Shopping Guide
B-e-n-t-o. If just hearing the name of this boxed delicacy makes your mouth water, you’d better keep your eyes glued to our site this week. Over the decades, this staple of the Japanese culinary culture has developed its own customs and variants. While it’s impossible to count them all, here’s a brief introduction to the most common ones!
4. Kyaraben (or Charaben), the ‘Character Bento’
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To foreign eyes, kyaraben (or charaben) is one of the most famous incarnations of bento: the food takes the shape of cute animals and anime characters, transforming the meal in a joy for the eyes.
Given its fame you might think that Japanese citizens, after an endless day of work, come home and spend their free time preparing elaborate character bento, but this isn’t the case. While kyaraben is often used as a way around children’s food pickiness, for many adults it’s more an occasional hobby than a daily occurrence.
If you live in Japan and want to start experimenting with kyaraben, you can easily find basic accessories such as cute seaweed cutters at 100 yen shops. You may also want to take a look at our list of top bento books for teaching the art of making food look adorable.
3. Makunouchi, the ‘Between Acts’ Bento
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Full article continued at All About Japan
Source article written by Diletta Fabiani