Crafting a Bento

Step 3 Gather specialty food items

A trip to your local Asian market is important to a traditional bento. But if you live in an area where you do not have access to such items don't fret. There are lots of creative and healthy ways to make a bento from seasonal local ingredients.

Calrose rice is your first choice for sushi rice. Minute rice isn't going to cut it

Tonkatsu sauce is simply good on everything. It's mostly used on tonkatsu(fried cutlet, usually pork) but it is also very delicious on steamed veggies. It's similar to Worcestershire sauce.

Furikake is used as a rice seasoning to spice up bland rice. It is usually a mix of dried seaweed bits, sesame seeds, dried shrimp, and various salts (vegetarian options such as the one below are available.)

Japanese bread crumbs are primarily used in making tonkatsu and fried shrimp. I think you could use regular bread crumbs in a pinch, but the ones marked Japanese seem to be lighter. (Maybe it's just my imagination!)

Mirin is a sweet light syrup used in making sushi rice and tomago (egg) sushi.

Tempura mix can be used to make tempura batter. You can make your own mix but if you use a premade one you can eliminate the egg.

Wasabi can be purchased in powder or paste form. Don't let the plesant light green color fool you - this stuff will clear your sinuses!
Now that you've done your shopping I suppose you're wondering what to put into your bento. Let's look at a few options.