equipment and supplies

Reader question: How to get rid of that plastic taste in bento boxes?

Reader Sandy sent in this question recently. She's having trouble with certain bento boxes, which are making her food taste like plastic!

Hi. I've recently begun collecting and using bento boxes (which I adore), but I've had some troubles when eating out of them. Everytime I eat something, it tastes like plastic.

Read more about Sandy's dilemma after the jump.

In case you read Just Bento but not Just Hungry - I'm finally embarking on a project I've always intended to tackle, but never got around to: putting together a good listing of Japanese grocery stores around the world. I'll include bento supplies too, since many people who are interested in bento making are also interested in Japanese cooking, and vice versa.

If you have any stores, mailorder sources, and so on to recommend, please head on over here. With your help I'm hoping to assemble a really useful list!

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This week's focus is on non-disposable chopsticks that enhance your bento eating experience, as well as being a bit kinder to the environment.

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Bento item of the week is a weekly feature on Just Bento. This week's item is this adorable bento box.

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Recently, Mark from CalorieLab went shopping armed with a camera in Japan, and took some pictures of the bento supply displays at several stores. He's very kindly allowed us to share them with you here. So come along for a virtual bento supply shopping trip in some typical stores in Japan.

Since I've recommended two wooden boxes as the Bento Box of the Week so far, a few people have asked how practical wooden bento boxes are.

Bento box of the week: Magewappa bento box from northern Japan

magewappa1.jpg_Magewappa_ means bent woodware; it's a traditional hand craft of Odate, which is located in Akita Prefecture in northern Japan. Straight grained pieces of Akita cedar are bent in circular shapes to form the sides of containers. The bent wood is then fastened with a contrasting dark bark or wood strips.

There's been a resurgence in the popularity of magewappa ware, so it's made around the country, but this box comes from Akita, where I think the craftsmanship is still the best.

A quick bit of shopping news for UK and European bento fans: it looks like Japan Centre, who recently teamed up with Japanese "100-yen shop" giant Daiso, is slowly starting to carry more Daiso lunch bento boxes and supplies. See the current list of offerings here. Maybe if they prove popular they'll carry more bento supplies!

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