My daughter E. received an exciting package in the mail this weekend: a My Neighbor Totoro bento box all the way from Japan. She was so excited that she insisted that I show it to you here.
My Neighbor Totoro is her favorite movie, and I have to admit that I love it, too. So, when I started seeing Totoro bento boxes on internet sites like Bento TV, I was determined to find one. That turned out to be harder than I expected and I wound up ordering it from Japan.
Well, you would have thought that E. had won the lottery–a Totoro lunchbox all the way from Japan! She immediately called all her friends to tell them about it (only one of whom knew what Totoro was). She wanted me to fill it with sushi that very minute, but I told her she’d have to wait until Monday. So last night I prepared sushi for dinner (more about that in another post) and made sure I had plenty of leftover sushi rice to make her a bento lunch.
The bento box came with a very handy rice cover that you can use to press the rice into rounded shapes that are easier to pick up with chopsticks. I used medium-grain brown rice, which I cooked with extra water to make it stickier and then mixed with seasoned rice vinegar to taste. I sprinkled on a few black sesame seeds after pressing it with the rice cover.
I also included some edamame that were tossed with just a few drops of dark sesame oil, which adds flavor but also helps keep the beans from drying out. In the smaller tier of the box, I put a few baby carrots that were cooked in seasoned vegetable broth and some slices of organic golden delicious apples that I tossed with orange juice to keep them from turning brown.
E. didn’t see what I put into the lunchbox this morning, so I’m eager to hear how she liked it. I do know that just the lunchbox made her so happy that she kept saying, “You’re the best mom ever!”
Totoro bento box= $18.00
Postage from Japan= $ 5.20
Buying your child’s love= PRICELESS!
Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free Eat to Live
waisze
June 28, 2010 at 1:15 pmWhat a nice lunch! I have the same bento box but I haven’t figured out if it’s microwave safe. Do you know? Thanks!
SusanV
June 28, 2010 at 1:57 pmI haven’t seen anything about its microwave-safety, so I would probably not microwave it.
Jane
January 19, 2011 at 11:45 pmHi. I have the same bento box (but with a different Hayao Miyazaki movie design – Kiki’s Delivery Service). This one is not microwaveable. It’s actually written in the tiny literature that came with it and at the bottom of the second layer – but in Japanese 🙂
vici
September 1, 2011 at 7:00 pmhi :+)
where did you get this bento box??? im searching for the perfect totoro bento box for school, and i really like this one, please answer soon<3
SusanV
September 1, 2011 at 7:10 pmI ordered it from this site, but they don’t have one exactly like it anymore: http://www.jbox.com/search/all/totoro_bento
vici
September 2, 2011 at 9:53 amthanks for the link and for responding so fast!
Shannon
January 20, 2012 at 11:38 amMust have this bento box! I LOVE TOTORO!! 😀
Leigh
March 12, 2012 at 2:13 pmI just saw some of these boxes at World Market this weekend.
Super great idea and it also helps us adults with portion control! YAY!
Emma
August 22, 2013 at 11:22 amI’ve been scouring your site for recipes all week while I’ve been at work and now that I have come across this post I decided that I just had to comment. You are awesome! And your daughter has great taste, as do you (Totoro is the coolest!!). Thank you for sharing with me 🙂 I have pinned probably a million things from here. Seriously, you rock.