The Just Bento Cookbook: Table of Contents and a sneak peek inside!

Yesterday I finally received a copy of The Just Bento Cookbook, fresh off the presses. I've seen the proofs or galleys, but the Real Thing exceeded my expectations. It really looks fantastic - not just the great photographs by the other Makiko-san, but the layout, the print quality, - everything.

As with better quality Japanese bento cookbooks, the Just Bento Cookbook is soft cover with a dust jacket. Here is the front cover:

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The Japan version has a paper belt or "obi" around it, which has some blurbs and information in Japanese. I believe that the version sold in the U.S. and elsewhere won't have this obi (though it's possible that copies carried at Japanese bookstores may).

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Here are some peeks inside the book. Each of the main recipes have a little picture of the corresponding item in the featured bento, so you know exactly what is what.

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Of course, any bento that requires some prep work beyond just packing things up in the morning have a timeline. Would you expect anything else from a Just Bento book? ^_^

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I tried to vary the bentos for the seasons. Here's a Summer Vegetable Casserole bento, from the not-so-Japanese bento section....

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...and here's another one from the same section, a Soup and Muffin bento with poached apples, packed into a thermal lunch jar for the colder months.

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A couple more shots! A mini-hamburger bento with cut-outs. I kept the decoration ideas very simple.

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A "chakin zushi" (egg-wrapped sushi) bento with stewed lotus root and hijiki seaweed. I believe this is the most Japanese bento I have in the book, in terms of ingredients. Lotus root (renkon) is about as exotic as I got with the vegetables, but you can easily substitute another vegetable dish for it if you wanted to. And dried seaweed can be easily mail-ordered if it's not at your local Japanese or Asian grocery.

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Table of Contents

The Table of Contents is organized into 3 sections by type. This makes it easy to go straight to the bento recipes themselves, or find a particular tip or how-to. (There should be a "Look Inside" on Amazon before the book goes on sale there by the way.)

Tips and other matter

  • Introduction
  • Makiko's Top Ten Bento Rules
  • Tips for Speeding Bento-making
  • Timelines
  • Bento Safety Tips
  • Great-tasting Bento Rice
  • How to Pack a Bento Box
  • How to Cook Rice
  • Different Types of Onigiri
  • Pre-assembled Sandwiches
  • Salad Bento Rules
  • Using Bentos for Weight Loss
  • Real Cheese for Lunch!
  • Makiko\s Essential Bento-making Equipment
  • Bento Boxes and Accessories
  • Weekly Menu Planner with Bento Lunch
  • Bento Staples
  • Glossary of Japanese Ingredients
  • Index of Main Ingredients
  • Bento-related Web Sites and Resources
  • Acknowledgements

Recipes: Japanese-Style Bentos

There are 25 total bentos; 15 Japanese, and 10 Not-so-Japanese. That may not seem like a lot...until you consider that each bento has tons of variation recipes. So you can mix and match to come up with dozens of combinations that work!

  • Chicken and Three-color Pepper Stir-fry Bento
  • Tamagoyaki Bento
  • Fried Shrimp Bento
  • Mini-hamburger Bento
  • Ginger Pork Bento
  • Chicken Karaage Bento
  • Mixed-vegetable Rice and Salted Salmon Bento
  • Soboro Bento
  • Chicken Kijiyaki Bento
  • Sukiyaki-style Beef Donburi Bento
  • Tofu Nugget Bento
  • Soba Noodle Bento
  • Onigiri and Meatball Bento
  • Egg-wrapped Sushi Bento
  • Sushi Roll Bento

Recipes: Not-so-Japanese Bentos

I'm quite proud of the Not-so-Japanese bentos. I tried to come up combinations that have a 'bento aesthetic' - colorful, varied and appetizing meals packed into a compact box, that taste good hours after they are made. I hope I've succeeded!

  • Bunny Sandwich Bento
  • Deconstructed Salad Niçoise Bento
  • Pan-fried Chicken Nugget Bento
  • Mediterranean Mezze-style Bento
  • Summer Vegetable Casserole Bento
  • Spanish Omelette Bento
  • Quinoa Pilau and Chickpea Salad Bento
  • Soup and Muffin Bento
  • Everyone Loves a Pie Bento
  • Indian Tiffin-inspired Bento

I am really my own worst critic, but looking through the book several months after completing it, I have to say that I am really very happy with the results. As I wrote previously, this is a practical, everyday bento lunch book, for people who want to bring, or make for their loved ones, tasty, healthy and varied lunches to work or school, on a regular basis. As I keep saying - I hope I've succeeded!

Check this list for when and from where the book will be available.

It's YOU

This is what I wrote as the first sentence in the Acknowledgements:

First and foremost, I could not have even contemplated writing this book without the tremendous support and encouragement of the JustBento.com readers. Thank you!

And I mean that from the bottom of my heart.

Last modified: 
11 Jun 2019 - 06:20

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