Adorable Character Bento Box
Turn Heads on School Trips with These Eye-Catching Character Bento Boxes!
Make your child’s next school trip extra special with a bento box that’s sure to impress! Instead of a regular lunch, let’s create a fun character bento! We’ve made a ‘Tayo’ inspired box (because it’s Tayo, no matter what!) and adorable penguin friends, ‘Pengdol-i’ and ‘Pengsoon-i’. We even shaped some fried rice into cute bunnies. Let’s get started on crafting these delightful characters for your child’s adventure!
Base Ingredients
- 2 bowls of cooked rice
- Pinch of salt
- A little sesame oil
Cooking Instructions
Step 1
First, prepare the Vienna sausages for the penguin character. Lightly oil a frying pan and place the sausages in it, rolling them around until lightly browned. You can also make small slits to prevent them from bursting as they cook.
Step 2
Season the warm cooked rice with a pinch of salt and a little sesame oil. Mix gently to ensure the rice grains remain separate and fluffy.
Step 3
Spread the seasoned rice thinly on your palm, like making a wrap. Place a cooked Vienna sausage on top and carefully wrap the rice around it, ensuring no sausage is exposed.
Step 4
Wrap the rice-covered sausage tightly with plastic wrap. Use the wrap to shape it into a slightly elongated form, resembling a penguin’s body. Chilling it in the refrigerator for a bit will help it hold its shape.
Step 5
Prepare the seaweed (nori) for the penguin’s face. Cut one sheet of seaweed into four equal parts. You’ll use one of these pieces, folded in half, for the face.
Step 6
Take one of the cut seaweed pieces and fold it in half.
Step 7
Using scissors, carefully cut along the folded edge to create the curved shape of the penguin’s head, similar to a fan’s edge.
Step 8
Unfold the seaweed to reveal a cute, rounded penguin face shape. This will be used to decorate the penguin’s body.
Step 9
Now, take the rice-covered sausage (the penguin’s body). Slightly unwrap the plastic and gently place the prepared seaweed face on top of the rice. Press lightly to adhere it.
Step 10
Re-wrap the penguin lightly with plastic wrap to secure the face and maintain its shape. Be careful not to let the seaweed peel off.
Step 11
The penguin’s eyes can be made from small cutouts of seaweed. If cutting and attaching tiny seaweed pieces is difficult, you can dip the tip of a toothpick in water or mayonnaise and use it to pick up the seaweed pieces and attach them to the rice more easily.
Step 12
For the penguin’s wings, fold a piece of seaweed and cut it into a shape suitable for attaching to the sides of the body. For rosy cheeks or a cute ribbon, use the red part of a crab stick or thinly sliced ham. For the feet, cut thin carrot triangles and insert the pointy end into the base of the rice body for an adorable touch.
Step 13
Next, let’s make a fried rice bento inspired by the popular character ‘Tayo’! Prepare the ingredients for the fried rice. Finely chop any leftover vegetables you have, such as ham, crab sticks, carrots, pickled radish, chives, and fish cakes. Heat a little oil in a pan, sauté the ham and crab sticks first, then add all the other chopped vegetables and stir-fry together.
Step 14
The secret ingredient for delicious fried rice is oyster sauce! Adding about 1/2 tablespoon of oyster sauce will enhance the umami flavor and make it much tastier. If you don’t have oyster sauce, you can season it with salt.
Step 15
To achieve Tayo’s signature yellow color, we’ll mix curry powder into the rice. Gently combine the rice and curry powder. Adjust the amount of curry powder based on the rice quantity, but be cautious not to add too much, as it can become bitter.
Step 16
Spread the yellow curry rice thinly on a sheet of plastic wrap. Place a portion of the prepared fried rice mixture in the center as filling.
Step 17
Using the plastic wrap, tightly roll up the fried rice mixture. Ensure it’s rolled firmly so the rice and filling are well combined.
Step 18
Shape the rolled fried rice into a square form to resemble Tayo. Hold the plastic wrap while shaping to prevent the rice from falling apart.
Step 19
Now it’s time to decorate and bring Tayo to life using seaweed! Cut out shapes for the eyes, mouth, and wheels from the seaweed.
Step 20
You can use thinly sliced Vienna sausage for Tayo’s round eyes. Use small pieces of black seaweed for the pupils and the tip of a Vienna sausage for the nose to create a cute character.
Step 21
For cute rabbit-shaped bento, consider using animal-shaped molds available at stores like Daiso. Fill the mold with curry fried rice or plain rice, press firmly, then unmold to create adorable rabbit-shaped rice balls.
Step 22
Finally, let’s make a cute decoration using Vienna sausages. Slice off the ends of a Vienna sausage, then place it on a sheet of seaweed and roll it up like a sushi roll. Slice this rolled sausage into desired pieces to create charming decorative elements.
