Just Bento

Sure, I guess you could use rice. But please don't use instant rice, it's not very good.
You could still leave in the garlic even if you use soy sauce,they go well together, but maybe use less bouillon and more water, so it doesn't get too salty.

Are you asking if you add raw rice or cooked rice? I would used leftover cooked rice myself and not simmer it very long, just to heat through.

If you used raw rice, you would have to add the right amount of liquid to cook it completely. For the 2-1/2 cups broth you mention, maybe start with one cup of rice and see how it goes. I'd check it at 25 minutes to see if the rice is cooked. If it's soupy, next time add more rice or less broth.

Sounds interesting and tasty, and probably would be good in a bento. Don't know if it would be any category of Japanese food or recipes, but Maki would know.

With the rice it would sound similar to the filling for my family's (Polish) cabbage rolls. My mom and grandma usually just cook the ground beef with some onions, thyme, and rosemary. After draining they mix the beef with precooked rice, add an egg or two to keep everything together and roll them in cabbage leaves that have been steamed (with a little bit of thyme and rosemary in the water). So I don't see why using rice would be a problem.

I make a vegetarian version of this too with frozen tofu and extra veggies, very yummy.

This reminds me of a thing I used to make many years ago when my son was small. It was fiddly so I didn't make it often, but he used to like it. I can't remember the actual recipe but you made a sort of meatball out of mince (ground beef) and other stuff, then rolled them in raw rice so the rice stuck to the outside. Somehow or other the rice tended to sort of stick out like hedgehog spines when they were cooked. Anyway then you simmered the meatballs in a tomatoey sort of sauce. I wish I could remember where the recipe came from - it may well have been my old school cooking book.

I know that recipe!! It was in my old (c.1980) Betty Crocker cookbook. They called them "Porcupines" which is an animal like a hedgehog but bigger. They were good, and kids loved them.

I found it. The one they have now at the bettycrocker site isn't like the old one at all, they use converted rice! yuck!
The old recipe I found here at Allrecipes.com --- http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Porcupines/Detail.aspx

Oh, and one of the reviewers said they left out an egg. I do remember that. So add an egg too. And they left out worcheshire sauce from the tomato sauce. Plus you don't need to brown them first, just bake with the pan covered until the rice is done, then uncover for that last 10 or so minutes.

Heh! Maybe I should just dig out my old BC cookbook and check it myself! lol!

Cool, thanks for the imput. Now I just need to get my bento's from Japan and I'll be set to start making and taking pics. Might post a couple more ideas on here.