Speed bento tip: Squeeze bottles!

I’m always looking for ways to shave a few minutes off bento prep time. One way to do this is to look at the containers the condiments, sauces and other ingredients that you use frequently come in.

I use honey quite a lot as a sweetener. Measuring it out of a glass jar is a sticky, messy business, that more often than not requires washing of a spoon, wiping drips around the lid and jar, and other little things that add up in terms of wasted time. So, for morning preperations I rely on the neat runny honey in a squeeze bottle. It’s not rare gourmet honey gathered from bees who suckle on rare alpine flora (I save that kind for leisurely cups of lemon-honey-water), but it sure cuts down on bento making time in the morning.

Other things I have in squeeze bottles include ketchup (store it upside down, and shake before squeezing out), mustard, and mayonnaise. I also like things in tubes. A lot of Japanese condiments like wasabi paste and pre-grated ginger comes in tubes (though I can’t stand pre-grated ginger. Wasabi paste is better.) Around this part of the world we also get things like mustard, mayonnaise, Cenovis (the Swiss equivalent of Marmite [1]), tomato paste, tapenade (olive paste) and mystery sandwich spreads in toothpaste tube-like tubes. Take a look around the supermarket or your favorite Asian grocery store to see if your favorite condiments come in neat squeeze bottles or tubes!