I am so excited to share Bento Box ideas, useful tools and accessories that Japanese people use. Choosing one beautiful Japanese Bento box makes my heart beat. Japanese people have two or three different materials, size and shape bento boxes. Also I am so happy to show my little Bento accessory collections that I use.
Bento Box
materials
Bento is a part of Japanese culture. People make Bento everyday. Therefore there are a lots of bento boxes readily available, made of all sorts of different materials. There are aluminium, wooden bento boxes like the one I have, and stainless steel, enamel and plastic. Each material has pros and cons, so choose the one to suit your needs.
My favourite is a wooden oval lunch box. Wooden Lunch Box 
is generally said to be hard to maintain and look after the material. This is because it absorbs oil and sauce and leaves stains easily. Mine has a urethane coating on the wood so it is easier to look after.
size
The average size of a Bento box in terms of its volume is 500-600ml. Like me, for those who are a little bit conscious about how much food I am consuming, if you can get a 500ml lunch box, you can keep the calorie intake to about or less 500 calories.
Useful Tools
To help you with your bento box ideas, there are some great tools you can use. The three most useful tools for making Obento dishes are the Onigiri Mold, Wiener cutter and Tamagoyaki pan. They will make your obento look neat and also save a little bit of time. They are available from big Asian grocery stores, Diso, or online.
Onigiri mold
This is really useful for people are not used to shaping the rice triangles. Once you get used to making this shape, it is no problem but it might be difficult for beginners. There are many different shapes; onigiri rice balls and Triangle Onigiri Mold
, Small Round Shape Rice Mold 
, cylinder shape rice mold
or even Panda Shape Onigiri rice ball Mold 
are available.
Wiener cutter
Now of all the great bento box ideas, this is the cutest. If you are making Bento for your children. They will particularly love the octopus and crab shaped wiener. You can cut them with a knife as well but a Wiener cutter 
makes that cutting easier.
Tamagoyaki Pan
Tamagoyaki pan
is usually square or rectangular. It is might be difficult to find but if you can, it will be super useful as tamagoyaki is staple Bento menu.
Accessories for your Bento box ideas
These bento accessories definitely brighten up your lunch time and also make your lunch break fun. You will look forward to opening your lunch box!
sticks
Sticks are not just for making it easier to pick up food but also add some colour to Bento. They come in many different shapes too. For example Leaf Picks look like a leaf and stem. So if you stick it to a green grape it will look like an green apple.
divider
Dividers are often used so that different flavours and tastes will not mixed up in the Bento box. Real edible green leaves such as lettuce and Shiso leaves are often used, but if you don’t have any green leaves in your fridge, there is fake Grass Divider
that you can stock. And also little Silicone Cups
are useful too.
sauce containers
Small sauce container will make your lunch as fresh as possible. You don’t want to have sauce everywhere, because the rice and other foods will soak it up. This makes a soggy saucy lunch. I have a few cute ones. Also when you buy sushi, you know you get those little fish shaped small soy sauce containers. Keep and wash them, and reuse them.
wrapping cloths
Finally wrap your bento like Japanese do. We use cloths and Japanese people know how to wrap neatly and adorably. I have shared how to wrap your bento previously so if you would like to know one way with a ribbon on top, have a read of that post. I have a several different patterns and size clothes to wrap my Bento box.
Hope you enjoyed these bento box ideas and you choose your Bento box and accessories like I do. Also check out some example Bento menus – Simple Bento, and Obento – how to assemble them all together. There are some great ideas and tips to pack lunch like Japanese do.
affiliate disclaimer
The site and our mobile application may contain links to affiliate websites. We receive a small affiliate commission for any purchases made by you on the affiliate website using such links.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. This is affiliate advertising designed to provide a means for us to earn a small advertising fee by linking to Amazon. com and affiliated websites.
Also, if you like those Bento box ideas, please leave comments below and don’t forget to follow me on Youtube, Pinterest, Facebook , Twitter and Instagram to keep up to date with all the latest happenings on Chopstick Chronicles. Don’t forget to use the hashtag #ChopstickChronicles so I can see your wonderful creations!
Leave a Reply