Archive for the 'equipment' Category

(Chronologically Listed)

Review: Kids Konserve metal lunch kit

I know some of you are looking for alternatives to plastic bento boxes because of concerns about the health effects of food packed or heated in plastic, so I’ve been playing around with metal bento containers. Most multi-tier latching tiffin tins are plain-looking and too big for a one-person bento-style lunch, so I was pleased to find a smaller metal alternative with a dash of style, from Kids Konserve.

I tried out their green lunch set, which consists of a cloth napkin/placemat, two 250ml stainless steel bowls with green plastic lids, a drink bottle, a reusable sandwich wrapper, and a cloth carrying bag with handles and a velcro closure (shown below). I was also curious about their smaller, all-metal 80ml condiment containers, pictured above at the bottom/middle. I had a few questions and concerns going in, namely about how watertight the containers were and how well the sandwich wrapper would work. (Read on for the full review and a sample lunch packed inside.) Read the rest of this entry »

Share this post:

Published by Biggie on March 25th, 2009 tagged bento, equipment, fish or seafood, for kids, meat, phyllo or pancake or other, review | 24 Comments »

Valentine’s bento lunch

In a break from my usual “speed bento” lunches that only take about ten minutes to pack, the other week I made more of an effort for Valentine’s Day and packed a special lunch for my four-year-old son to take to preschool. You can see his whole classroom’s Valentine bentos lunches here if you’re curious. (If you’ve got any special Valentine’s lunches of your own, today Feb. 23rd is the last day for entries in this month’s Valentine bento contest with a chance at winning a bento box prize.)

It took me a while to post this as Bug & I were in a car accident last week where we were badly rear-ended, and I’ve been a little discombobulated and tied up with all the post-crash red tape. Thankfully both Bug and I were able to walk away from the wreck, but our car may be totaled (jury’s still out). If you’d like to see a photo of our smashed-up car, I posted one on the forum with some details.

Contents of preschooler bento lunch: Heart-shaped onigiri rice balls filled with Gohan Desu Yo! seasoned seaweed paste (colored with red or green hana-ebi shrimp powder, decorated with nori seaweed and mamenori soy wrappers described below), blueberries, steamed zucchini with Korean barbecue sauce, and chicken from a homemade Indian curry (lal shorve vala murgh).

Morning prep time: 30 minutes, WAY longer than my usual speed bento, but fine for a special occasion Valentine’s Day lunch. My shortcuts were leftover curry, frozen rice, and a heart-shaped molds for the rice balls. In the morning I assembled the rice balls and made the zucchini in my microwave mini steamer. (Read on for decoration and equipment notes, a review of Uncooked Roti-Chapati Indian flatbread dough from Costco, and an additional preschooler lunch…)

Read the rest of this entry »

Share this post:

Published by Biggie on February 23rd, 2009 tagged bento, curry, decorative, equipment, for kids, onigiri or sushi, phyllo or pancake or other, potatoes, poultry, review, rice | 17 Comments »

Silicone lunch accessories

On my last trip to Ichiban Kan and Daiso discount stores, I picked up some cheap new silicone versions of bento accessories that actually make sense in silicone. I’ve started reaching for them recently in favor of standard paper or plastic ones as they’re reusable, flexible, dishwasher-friendly, and you can heat them up.

The first are silicone food dividers (baran) that separate different foods in a bento lunch, keeping flavors from mingling and keeping textures intact. They’re washable and reusable — I’ve had good results with putting them in a utensil basket in the dishwasher to keep them from flying around. (Time to update my bento care & maintenance post…) At US$1 for a pack of three (bears or grass versions available online), they’re still reasonable. I’ve also heard of people cutting up flexible cutting mats to use as dividers.

Up to now I’ve been using edible dividers or lightweight plastic dividers (shown at right) that are meant to be disposable, but I wash and reuse them until they’re torn, worn or lost. The drawback with these is that they don’t do as well in the dishwasher, and they’re so flimsy that they do get torn and worn. They are adorable, though, so I’ll keep them in rotation to liven things up a little. (Read on for shaped silicone food cups…)

Read the rest of this entry »

Share this post:

Published by Biggie on February 22nd, 2009 tagged SF Bay Area local, decorative, equipment, review, shopping | 18 Comments »

Real-life Valentine bentos at preschool

I went to my son’s Japanese immersion preschool on Friday for their Valentine’s Day program, and asked permission to take photos of the children’s lunches in Bug’s classroom at lunchtime. I wanted to show the lunches anonymously here so that you all can see that even Japanese moms don’t necessarily go all-out for special occasion lunches. Don’t set the bar too high for yourself! This was the first time that I was in the classroom at lunchtime to see all of the different bentos, and I learned some interesting things… (Click for larger photos of each lunch, and info on cheap bento boxes sold at Disney Stores in the US.) Read the rest of this entry »

Share this post:

Published by Biggie on February 15th, 2009 tagged bento, equipment, for kids, shopping | 21 Comments »

USB bento warming bag

Here’s an ingenious specialized contraption from gadget-crazy, bento-friendly Japan. It’s a USB-powered bento warmer bag from Thanko Co. that plugs right into the USB port on your desktop computer and warms your bento lunch to 60 degrees C (140 deg. F). I could see this as being handy for people working in offices without a proper kitchen, or who use pack lunches in metal containers that can’t go into the microwave. It’s a little disappointing that it won’t work with laptop computers due to power requirements, though.

A Thanko staff member developed this when he wanted to heat up the bento lunches that his wife made him. The company already made a line of USB gadgets, so coming up with a USB-powered bento warmer was a natural solution.

The bag opens wide to accommodate even large bento boxes.
There are two heaters inside the bag, incorporated into the top and bottom.
The webpage says it can heat up bento lunches bought in convenience stores as well as homemade bento lunches.
Due to power requirements, this can only be used from a desktop computer, and not from laptop computers, AC chargers, or some USB hubs.
Price in Japan: 1,980 yen (approx. US$21.50)
Dimensions: 140 x 200 x 90mm (5.5″ x 7.9″ x 3.5″) (W x D x H)
Handle: 170mm (6.7 inches)
Weight: 175g (6.2 oz)
USB cable length: 125cm (4 feet 1 inch) (Can you tell that I used to translate consumer electronics specifications as part of my job in Japan?) (Read on for information on availability.)