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Photo Courtesy Of: miheco

A bento is a single serve portioned meal common in Japanese cuisine. This boxed meal can either be served in restaurants or eaten on the go as homemade packed lunches. The concept has many variations all over the world. Similar forms include biandang (Taiwan), dosirak (Korea), baon (Philippines) and tiffin (India).

History of the Bento

Bento

boxes were originally served during a hanami or tea party. Later on it became common to bring food during travels or while sightseeing. Since concessionaires were not common then, people who came to see kabuki or other shows ate their bento boxes during intermissions. Through the years it evolved as a take away meal that adults and children took with them for lunch and during picnics or day trips. These delicious meals are often cooked at home, but they have been sold commercially since the late 1800’s.

Bento bako or the lunchbox itself was initially made of woven bamboo leaves and then

it evolved to wooden boxes. During the Taisho period (1912-1926), aluminum bento boxes were used because they were more sturdy and reusable. Nowadays, lacquer bento boxes are used for special gatherings and in restaurants, while plastic ones are used on a daily basis. Disposable bento boxes are also sold commercially.

Photo Courtesy Of:  leafar.

Types of bento

Makunuochi bento is a bento meal served for formal meals and in restaurants.

Kouraku bento is for sharing and it is also known as a picnic bento.

Ekiben bento is for travelers and is often sold in food halls, train stations and convenience stores.

Charaben or kyaraben is the art of making ‘character bento’ which often resembles anime or cartoon characters.

The Japanese follow two traditions in preparing food

Goho meaning five ways of cooking -boiling, grilling, pickling, frying, simmering or steaming gives further balance to every meal.

Goshiki  means five colors –white, red/orange, green, yellow, black/purple/brown. It is a Japanese Buddhist thought that balances aesthetics and nutrition in every meal.

Photo Courtesy Of: kimubert

How to assemble a bento box

The traditional bento box ratio is 4-3-2-1. Four parts contains carbohydrates such as rice or noodles, three parts protein such as meat or fish, 2 parts vegetables for fiber and vitamins and one part dessert such as fruits or baked goods for a daily source of sugar.

Why bento?

Bento boxes are healthier options since food is portioned according to your daily needs. This can vary or change though, depending on one’s diet. It is also earth friendly because food is served in reusable containers, thus reducing waste from plastic and paper bags or other forms of disposable packaging. Going bento does not necessarily mean eating Japanese food. These healthy lunchboxes can also contain sandwiches or dishes from other cuisines.  So if you are tired of your usual boring lunch, be creative and make a bento box today.

Eastern music is something quite different from what the west has to offer. With the constant exposure to each other’s cultures, however, the juxtaposition of musical elements is inevitable. Still, it is inevitable that indigenous music remain the same.

The truth is that enka is used to refer to two kinds of music. The first one hails from way back in the Meiji and Taisho period when speeches were made into music. The idea was to avoid the disapproval of the government towards political speeches by masking the words in music. The second genre refers to music that emerged after the war, during the Showa period. This type of enka is quite popular and has been compared to American country music (not because of the musical style but because of the theme and audience).

Though you might find varying descriptions and definition of enka, I like the one presented in Okada:

Enka is usually singing sad aspects of life, irrecoverable destiny, desertion by the lover. It is an expression of love, but love will never be successful and sorrow and tear follow happy memories. It can also be a song of a woman who is resentful to her destiny as her lover is gone to another woman. Anyhow Enka is song of resignation. Resignation must be sweet so that it is endurable.

Indeed, with that definition, it makes you think of country songs. Want to hear some enka? Visit Barbara’s Enka Site. I learned a lot from it.

I finally satisfied my sushi craving the other day when I went out to eat with several friends. It was actually a funny meal because I had just spent the whole afternoon at the hospital getting some tests done and then met up with my friends for dinner. While gorging ourselves on the delectable pieces of sushi that the chef whipped up, we found ourselves talking about the health benefits of sushi.

Does sushi really have health benefits or is it just good to eat?

Well if you think about it, sushi is simply rice and fish. Of course, different varieties would have vegetables, other kinds of seafood, and sometimes sesame seed. Whether the fish is cooked or not, the fact that sushi has very low fat content remains the same. More so, sushi also has low cholesterol and caloric content. That is good, isn’t it?

In addition to these things, having seafood as the main ingredient implies another healthy reason to eat sushi. Certain seafood have a healthy does of Omega-3 fatty acids. Technical term aside, this simply means that seafood is good for your heart! As such, sushi is not only low in fat and other stuff, but it also has something good for your body!

Last, take a look at vegetables and the seaweed that is used to wrap the sushi in. These ingredients are definitely high in nutrients and other healthy things (notice that I cannot enumerate them). Cheryl Koch over at Yahoo Health says that phytochemicals are present as well.

I guess I have presented my argument quite convincingly, huh? Sushi is indeed good for the health.

Photo courtesy of breezeDebris

One thing about Japan that catches the interest of many people around the world is anime. This Japanese cartoon art is very unique and the characters are simply more interesting than other cartoons – at least in my opinion. Anyhow, I recently discovered a Japanese character by the name of Domo Kun.

I am not sure that he falls under the anime category but he is one weird and interesting character. Domo Kun looks like a rectangular block of tofu and has a deep brown color. I accidentally ran into this little guy on the Internet and I had no clue as to who he was.

I know better now. He is technically not part of anime but in fact, he is the mascot of the NHK television station. I don’t know what it is about him but he has quite a following – both in Japan and outside of the country! So what else is there to know about Domo Kun?

Well, he was hatched from an egg (weird looking chick, isn’t he?) and he loves to eat meat and potato stew – Japanese style, of course. Make sure you don’t offer him apples as he extremely dislikes them, due to some sort of DNA mystery. And when you know him to be upset, stay clear of him as he is known to pass gas over and over again during these times.

If you want to know more about Domo Kun, visit his official US web site. You can also go to eBay and find tons of Domo Kun merchandise.

Photo courtesy of dailyinvention