Do you know KYARA BEN? It means characters lunch box in Japan.
KYARA is from Characters. BEN from BENTO which means lunch box in Japan. Japanese people love KYARA BEN. In kindergarten and primary school every Mother and sometimes father makes a SPECIAL lunch box for their child, especially for events.
In Japan it seems parents that make high quality lunch box become high quality parents in school. It is a silent contest. They believe “make good lunch box ＝ good parents”
It is nearly crazy but Japanese parents get up so early in the morning to make the special bento. The preparation involved is quite mind blowing.
IT IS A CRAZY CULTURE IN JAPAN. BUT SHALL WE ENJOY AND TRY IT!
I will teach you how to make Splatoon lunch box:
This is Japanese colour FURIKAKE. You can get this at 100-yen shop.
These are red sausages. Japanese use this red sausage for lunch box.
If you cut red sausages only halfway down in a cross and then fry in a pan it looks like an Octopus. It’s a very famous technique in Japan. Please try it.
Colour DEKOFURI mix with RICE. It helps characters Lunch box a lot. You can make any colour you want.
Then use wrap for the rice ball. I tried to make Splatoon character shape, but it was so difficult to do.
Then you need to prepare seaweed and sliced cheese. It is the most important item for Character lunch box.
You can cut Seaweed and cheese using kitchen scissors. It was so difficult for me to do but I did it so I know you can!
Lastly take the wrap off and then put the cheese and sea seed on the coloured rice. The arrange the red sausages and boiled vegetable.
You can use breads, fruits and colourful Jams etc to make your favourite characters from food. It is fun although I do not want to make it every morning! It is a lot of work so making this is great for a special event day for your kids.
If you are living in abroad it may be difficult to get certain items. So, it can become your idea and technique. Example Using vegetables, fruits, pasta, breads and Jam etc.
Seaweed is very useful for making Black lines. You can get little sort of cutters for cutting seaweed from the 100-yen shop but from abroad, I do not know. Otherwise it is just cutting a shape using kitchen scissors.
PLEASE ENJOY JAPANESE KYARA BEN!