I'm Biggie: avid cook, speedy lunch packer, mom in San Francisco, & former expat fluent in Japanese. 
How to use a donburi bento box
Japanese donburi is a type of meal with food served right on top of rice in an oversized bowl; examples include dishes like simmered egg and chicken (oyako-don), tempura, Japanese curry, sukiyaki, eel, etc. When making a bento lunch, though, donburi toppings with a lot of moisture tend to make the rice soggy when packed together. I’ve previously described the “rice lid” method where a layer of rice is packed on top of curry or stew in a thermal jar, keeping most of the rice intact and allowing the use of a thermal lunch jar’s non-sealing larger rice container for liquidy foods. Another method is to pack rice totally separate from the stew or curry, and put them together just before eating, which keeps the rice from getting soggy. This is the best way provided both rice and curry are nice and warm, and your container is large enough to contain both easily. I recently picked up a microwave-safe bento box for donburi meals that’s designed to address just these issues. (Click for the full review and an additional preschooler lunch.)
The “Don Don Lunch Box” is from Hakoya, a Japanese bento box manufacturer known for their good quality boxes and classic designs. Rice goes in the bottom half of the large bowl (holds 260ml under the top container), and liquidy stew or curry goes in the top container (200ml). The yellow curry container nestles down inside of the larger bowl, and has a tight-fitting lid to keep everything safely contained. It doesn’t keep things warm, though, so use the microwave to warm both layers (unassembled) before eating (be sure to remove the inner lid before microwaving). The cool thing about a donburi bento box, though, is that the bottom bowl is large enough so that once everything is warmed, you have room to dump all of the curry right on top of the warm rice and eat it like a proper donburi. The manufacturer also recommends it for pasta, to keep the pasta sauce from soaking into the noodles during transit. If I were to pack pasta I’d be sure to first toss the noodles with some olive oil, butter or a little sauce to keep them from sticking together.
On the heels of writing about concerns surrounding microwaving plastics, I was particularly interested in how microwave-safe the container actually is. The packaging says the box is made of recyclable PET resin from Matsushita Electric Works (the same corporate group behind the Panasonic and National brands), that no dioxins will leach into food when microwaving, and it’s fine from a range of temperatures from -20 to 140 deg. C (-4 to 284 deg F). Everything can be microwaved and put in the dishwasher except for the curry dish’s inner lid (woo hoo for another dishwasher-safe box, saving me from more hand washing). The manufacturer notes that when you microwave food like curry, though, the inner container can take on the curry’s smell and color, but that washing it well with dish soap and some bleach will remove most of the stains or odor (see more ideas for removing stains/odors from bento gear). I notice that the inner container is made of light yellow plastic so that turmeric stains from curries blend right in.
I bought the faux wood brown version on sale for $15.75 at Sanko in San Francisco’s Japantown ($17.50 before their 10%-off sale that goes until Feb. 23, 2008, full store review here), but evidently the Don Don Lunch Box also comes in a reddish version and plain metallic colors (orange, white and light blue). Hakoya isn’t the only company that makes donburi-specific bento boxes, though. You can find some here on eBay in red and black. (I have no commercial affiliations with Sanko, Hakoya, eBay, etc.)
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Contents of preschooler lunch: Japanese chicken curry, rice with nori-flavored furikake rice sprinkles, peeled tangerine, rakkyo pickled scallions, and a mini pudding cup.
Morning prep time: 6 minutes, using leftover curry and fresh rice made with my rice cooker with timer. In the morning I microwaved the leftover curry while pre-warming the thermal food jar with hot tap water.
Cooking: For dinner the night before, I made Japanese curry with chicken, onions, potatoes and carrots. Japanese curry is very mild, and a breeze to make using little blocks of shelf-stable Japanese curry roux
Packing: I left some head room in the thermal food jar so that Bug could dump his rice on top of the curry when he was ready to eat. The rakkyo went into a coated paper baking cup that was smaller than all of my reusable silicone cups, and I peeled the tangerine to make it easier for my son to eat. Look closely at the same container and you’ll see a clear plastic spoon for the mini pudding cup tucked inside. The lunch is packed in a 560ml insulated bento set from Ichiban Kan; similar sets are sold on Amazon in green
Verdict: A home run! Bug demolished this entirely in one sitting. I thought it might be a bit too much for him according to the bento box size guidelines, but he’s going through a growth spurt and has been eating unbelievable amounts of food lately. Mild Japanese curry is usually a winner with kids, and Bug’s no exception.
FURTHER READING:
- The “rice lid” method for packing curry or stew in a thermal food jar
- Master recipe for Thai curry
- How to care for your bento gear
- Biggie’s list of top speed tips, tutorials and equipment reviews
February 18th, 2008 | Categories: SF Bay Area local, bento, equipment, shopping | 
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February 18th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
My first reaction to this was, “Awww. I want one! Dangit!”
That looks like a way cool box.
February 18th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
That sounds like a pretty neat box. Um, you might want to reread that first sentence though. “right on top” instead of “on right top” I think was what you meant.
February 19th, 2008 at 10:14 am
@1 from Jeff: If you find an online source for this box, please let us know and post it here! I looked around for a source but couldn’t find one. (It does bother me when I post about something people are going to have a hard time finding…)
February 19th, 2008 at 10:15 am
@2 from Elfir: D’oh!!! Thanks for the heads up, Elfir. Brain fog strikes again.
February 19th, 2008 at 1:11 pm
Hi Biggie,
I found you site a couple of weeks ago and I love it! Thanks for all the great information! Keep up the wonderful job.
February 19th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
I wonder if mild Japanese curry would be a hit with my two year old?
February 19th, 2008 at 8:36 pm
Stumbled on your site a week or two ago and have now read pretty much every post.
Anyway, was visiting my mom this past weekend and so dragged her around with me trying to find a suitable container for a bento box. I finally found a 600ml lock and lock square container (it looks so tiny) and a pack of 6 silicon muffin cups (I figure even if this doesn’t last long, those things will). 
Anyway, it was odd timing to find your blog because I’m heading down to San Jose for a conference/workshop this Thursday thru Sunday and so will have a tiny amount of free time in both San Jose and San Francisco to explore. So, I was just wondering if you have a suggested “starter’s list” of items, or even a list of items you find you use the most. As the only Daiso (sp?) in Canada is in Vancouver, this will probably be my only chance for quite a while to check out any of these stores.
Thanks
February 20th, 2008 at 11:37 am
I would like to piggyback onto akaJB’s request. In the list of starter items, could you include the Top 5 items we should start out with for our Asian pantry? For instance, would those fish sprinkles for rice be one of them? If so, which flavor and brand. I know you don’t endorse brands but it would be helpful when shopping to look for a brand that I know you personally like.
Thanks in advance!
February 20th, 2008 at 5:44 pm
@5 from Hope: Thanks for the kind words, Hope! Please feel free to comment or ask questions even on old entries — I try to keep up with all comments via the Recent Comments thingie in the right-hand column.
February 20th, 2008 at 5:45 pm
@6 from Fourleafclover: I would say odds are good on your two-year old enjoying the mild version of Japanese curry, but your mileage may vary! Let us know if you try it out!
February 20th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
@7 from akaJB: Excellent idea, akaJB! I’ll get to work on putting one together.
February 20th, 2008 at 5:49 pm
@8 from Norah Nick: Hmm, I’m game for putting together a starter’s list of bento stuff, but foodstuff might be a little trickier as I’m a big believer in the “world food bento” as opposed to the “all-Japanese food bento”. Let me think on it…
February 21st, 2008 at 2:06 pm
In that case, may I suggest a list of top 5-10 products to get us started on our WORLD pantry. Basically I just want to know what brands/flavors to look for when I go to the market and see, for instance, 20 bottles of Korean BBQ sauce.
Thanks!
February 21st, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Ok, two comments
1. Love the website…makes me miss my time in Japan even more. Thanks for the inspiration
2. As to your loving cat. Even though we close our bedroom door to prevent Gideon, our 18 yr old marmalade cat from wandering around in the room at night, we found he scratches at the door… so we put a “child gate” up across the hallway just a few steps from the door. Since he can not hop over anymore (old bones) we dont have the midnight check in anymore
March 6th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
By any chance, do you (or anyone reading this)have a recipe for a make-your-own version of the S & B Japanese curry roux blocks? We love Japanese curry, but three of us in our family can’t eat gluten any more, and the curry roux blocks have wheat starch.
I’ve tried several times to make it from scratch, but it just doesn’t taste the same.
Thanks!
August 16th, 2008 at 8:49 am
Hello,
I live on the east coast (Springfield, MA.) and I’m looking for a bento box. I think these boxes are pretty nice especially if you want portion control. Can I purchase one from this site? The bento store locator doesn’t work for the east coast. I thank you in advance.
Greg
August 16th, 2008 at 9:43 am
@16 from greg: I don’t sell bento boxes directly, but thanks for helping me figure out that there’s a bug in the BSL. Evidently it doesn’t like the Enter key after you put in a location into the box — you need to actually click the Locate Stores box with your mouse. I’ll have my web guy fix it and put a warning on the BSL page in the meantime. Should work as a workaround for you in the meantime — there are a lot of East Coast stores in there.
August 16th, 2008 at 11:55 am
@16 from greg: Okay, the BSL is fixed now — should work for you. Let me know if you find anything else and I’ll have it seen to.
September 1st, 2008 at 10:50 pm
I want one of those boxes right NOW!
Your site is fantastic! A friend recommended it to me and I love it.
February 1st, 2009 at 10:43 am
Ack, I’m still in love with that brown Don Don Lunch Box. I never see it anywhere though.
aww..
February 2nd, 2009 at 12:13 pm
@20 from CatGirlPink: I stopped in at Sanko in SF Japantown last week, and not only are they out of the Don Don Lunch Box, they’re having trouble restocking (said the manufacturer isn’t making it any more). Too bad…
May 29th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
Ichiban Kan has them at their online store RIGHT NOW! I can’t justify the cost, but if anyone else can you’d better shop quick!
December 23rd, 2010 at 10:14 am
FWIW, I was in San Fran the week of Dec 12th, and Sanko has these don don boxes right now, they had a good number of them in the plain colors (didn’t notice the wood grain ones, hope I didn’t just miss them). They are on sale for $13. I bought two.
Soko Hardware didn’t have them, but the lady that orders supplies there was very nice and mentioned that they might have it at Sanko, I made sure to pick up some stuff at Soko afterwards because she was so nice.
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