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Practical and fun bento box tips and ideas, healthy bento recipes from Japan and the world. Brought to you by Maki of Just Hungry.
Spices and sauces in the Bento.
posted by fourfaced on Thu, 2009-07-02 14:33
Hello Maki!
I am a brand new addition to JustBento (and Bentos in general...and Japanese cooking in general) but your site has been a million times more helpful than the internet as whole in answering questions and giving ideas and how-tos so thank you for that.
Currently, I'm in the preparation and research stage and that includes recipes and I had a few questions:
1. As far as spices and sauces go, what are some "staples" I should have in my kitchen?
2. I love curry but the one time I attempted a recipe at home, the smell of it (as tasty as it was) lingered for a long time. I noticed a few curried dishes recipes on your site but I was wondering how does one include this in a Bento? Doesn't the curry smell or any other strong odors linger in the box?
Thank you again for JustBento!
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I would say that you run the risk of lingering odors with any dish with strong flavors. And believe me when I lived with my mother she thought everything I made was too strong and would stink up the house (compared to a woman who barely uses black pepper). The best thing to do is have good ventilation, cook with the vent on and/or the window(s) open.
When I make something with strong flavors I generally try to go for things that are more mild to pair with it. Like if I make curry, I pair it with plain brown rice and maybe some cucumber for contrast.
Hi fourfaced and welcome to the forums!
Regarding curry and spices, for the bento-friendly recipes on this site I dont use a whole lot in a dish, just a little bit to enhance the flavor. So they really aren't as strong as you might think. Try one and see!
Now if you have a spicy sauce with curry or other type spices, plus oil, the combination of oil and spice can be a bit pungent, and may even linger in your plastic bento box even after washing, which can be a bother. If you want to bring that type of thing for lunch, it might be best to follow the example of Indian cooks and use metal/stainless steel containers rather than plastic (the standard Indian portable meal container is a stainless stell tiffin).
Regarding spices and such - you don't really need to buy anything special, since bento food is just regular food that's tasty cold, and fits into a compact container. If you want to try Japanese recipes, here's a list of ingredients that I use for Japanese cooking, so you could start from the top (the most important ingredients) and work your way down gradually!
The Big Onigiri.
- Wherever you go, there you are. -
Thank you, Stephanie! The problem was, my old apartment was tiny and the kitchen didn't have a window so the smell had nowhere to go but the livingroom and bedroom. I have a window next to my stove so I think I will give it another try!
Thank you so much, Maki! I will have to look around for one of those then if I decide to do anything really strong. First and foremost, though, is that I will definitely be trying a few recipes on here. And thank you for the link to the list! Extremely helpful!
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