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Face Food

I’m feeling a bit jealous as some colleagues have gone off to Tokyo for the week. I am really lucky in that I’ve been three times for work, which means I’ve probably done more high end dining there than if I’d gone under my own steam. But the thing that fascinates me most is the bento box, especially the really kitsch stuff. So much of the Japanese restaurants here do the formal, very beautiful stuff, so I wanted to celebrate the stuff that just makes me smile, if not just laugh out loud!

And who knew how many books there were around this subject? If space were unlimited, I’d have all of these. As it is, I may just try to sneak one of these in! See what you think.

1. Face Food: The Visual Creativity of Japanese Bento Boxes – talk about playing with your food! Show me a kid or an adult who could resist the Frog Party salad! Got a boy who won’t eat his packed lunch? Super Mario to the rescue! Lunchtime may never be the same again.

2. Kawaii Bento Boxes: Cute and Convenient Japanese Meals on the Go- Kawaii means cute, and then a bit more, and is a bit of an obsession in all kinds of things in Japan. And this book really gives a good view on it when applied to the art of the bento box. I particularly love the rice sheep!

3. The Manga Cookbook- we’re definitely in niche territory here, but definitely an interesting one to have on your bookcase. Manga is huge in Japan, and apparently food appears a lot in the comics. Food sounds good, including onigiri (rice balls), yakitori and oshinko (pickled vegetables). Which are all popular with your average Manga character.

Yum Yum Bento Box

4. Izakaya: The Japanese Pub Cookbook - I enjoyed nights in an izakaya more than many of the meals I had, just as it was bit more relaxed, and felt more real than eating beautifully prepared sushi and sashimi in private dining rooms. This is great for a more relaxed style of Japanese cooking, but don’t think presentation goes out the window, far from it!

5. Yum-Yum Bento Box- I know, I’ve featured Face Food and Kawaii Bento Boxes, but this one is just so cute as well, it’s hard to pick between them! Smiley mushrooms, pig sandwiches, chickens made from rice, frogs made from rice…well, at least that’s a new use for the leftover rice!

So explore the fun side of Japanese food, especially if you have kids. These are the sorts of books that will really get kids excited about food, from choosing it to preparing it and then really tucking it and enjoying it. Or just surprise them with a very different lunchbox one day! Can you imagine their faces? Fantastic!

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