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Step 10Design your bento!
When I start a bento the first thing I look at is my main item (e.g. sushi or gyoza). I almost always have this in mind before I start cooking. I then choose my bento box and go from there.
As we previously discussed, your bento box will have a great deal to do with your overall design. For example, if you have a traditional laquerware bento box with rounded corners you are going to need to fill in some odd spaces. Likewise, boxes with dividers built in to them may or may not be the right size for what you want to do.
After space filling you'll want to consider color. By far, fresh fruits and vegetables are going to have the best colors. Fresh slightly steamed veggies will yield a brilliant spectrum. It is considered unappetizing to have a bento that is uniform in color.
Texture is also very important. Smooth shiny surfaces next to spiky shapes next to billowy veggies treat the eye to a visual array of excitement. Noodles look great furled up into a "bird's nest".
Giving your bento a name or a theme can pull the whole piece together and inspire details. Although you would think it might be the first step in the design process it is often the last. It is surprisingly easy to put together a bento that is full but not finished. Many times just a small pair of eyes cut out of nori, a few carrot hearts, or a tiny little fork can make an ordinary lunch into a bento box.
As we previously discussed, your bento box will have a great deal to do with your overall design. For example, if you have a traditional laquerware bento box with rounded corners you are going to need to fill in some odd spaces. Likewise, boxes with dividers built in to them may or may not be the right size for what you want to do.
After space filling you'll want to consider color. By far, fresh fruits and vegetables are going to have the best colors. Fresh slightly steamed veggies will yield a brilliant spectrum. It is considered unappetizing to have a bento that is uniform in color.
Texture is also very important. Smooth shiny surfaces next to spiky shapes next to billowy veggies treat the eye to a visual array of excitement. Noodles look great furled up into a "bird's nest".
Giving your bento a name or a theme can pull the whole piece together and inspire details. Although you would think it might be the first step in the design process it is often the last. It is surprisingly easy to put together a bento that is full but not finished. Many times just a small pair of eyes cut out of nori, a few carrot hearts, or a tiny little fork can make an ordinary lunch into a bento box.
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