Faux bento lunch with erasers
Posted By Biggie On February 6, 2008 @ 12:01 am In SF Bay Area local, equipment, for kids | 19 Comments
[1] 
Today’s bento is a little hard to swallow, mainly because it’s full of tiny erasers, not food! I spied these in San Francisco’s Japantown and thought you all might get a kick out of them. See if you can find [2] inarizushi, [3] shumai dumplings, onigiri rice balls (both plain and [4] grilled yaki onigiri), grilled fish, [5] mini hot dogs, a [6] quail egg, cherry tomato, strawberry, [7] apple rabbit, corn dog (!) and a cup of tea (!). (Click on the photo for an annotated version with what’s what.)
[8] 
My favorite is the apple rabbit, which reminded me of a big bowl I spotted at my son’s Japanese immersion preschool last month during prep for a school lunch. (As you may remember from my [7] apple rabbit how-to, the final step is a soak in cold water to get the “ears” to curl up nicely.) The children usually bring their own bento lunches, but once a month parent volunteers get together to make a communal meal for all of the students. As you can see, apple rabbits were on the menu — classic children’s food in Japan.
For locals, I picked up the little bento eraser sets at [9] Ichiban Kan dollar store for about US$1 per box, and then experienced classic bargain-hunter vindication when I saw the exact same thing for sale at Kinokuniya’s stationery store for US$4.15 each. Ha! Ichiban Kan rules. They also sell the erasers loose, so you can choose your favorites. [9] ([9] See the SF Bay Area shopping guide for bento gear.) (Disclaimer: I have no commercial affiliation with Ichiban Kan.)
FURTHER READING:
- [10] Bento box song
- [11] “Obento obento ureshiina” song
- [12] Allergy restrictions in school lunchrooms
- [13] Bentos & the picky eater
- [14] Biggie’s list of top speed tips, tutorials and equipment reviews
- [15]
- [16]
- [17]
- [18]
- [19]
Article printed from Lunch in a Box: Building a Better Bento: http://lunchinabox.net
URL to article: http://lunchinabox.net/2008/02/06/faux-bento-lunch-with-erasers/
URLs in this post:
[1] Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lunchinabox/2243294498/
[2] inarizushi: http://lunchinabox.net/2007/10/04/making-lunch-for-the-first-day-of-preschool/
[3] shumai dumplings: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaomai
[4] grilled yaki onigiri: http://lunchinabox.net/2007/02/15/speed-bento-technique-making-freezing-yaki-onigiri-onigiri/
[5] mini hot dogs: http://lunchinabox.net/2006/08/21/sausage-animals-mini-chikuwa-x-3/
[6] quail egg: http://lunchinabox.net/2007/03/31/curried-quail-egg-lunches-multi-boiling/
[7] apple rabbit: http://lunchinabox.net/2007/12/13/how-to-make-apple-rabbits/
[8] Image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lunchinabox/2242942271/
[9] Ichiban Kan dollar store: http://lunchinabox.net/2007/04/09/award-nomination-sf-bay-area-shopping-guide/
[10] Bento box song: http://lunchinabox.net/2007/09/25/bento-box-song/
[11] “Obento obento ureshiina” song: http://lunchinabox.net/2007/12/28/obento-song/
[12] Allergy restrictions in school lunchrooms: http://lunchinabox.net/2007/09/05/back-to-school-lunchroom-restrictions/
[13] Bentos & the picky eater: http://lunchinabox.net/2007/11/14/bentos-and-the-picky-eater/
[14] Biggie’s list of top speed tips, tutorials and equipment reviews: http://lunchinabox.net/top-tips/
[15] Image: http://www.stumbleupon.com/submit?url=http%3A%2F%2Flunchinabox.net%2F2008%2F02%2F06%2Ffaux-bento-lun
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