Bento
A bento is a single-portion take-out or home-packed meal of Japanese origin, often for lunch, typically including rice and packaged in a box with a lid.
A traditional bento typically includes rice or noodles with fish or some other meat, often with pickled and cooked vegetables in a box. Containers range from mass-produced disposable containers to hand-crafted lacquerware. Dividers are often used to separate ingredients or dishes, especially those with strong flavors, to avoid them affecting the taste of the rest of the meal. A typical divider is green plastic 'sushi grass', known as baran in Japan, which also works to slow the growth of bacteria.
Bento are readily available in many places throughout Japan, including convenience stores, bento shops, railway stations, and department stores. However, Japanese homemakers often spend time and energy on carefully prepared bento for their spouses, children, or themselves. Outside Japan, the term bento box may be used. Bento can be elaborately arranged in styles called kyaraben or oekakiben. Contests are often held where bento arrangers compete for the most aesthetically attractive arrangements.
There are comparable forms of boxed lunches in other Asian countries such as in Taiwan, Korea, and other Sinophone communities, known as piān-tong in Taiwanese Hokkien, in Korea as dosirak and héfàn or biàndāng in Mandarin. Other Asian countries would either just use bento as a loanword or hokben, which means "steaming bento". There has also been discussion regarding what bento means for Japanese society and what it represents. Analyses range from a simple semiotic approach to one that outlines the deeper ideological meanings behind bento.
Terminology, Etymology
In Japan, it was not originally called “bento.” The practice of carrying food and eating it outside the home can be found in historical texts such as the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki. In the 8th century, this type of portable food was called hoshi-ii. Hoshi-ii, or dried rice, was a portable food made by steaming grains and then drying them. In The Tales of Ise, written during the Heian period, there is a poem that says, “Thinking of my distant homeland, my tears soaked and softened my hoshi-ii.”It is said that the practice of carrying food and eating it outside the home began to be called “bento” during the Azuchi–Momoyama period. During this period, the word “bento” was used with the meaning of “to prepare in advance for later use,” a meaning unique to Japan and quite different from the original meaning of the Chinese characters.
In Japan, "bento" is written in kanji as . The word itself originates from the Chinese Song dynasty slang term , meaning "convenient" or "convenience". When the word was imported to Japan, it was written with the ateji and. But this word, in Japan, is used in a different meaning from the original Chinese letters.
The word “bento,” which came to mean portable food in Japan, was later exported to other countries in the Chinese-character–using regions of Asia, where it also came to be used with the meaning of portable meals. Taiwan, in particular, was under Japanese rule for about fifty years, which allowed Japanese bento culture to be introduced and take root. In Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China, bento is written as . In other Sinophone communities, both biandang and bento are often interchangeably used.
History
The increased popularity of bento can be traced back to the 12th century during the Kamakura period, when meals of cooked and dried rice called hoshi-ii were developed to be carried to work. A hoshi-ii can be eaten as-is or boiled with water to make cooked rice, and is stored in a small bag. By the 16th century, wooden lacquered boxes were produced, and bento would be eaten during hanami or a tea party.File:Gotenyama hiroshige.jpg|thumb|Hanami ''bento in the Edo period
In the Edo period, bento culture spread and became more refined. Travelers and sightseers would carry a simple koshibentō, consisting of several onigiri wrapped with bamboo leaves or in a woven bamboo box. One of the most popular styles of bento, called makunouchi bentō, was first made during this period. Viewers of Noh and kabuki performances ate specially prepared bento between maku. Numerous cookbooks were published detailing how to cook, how to pack, and what to prepare for occasions like hanami and Hinamatsuri.
In the Meiji era, the first ekibentō or ekiben was sold. There are several records that claim where ekiben was first sold, but it is believed that it was sold on 16 July 1885 at Utsunomiya Station in the northern Kantō region of Japan, and contained two onigiri and a serving of takuan'' wrapped in bamboo leaves. As early schools did not provide lunch, students and teachers carried bento, as did many employees.
In the Taishō era, the aluminium bento box became a luxury item because of its ease of cleaning and its silver-like appearance. Also, a move to abolish the practice of bento in school became a social issue. Disparities in wealth spread during this period after an export boom during World War I and subsequent crop failures in the Tōhoku region. A student's bento too often reflected their wealth, and many wondered if this had an unfavorable influence on children both physically, from lack of adequate diet, and psychologically, from a clumsily made bento or the richness of food. After World War II, the practice of bringing bento to school gradually declined and was replaced by uniform meals provided for all students and teachers.
Bento regained popularity in the 1980s with the help of the microwave oven and the proliferation of convenience stores. In addition, the expensive wood and metal boxes have been replaced at most bento shops with inexpensive, disposable polystyrene boxes. However, even handmade bento has made a comeback, and they are once again a common, although not universal, sight at Japanese schools. Bento are still used by workers as a packed lunch, and by families on day trips, school picnics, and sports days. Homemade bento are wrapped in a furoshiki cloth, which acts as both a carrying bag and a table mat.
Culture
In Japan, it is common for mothers to make bento for their children to take to school. Because making bento can take a while, some mothers will prepare the ingredients the night before, and then assemble and pack everything the following morning before their children go to school. It is often a social expectation of mothers to provide bento for their children, to create both a nutritionally balanced and aesthetically pleasing meal. This activity is expected of the mother and emphasized by society at large, and is common in nursery school institutions.The traditional bento that is eaten at school or at work is most often prepared by the mother or the wife. However, bento can also be bought at konbini or from street vendors who appear on street corners at lunchtime. For those in a hurry who spend their lunch time aboard Shinkansen bullet trains, ekiben are available in train stations.
Osechi, an assortment of foods eaten around the Japanese New Year, is typically arranged in a multi-tiered jūbako box, similarly to bento.
The slang term hayaben, literally "early bento", refers to eating a bento before lunch and having another lunch afterward.
Types
By ingredients
- Hinomaru bentō, named and patterned after the flag of Japan, is the name for a bento consisting of plain white rice with an umeboshi in the centre. Pure Hinomaru bento only consists of rice and an umeboshi to flavor the rice, without any other side dishes. The metal bento boxes once popular in Japan were often corroded by the acid from the umeboshi, eventually making a hole in the middle of the lid.
- Formally known as Nori bentō and often abbreviated as Noriben, is a bento with nori dipped in soy sauce covering cooked rice and usually with fried fish, chikuwa and so on. The Nori bento ranks first in the annual sales ranking by bento category at Hotto Motto, one of Japan’s top bento chains.
- Karaage bentō is a bento mostly with chicken karaage as the main dish. The Karaage bento ranks second in the annual sales ranking by bento category at Hotto Motto.
- Sake bentō is a simple bento with a slice of broiled salmon as the main dish.
- Tori bento consists of pieces of chicken cooked in sauce served over rice. It is a popular bento in Gunma Prefecture.
By style or container
- Kamameshi bentō are cooked and served in clay pots and sold at train stations in Nagano Prefecture. After eating, the pot becomes a souvenir item.
- Kyaraben are bento with the contents arranged to look like popular characters from anime, manga, or video games.
- Makunouchi bentō is a classic style of bento with rice, umeboshi, a slice of broiled salmon, and a rolled egg.
- Shōkadō bentō is a traditional black-lacquered bento box. It inspired IBM's ThinkPad design.
- Wappameshi is a meal served in a special round wooden bento-styled container.
- Shikaeshiben is "revenge" bento made by wives to get back at their husbands. Insults are written in the food, or it is made inedible.
By origin
- Ekiben is bento sold at railway stations or onboard trains. There are many kinds of ekiben; most are inexpensive and filling.
- Hokaben is any kind of bento bought at take-out bento shops. Freshly cooked hot rice is usually served with freshly prepared side dishes. The name was popularized after a pioneering take-out bento franchise in the field, Hokka Hokka Tei.
- Shidashi bentō is made in a restaurant and delivered during lunch. This bento is often eaten at a gathering, such as a funeral or a party. It is usually packed with traditional Japanese foods like tempura, rice and pickled vegetables. A shidashi bento packed with European-style food is also available.
- Soraben is bento sold at airports.