Editor’s note: In the Every Bento Tells a Story series, Chikako Tada, editor of Pen & Spoon, a website devoted to food, writes about various aspects of making bento. There is also a helpful video in English, so please refer to it when explaining bento techniques to those new to the food culture.
The first installment is about “chirashi sushi” bento, a taste of Tada’s hometown, Okayama.

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Hi there, readers. I am Chikako Tada, a writer, cookbook author, baker, runner and passionate bento maker for my 10-year-old son.

I love bento! My goal is to help you become a bento evangelist, too. I am thrilled to share my bento recipes and stories. You’ll be able to make them and explain the recipes in English. Do not forget to mix in your own bento stories. It is the best seasoning.
“What comes to mind when you hear the word bento?” I asked my friends. An American man told me, “Lunch served on a red lacquered tray, with tempura and two fortune cookies.” Fortune cookies? Aren’t they Chinese?

A British woman answered: “Healthy, well-cooked, appetizing food.” Yes, I agree. A bento is not just a boxed lunch. The word translates as “healthy” in both mind and body. It is comfort food.

Let’s get started with chirashi sushi, because it is perfect for Tanabata, the festival of stars in July. Since chirashi sushi is called “barazushi” in Okayama where I was born, I am more familiar with that word. Barazushi has vinegared, sliced ingredients mixed in with the rice, while the ingredients are scattered on top in chirashi. But to me, they are the same.

After you prepare the toppings for chirashi sushi, you can scatter them any way you like in a bento box. Or layer them in parallel, vertical or diagonal lines. By making clean lines and designs, the box looks pleasing and colorful.

Another tip is to mix something fun into the rice. For my son’s lunch bento, I spread a thin layer of rice, put salmon or egg crepes on it, and place more rice on top, then scatter toppings on top. “Mom, I found the secret items in the rice!” he said when he handed back his empty bento box.

Chirashi sushi is not well-known overseas. Most people assume sushi means just “nigiri” and “maki” sushi. I am sure that they will be interested to learn chirashi is always a part of celebrations. Try and enjoy!

Chirashi sushi
(Ingredients for 2 servings)

Sushi rice (makes 380 grams) 180 grams (220 ml) short-grain rice / 220 ml water
Sushi vinegar 1 tsp salt / 1 Tbsp sugar / 2 Tbsp vinegar (or lemon juice) / 1 tsp white sesame seeds
Toppings:
Egg crepes (makes 6) 3 eggs / 1 Tbsp milk / 1 Tbsp sugar / 1 tsp potato starch / 1 tsp oil
Stewed carrots 1 carrot (150 grams) / 2 Tbsp water / 2 Tbsp mirin / 1 Tbsp soy sauce / 1 Tbsp sugar
Boiled snow peas 10 snow pea pods, strings removed / 1 tsp salt
As preferred:
Raw salmon, “unagi” (grilled conger eel), boiled shrimp.

1. Clean and soak rice for 20 minutes, then put into a rice cooker. Pour water and cook until al dente. Put hot rice into a big bowl.

2. Stir all ingredients for sushi vinegar. Pour the vinegar mixture over the rice, using a rice paddle to sprinkle it all over. Cool the rice down immediately with a handheld fan. Mix in white sesame seeds. Cover and keep at room temperature.

3. Peel and shred the carrot. Heat all ingredients in a pan on medium heat. After boiling, cook for 10 minutes at low heat. Mix one-third of the stewed carrot into the rice.

4. For egg crepes, stir milk and potato starch together, and add sugar and eggs. Mix well.

5. Heat a small fry pan over low heat and coat thinly with oil. Pour in 3 Tbsp of egg mixture and spread into a thin crepe by tilting the pan. Cook 1 minute. Repeat six times until the mixture is used. Layer two crepes and roll up into cigar-shaped pieces, then cut into thin strips.

6. Cook the snow peas in boiling salted water for 1 minute. Cut in half.

7. Prepare salmon, unagi, shrimp toppings.

8. Place sushi rice into two bento boxes. Scatter the toppings.

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Scan this QR code with your smartphone to view the recipe video in English.
https://www.youtube.com/c/PenandSpoon

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This article originally appeared in the July 4, 2021, issue of Asahi Weekly.

Chikako Tada: The author of seven cookbooks, Tada is a Japanese food journalist and editor of Pen & Spoon, a website devoted to food (https://pen-and-spoon.com/). She worked as a newspaper reporter for 12 years before going freelance. She spent two years studying baking in Paris and began making bento around 2016 during her seven-year stay in India. She returned to Japan in 2020 and lives in Fukuoka.