With spring approaching, it’s time to start thinking about bento lunches.

Whether you have small children who'll be going to kindergarten or you’re starting a new job, homemade bentos are often a must for lunch. The idea of making a bento every day can seem daunting, but there are a few tricks that you can add to your arsenal that will make the task go smoothly.

A rice cooker is essential if you plan to make Japanese-style, rice-based bentos. Although I often make rice in a pot, the convenience of rinsing the rice the night before and setting the timer on my rice cooker to finish when I’m ready for it can't be matched. (Note that freshly cooked and cooled rice tastes best at lunchtime.)

Another key is to make "planned leftovers" the night before. That can mean something as simple as extra portions of whatever you are cooking for dinner, or varying things a bit — for instance, if you make fried chicken, set aside some of the chicken and stir-fry it for bento the next day.

A third key is to have several jōbisai (stock items) on hand. The bento I’m suggesting here has three ingredients, including two kinds of soboro (minced and seasoned toppings for rice) — minced meat soboro, egg soboro and blanched green beans — that can be made in advance and frozen for up to a month. All you have to do to assemble the bento is pack in the rice and add the defrosted toppings.

If you don't have an empy bento box on hand, using your minced toppings as filler for riceballs can work just as well.
If you don't have an empy bento box on hand, using your minced toppings as filler for riceballs can work just as well. | MAKIKO ITOH

Makes enough for 3 to 4 bentos

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

  • Hot cooked rice
  • 10-12 green beans or snow peas
  • Pinch of salt

For the egg soboro:

  • 4 large eggs
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon mirin
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 2 tablespoons sake

For the meat soboro:

  • 300 grams ground chicken or beef
  • 2 tablespoons sake
  • 1 tablespoon mirin
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 4 tablespoons soy sauce

Directions:

1. Pack the bento box about two-thirds full with freshly cooked rice. Set aside to cool down to room temperature as you prepare the rest of the bento.

2. Cut the green beans or snow peas into thin, diagonal slices. Bring a small amount of water to a boil and add a pinch of salt. Blanch the green beans or snow peas for one minute, drain and cool.

3. Beat the eggs and add the salt, sugar and mirin. Heat up a large frying pan (preferably non-stick) over medium-high heat and add the sake. When the sake is bubbling, add the egg mixture. Mix vigorously with cooking chopsticks as the egg mixture cooks — this should form fine-grained scrambled eggs. Scrape the bottom of the pan occasionally with a spatula. When firm crumbles have been formed, remove the scrambled egg from the pan and cool.

4. Wipe out the pan if there are any traces of egg left. Over medium-high heat, add the ground meat, sake, mirin, sugar and soy sauce and mix well, stirring frequently until there is almost no moisture left in the pan, then remove and cool.

5. Spoon the egg soboro on half the rice in the bento box. Spoon the meat soboro on the other half of the rice. Use chopsticks to place a line of green beans or snow peas in between. When everything has cooled to room temperature, close up the bento.