The Japanese lunchbox and the culture of wiener cutting
In Japan, an essential of part of life is a bento (弁当) lunch. These bento can be very elaborate, aesthetically pleasing cuisine arrangements with the food arranged in such a way as to resemble other objects: dolls, flowers, leaves, and, well… weird things like these Cthulhu cocktail sausage octopi.
An essential skill of any Japanese household is to be able to prepare an appealing boxed lunch….But you might ask, “How difficult can it be to make a box of stone-cold rice and dead fish?”
Plenty difficult.
A bento is traditionally made in a 4:3:2:1 ratio: 4 parts of rice, 3 parts of the side dish (either meat or fish), 2 parts of vegetables, and 1 part of a serving of pickled vegetables or a dessert. However, almost anything can be used to make a bento….even a PENGUIN!
All you need is the right information, like this book from our sponsor J-List,
Our Bento — Watashitachi no Obento. It’s a photobook/ recipe book that gives you an entertaining look into Japan’s “bento culture” as well as insight into the kinds of meals that average Japanese people eat.
Who ever said playing with your food was bad, obviously didn’t tell these folks.
Our Bento — Watashitachi no Obento
The Japanese are famous for their perfectly cut mini-wieners you find in so many lunches (bento boxes).
What’s the secret behind these ubiquitous morsels you ask?
Why the Wiener Cutters of course!
Now you too can have the most perfectly cut wieners on the block, and not only that, they’ll be shaped like cute penguin!, complete with eyes and arms! Be the hit at school. Be the talk of the water cooler clique at work—-Check out our sponsor, J-List.com’s Penguin cutter for bento wieners.
Now for the real fun!
When I saw this cool Japanese cutter-guide on gadgets.3yen.com, the Norpro, I just knew I could somehow “repurpose” this onion-holder photo with one of the most famous brands of Japan, HOMO(tm) Sausage, made with 100% fish byproducts. Yummy.
I’ve written about HOMO Sausage, the Japanese fish sausage, before in my report: Strawberry Milk Sausages in all Supermarkets of Japan.
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May 24th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
Check out these free Bento Hotdog Patterns such as the “Octo-dog” at: Bento Hotdog Patterns
May 24th, 2007 at 10:36 pm
that penguin is just classic, as are the weiners! enjoy this blog a lot!