Minced Beef and Vegetable Stir Fry Bento

This is my first bento of 2010 as it is time for kids and hubby to head back to school and work. What I call “regular” bentos are normally packed into glass containers in the evening and stored in the fridge. Fruit cups are prepared in the morning and everything is then put into insulated lunch bags with ice packs. At lunchtime, kids and hubby will microwave the bentos for a hot meal.

“Deluxe” bentos are assembled in the morning as it requires some special preparation. These would include sushi, rice cakes, sandwiches, and crunchy stuff that would either dry out or turn soggy if prepared the night before. Fancier bento containers will be used and the food will be eaten at room temperature.

In the green silicone cup is the minced beef stir-fry with celery, carrots, and sweet green peppers. The vegetable stir-fry in the blue silicone cup has cauliflower, green beans, nappa cabbage, deep fried tofu, and naruto (Japanese tube fishcake). The rice is a mix of white and brown sprinkled with furikake (Japanese rice shakes) and seasoned Korean seaweed.