdy (avoid fragile items such as raspberries), and unlikely to transfer flavors to neighboring foods. (Click links to see sample lunches.)
- Cherry tomatoes (also great for a splash of color, as above)
- Wrapped cheeses (cubes, triangles, round Babybel)
- Pickles (Western or Asian)
- Dried fruit or nuts
- Small, whole fresh fruits (grapes, cherries, blueberries, strawberries, kumquats, small plums, etc.)
- Mini puddings or jellies (individually wrapped)
- Sauce containers
- Quail eggs (hard boiled and shelled, either shaped or plain)
What are your favorite gap fillers? Comment and let us know!
READ MORE:
- How to care for your bento gear
- Need for speed: A mommy’s lunch manifesto
- Choosing the right size bento box
- Packed lunch food safety
- Biggie’s list of top speed tips, tutorials and equipment reviews
June 11th, 2007 | Categories: bento, parenthacks, tips, tutorial or how to | 
Print This Post
| 
Email this post
« « Site look & feel | Main | Ravioli lunches » »
50 Responses to “Guide to bento packing and gap fillers”
Leave a Comment
« « Site look & feel | Main | Ravioli lunches » »
June 11th, 2007 at 8:18 pm
Wow! The rice trick is cool! I’ve never seen that. My favorite gap fillers are the laughing cow cheese cubes and grapes. I always add baby carrots too. I slice pink & white kamaboko, and hot dogs, and freeze them and keep it on hand. Always adds nice color and a little variety here and there.
June 11th, 2007 at 11:41 pm
Great tips as always! I think cherry tomatoes have to be my fave gap filler.
June 12th, 2007 at 4:17 am
Thanks for the tips! My bento still has a lot of gaps. I am afraid that the flavor would be ruined.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:20 am
Another great and very useful blog entry…thanks!The photos are gorgeous too
June 12th, 2007 at 10:14 am
Love your blog, have been reading it for a while and love the tips you give us! Thanks so much for sharing all this, you make me want become a bento luncher…but I still have to work on my packing skills. =)
June 12th, 2007 at 12:19 pm
i know what you mean about your hard efforts sliding around due to lack of gap fillers *tears*
those are some great ideas! i’ve run out of grapes so this will be nifty to have! thnx for sharing
June 12th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
@1 from Julie: Those are all great ideas, Julie!
June 12th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
@2 from amvn: Absolutely, me too. Plus it give me a “red” when I’m trying to pack according to the 5-color bento packing guidelines (5 different naturally colored foods for maximum nutrition and aesthetic appeal).
June 12th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
@3 from Clair: That’s when we start to get creative: how to plug the gaps with whatever’s on hand in the kitchen and not ruin the flavors of the gap-filler or the food it touches. I’ve started looking at the food in the kitchen a whole new way — what can I use as a quick gap filler?
June 12th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
@4 from Cesca: Thanks Cesca!
June 12th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
@5 from Jenny: Hey, just dive right in and pack your own lunches if you’re leaning that direction anyway! Cherry-pick whatever tips work for you and leave the rest — there’s no special “bento test” that needs to be passed to pack your own lunch!
June 12th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
@6 from Tala: Oh man, I learned the hard way early on about packing compactly (or using containers with divided compartments — makes life easier). I recall reading somewhere (eGullet Japan forum?) about someone saying that all of the elaborate decorations on the surface of a bento lunch just amounted to “lid decoration” once you give the lunch to your child to carry to school. It takes some creativity to get a nicely packed lunch to stay intact, but once you grasp the basics of “gap fillers” you’re 90% there.
June 12th, 2007 at 6:02 pm
This is incredibly useful information! I bring in packed lunches most days, but have no real sense of how to put them together properly. I picked up a few appropriately sized containers in Chinatown, which helps. This guide is such wonderful advice, and exactly what I needed to learn. Thank you!
June 12th, 2007 at 9:30 pm
@13 from Danielle: Glad you found it useful! Again, look at it as an interesting guideline, not a hard and fast rule — sometimes your meal or container will dictate how you pack it (guidelines be d*mned!).
June 12th, 2007 at 10:37 pm
most of these ideas are from YOU, which is why I don’t have a website and you do. thank you! : )
June 12th, 2007 at 11:41 pm
Reusable ice cubes, if you don’t have the mini-puds or jellies or such, would also be good gap-fillers. I used some today to chill down my mandarin oranges on the way to work, as they were warm (very warm, it’s Miami) out of the can. They also kept my salad from getting overly warm, set between the greens and the bento’s seal.
Alas, my meal was missing either yellow or red, depending on how one interprets mandarin oranges and cheddar cheese.
June 13th, 2007 at 6:37 am
[…] Guide to bento packing and gap fillers (tags: lunch tips) […]
July 2nd, 2007 at 4:55 am
[…] instructions on how to pack a bento box from Lunch in a Box got me so excited about making my packed lunches cuter, more efficient, and […]
August 4th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
I have been subscribed to this for a couple weeks now, and it’s just in time for my kindergarten daughter. Even if it takes me a while I think I will eventually use your tips. Your lunches look so inspiring compared to what my poor husband takes as leftovers. Thanks for all the time and ideas you’ve put on here!
August 4th, 2007 at 7:27 pm
@19 from Sarah:
My pleasure, Sarah, and thank you for reading! I don’t use all of my own tricks all the time either — I’m really just experimenting and working my way through new speed techniques that I find in my J-lang bento cookbooks. I think I’m easily bored, so quickly move on to the next thing…
August 16th, 2007 at 5:39 am
[…] Bento Packing […]
August 21st, 2007 at 10:02 am
Thank you for this post. I have done a write up on it for DIYlife.com. I am not sure when it will be up, sometime in the next couple of days.
Thanks again!
August 21st, 2007 at 9:24 pm
@22 from Heather: Hey, thanks for the kind write-up, Heather! I checked it out and it looks like a good, informative introduction to the whole bento-packing thing. Well done.
August 23rd, 2007 at 6:22 am
[…] Lunch in a Box: Building a Better Bento » Guide to bento packing and gap fillers Charming ideas for packing lunch. (tags: cooking food) […]
August 24th, 2007 at 2:22 am
[…] Lunch in a Box: Building a Better Bento ” Guide to bento packing and gap fillers Need to track down a thermos eventually (tags: japanese lunch photography blog bento cooking via:vielmetti) […]
August 26th, 2007 at 12:37 am
[…] uses rice, but it could just as easily be done with pasta. To see a professional do it, visit Lunch in a Box where lunch packing is truly an art […]
September 25th, 2007 at 4:33 pm
[…] yoshy921 wrote an interesting post today onHere’s a quick excerpt […]
October 4th, 2007 at 5:00 pm
I have been using nuts as gap fillers. Especially pistachios b/se the shells keep them from bleeding or absorbing flavor into other things.
October 4th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
@28 from snappiness: Hey, nuts (esp. pistachios) as gap fillers is a great idea! I can’t use them for Bug’s lunches because his school is nut-free, but I can definitely use them for mine!
October 8th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
at the farmers’ market the other day, i picked up the most precious baby green peppers - perfect for bento, i thought. and i was so right! they’re a perfect substitute for cupcake papers/dividers and they’re really adorable. they make
for gap filling, i use raisins and other dried fruit. they’re perfect for very small gaps or many little gaps. also, tiny candies are perfect - individual hershey kisses, cubes of caramel, and starkist gummies work wonders every time.
p.s. i just found your blog, linked from “cooking cute.” thanks for all the helpful info! it’s nice to find a bento blog that’s not devoted to being cute (though cute is wonderful!)… college time constraints and lack of audience (no kids, yet!) make really cute bento impractical. thanks again!
October 9th, 2007 at 9:59 am
@30 from psulinkie: Tiny baby peppers are great for bento! I once seeded/deveined them from the top, filled them with soft cheese (those wrapped triangle cheeses), and packed them in a bento. I like the raisins/dried fruit idea for gap filling as well, but can’t use candies in my son’s lunches (the school asks us not to pack candy). I hear you on time constraints WRT cuteness in bentos; I’m all for maximum payoff for minimal effort. Thanks for reading!
November 9th, 2007 at 2:59 am
nice guide! especially about the rice.
i have just got into making my own bento box and found a cool little tool used to make cocktail hotdogs into little flowers and animals when cooked. they are great space fillers and even through i make them for my little sister’s lunch i just cant resist putting one in my lunch if i have the room
November 9th, 2007 at 10:30 am
@32 from k.lee: Those little cutters are fun, aren’t they? I picked one up at Daiso - the package says you should lightly freeze the cocktail hotdog for like 10 minutes or so before cutting for best results.
January 8th, 2008 at 12:02 am
The ting that I usually use is a few pieces of edamame that I quickly boil the night before. That way it feels like those bentos from the supermarket, which is also a great place to get gap-filler ideas from
January 8th, 2008 at 7:02 am
@34 from anna: Good idea on the edamame! I think you can also microwave some frozen edamame or let it defrost naturally, depending.
January 17th, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Hi! I’m a Japanese housemaker, I have two children. I enjoyed reading your blog. I heard a cute small muffin cup is good for food cups. A cut broccolli is my favorite to fill the blank space.
January 17th, 2008 at 10:12 pm
@36 from hewei: Thank you for visiting, hewei! I like using both disposable and reusable silicone baking cups for food cups too — very convenient!
January 25th, 2008 at 2:07 pm
Again, very useful tutorial, I just realized my lunchboxes have tooo many gaps…
Margot
January 25th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
@38 from Coffee and Vanilla: Glad it helped, Margot! Compact packing not only helps everything stay put, but also allows you to use the ml=calorie guideline I set out in the “guide to choosing the right size bento box” post.
February 24th, 2008 at 1:14 am
pickled asparagus, carrots or green beans often make it into our bentos, to fill long skinny gaps. Same goes for sugar pea pods from the garden.
As for fruit, banana rings (wedges?) are always a hit here.
That idea of using the reusable ice cubes is something I hadn’t ever thought of!
I need to tell myself your site will be here tomorrow, and get to bed! Too much good info!
February 24th, 2008 at 11:17 am
@40 from Leigh: Thanks for the gap filler ideas for long, skinny gaps, Leigh! What’s a banana ring? Just sliced bananas (dipped in citrus juice)?
March 4th, 2008 at 7:24 am
I have a packing question for you… the height of my silicone cups is much shorter than the top of the bento box. Do you have any suggestions on what I can do to bring it up higher so that the bento lid will keep the contents of the silicone cup from coming out in case the box is flipped over or upside down?? Many thanks for your wonderful site!!
March 4th, 2008 at 11:32 am
@42 from e: Well, if you know your box is bound to turn upside down in transit and you want to pack spillable food, the safest thing to do would be to use those lidded condiment cups that I use for jello jiggler fruit cups: http://lunchinabox.net/2007/03/23/fruit-cup-jello-jigglers-in-everyday-containers/
March 6th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Good morning!!
I just have to tell you, I am in love!! My 7 yo DD has been bored with her lunches lately, so I was looking for something fun online when I stumbled upon your site. You are my new best friend! While my DD is a great eater, loves ‘odd’ foods for a 7 yo….she still gets in a rut. She will absolutely LOVE the new lunches I have planned, thank you SO much!!
March 6th, 2008 at 12:07 pm
@44 from T: Welcome to the site, T — glad to have you!
March 31st, 2008 at 9:05 pm
How much cooking does edamame need, anyway? I have this vague recollection that they’re supposed to be bad for you, or nasty, or something, if you don’t cook them enough. However, I microwaved a small amount of frozen shelled edamame for about 3 minutes and *that* was nasty because they seemed dry and overcooked. If I microwave steam them from frozen just until they are hot, is that enough?
And thanks for all the ideas. I don’t know why putting all my food in a little box makes it easier to pack a healthy lunch, but it does! (All three of today’s meals were bentos - photo on my Flickr. http://www.flickr.com/photos/9839083@N04/2378346833/in/set-72157600719919946/
Not cute, but they look better than I thought they would. )
April 1st, 2008 at 10:03 pm
@46 from Sunflower: Frozen shelled edamame doesn’t need much cooking at all — just enough to warm it through is enough. As you discovered, though, you need to heat it with water or else they get dry and shrivelly — yuck. Microwave steam until hot is good, quick simmer on the stovetop is fine too.
I really got a kick out of seeing your homemade reusable food dividers that you created by cutting a flexible cutting mat!!! So original!
April 2nd, 2008 at 8:49 am
Thanks. I think the first time I didn’t cover them, either.
I’ve now tried again, and I wound up multi-cooking and I hadn’t even intended to. I microwaved edamame in the bottom of a covered glass dish with a little water, which is the way I usually “steam” small amounts of veggies. But I added some frozen vegetarian meatballs, in a silicone cup so they wouldn’t be in the water. When they were hot, I put the meatballs in the box on their own and the edamame in the cup. They came out very nice. So thanks for your advice and inspiration!
April 25th, 2008 at 12:30 pm
while I have no wish to step on Biggie’s toes, I thought I might suggest an idea I saw elsewhere to ‘e’ with the cup height issue(I would credit this, but I can’t for the life of me, remember where I saw it). Since you are using silicone cups, and don’t have to worry about liquids soaking through the bottom, you might try stacking the cup that you don’t want to spill on top of something firm, like a few slices of cheese, cucumber, zucchini, or even(dare I say it?)cookies. Either in another cup or not, as long as the ‘tower’ is stabilized by the surrounding foods, this should help to bring it up to the proper height…
Just a thought,
Jen
April 25th, 2008 at 12:35 pm
@49 from Rowen: Great idea to stack low silicone baking cups, Rowen — I like it!! My toes are absolutely intact, no worries.