2022 Character Bento Contest

Winners

Donna

From Redmond, Washington, USA

Risa

From Washington, USA

Tonarinrin

From Japan

Applicant Gallery

Listed in order of submission

あなな (Anan) – California, USA

初めて日本で幼稚園留学した時のお弁当。
スパイダーマンが好きな息子のためにグランマが愛を込めて作ってくれました！

Donna – Redmond, Washington, USA

Penguins Bento for my 7yo son.
Rice balls: rice, nori, cheese & carrots.
Beef & asparagus negimaki, shredded red cabbage & cherry tomatoes

Inari Neko-chan, a Cat Bento.
Inari sushi, nori, cheese, carrot, fried spaghetti.
Shrimp & Enoki mushroom nugget, carrot, snap peas, lettuce, cherry tomatoes.

Chicken Teriyaki Chic Bento
Rice, chicken teriyaki, egg, nori, corn, broccoli, snap peas, cherry tomatoes

Chicken Soboro Bento (character: crab)
Rice, chicken, egg, sausage, cheese, nori, lettuce, broccoli, sweet potato

Poodle Bento
Rice, vegan scrambled egg (just egg), vegan cheese, nori, chicken karaage, lettuce, broccoli, carrots, edamame

Lion Bento
Rice, pork floss, cheese, nori, kabocha salad, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, mixed berries

Little Mice Bento
Rice balls: rice, sausage, nori, fried spaghetti
Miso salmon, cheese, spinach, black beans, lettuce, cherry tomato, grapes

Panda Bento
Inari sushi, nori, asparagus, salmon floss, apple, butter cookies

‘Chicken’ Karaage Bento
Rice, chicken karaage, satsuma imo, sweetcorn, lettuce, carrot, cheese, sesame seeds

BentoBette – Philippines

Doraemon
He is made from short amount of rice naturally colored with butterfly pea flower extract (tea) for blue. It comes along with fried salmon with fresh salad and roasted sesame dressing for the sides. Salad is composed of lettuce, hard boiled egg, butterfly pea petals, cucumber, carrot, tomato and cheese. For the fruits, we had apple slices and pomelo.
Lisa Simpson
She is made from mashed potato slightly brushed with turmeric tea for finishing touch. The viands are sautéed chayote with ground pork and paired with (fried) dried fish. For fruits, we had pomelo and dragonfruit.

Hanh – Washington, USA

I wanted to create a simpler bento this time with less complicated side dishes and easier decorations. This bento is a Kirby bento! he’s sitting on his yellow star, flying over a forest, while reaching for a maxim tomato to heal up. The base of the bento is a cream pasta.
Ingredients:
cream pasta (angel hair pasta, garlic, milk, Swiss cheese, bacon, zucchini, black pepper)
cherry tomatoes (whole, and red details)
boiled broccoli
cheddar cheese
roasted seaweed sheets
a bit of kewpie mayo (eye shine, attaching other details)
thin slice of deli ham
swiss cheese (“M” shape)
We had leftover curry and deep fried shrimp from the night before so I used it in this Squid Game themed bento. Since Squid Game is quite gorey, I decided instead to use the circle, triangle, square motif from the logo on the back of the business cards that double as invitations to join the Squid Game. I tried to create a squid shape from hotdogs and imitation crab to support the “squid” theme.
Ingredients:
Japanese curry (curry roux block, onion, carrot, potato)
rice balls (white rice, ebi furikake, roasted seaweed)
cucumber
deep fried shrimp
hot dog
imitation crab
I wanted to make a bento based on the character Anya from the anime Spy X Family. Anya is one of the main characters, an adorable little psychic girl, who often gets excited over little things such as a bag of her favorite peanuts. When she’s excited, she’ll make two tiny fists and hold them up near her face, her eyes become large with stars in them, and she’ll say “waku waku”. I made the bento to look like this iconic expression of hers!
Ingredients:
seasoned rice (white rice, chicken bouillon powder, Sriracha)
thin slices of deli ham (darker pink has some food coloring)
egg white sheets and egg yolk sheets
roasted seaweed sheets
green leaf lettuce
cucumber
carrot
bulgogi chicken (soy sauce, garlic, ginger, honey, sesame oil)

For this bento, I thought it would be cute to make it Among Us themed! Among Us is an online multi-player game where the objective is to work together as a team to fix the airship you’re on while avoiding an imposter crewmate whose mission is to kill everyone on board. The scene I’ve created for this bento is when the red crewmate was found missing half of their body and the other crewmates gather for a meeting to try to figure out who had committed the crime. I included a note with this bento that mimicked the conversation between the yellow crewmate and the black crewmate where they determine that yellow was the imposter and ejected them from the airship!
Ingredients:
All crewmates were made from mixed rice balls (white rice, ground beef, onion, soy sauce). Yellow is decorated with a thin egg sheet, egg white sheet with blue food coloring, and a cucumber cut into a leaf shape. Black is decorated with a sheet of roasted seaweed, egg white sheet with blue food coloring, and a deli ham shaped into a flower. Red is decored with strips of bacon and a bone-shaped Swiss cheese. They’re surrounded by green leaf lettuce.
cucumber ham salad (cucumber strips, deli ham strips, Swiss cheese strips, kewpie mayo, ebi furikake)
stir-fried butter shoyu mushrooms (blue oyster mushrooms, white oyster mushrooms, soy sauce, butter, diced carrots)
cabbage pancake (shredded cabbage, zucchini, eggs, flour)
homemade pickled radishes (red radish, vinegar, sugar).

リサ (Risa) – Washington, USA

おにぎり(ゆかり、昆布、梅、おかか)、肉じゃが、ハート型の卵焼き、キャベツと桜えびのお浸し、ほうれん草とおジャコのお浸し、豚肉の生姜焼き、クレソンとプチトマトで彩りを添えて。
ツナ巻、アスパラガスの焼きびたし。
おにぎり(昆布、梅)、ツナ巻、ブロッコリーのナムル、アスパラガスの焼きびたし、ステーキサラダ、ハート型の卵焼き、揚餃子、自家製胡麻ダレソース、桜の花びら型の人参を散らして。
ハローキティーがテーマの行楽弁当です。
食に興味がない子供の為に、栄養バランスを一番に考えて作っております。
お腹が空いて食べるというよりも、色々見えるからあれこれ気になって、可愛いから手に取って食べてくれる内に、食事に興味が出てくれればという願いを込めて作ったお弁当です。
あごだしや桜えびをふんだんに使い、炭水化物だけでなく、お野菜と共にカルシウムとたんぱく質が積極的に取り入れる様に心がけております。

Saya – Washington, USA

私は、日本語を勉強しています。きゃら弁を作った理由は、日本語の宿題だったからです。その理由は、食べものの栄養のボキャブラリーを習って、練習する為です。私は、食べる人に楽しい気持ちが伝わってほしいです。食べておいしいと思うこともわかってほしいです。きれいな食べ物を作るのは簡単だけど、栄養のバランスもあるのはむずかしいです。
お弁当のキャラクターは「キツネとタヌキ」という漫画のたぬきときつねです。その漫画を選んだ理由は、好きな漫画なのと簡単な絵だからです。キツネは、酢飯と味付け卵でできています。キツネの茶色いところは煮椎茸です。卵はタンパク質と酢飯は炭水化物です。椎茸はミネラルです。キツネのうしろは、茹でたほうれん草に切ったニンジンです。ほうれん草はミネラルで、ニンジンはビタミンです。タヌキはデザートなので、チョコレートパンケーキです。パンケーキの上には、チョコレートガナッシュがのっています。チョコレートは脂質と炭水化物です。パンケーキはチョコみたいに脂質と炭水化物です。バックグラウンドには、いちごとバターの花があります。いちごはビタミンで、バターにたくさんの脂質が入っています。そうして、全部はとてもバランスが良いです。味も良くって、全部の味が合います。

Nola – Washington, USA

私は、ノラです。13才です。
すみっこぐらしの‘’しろくま‘’と‘’とんかつ‘’をつくりました。
栄養のべんきょうをしたので、栄養のバランスを考えてつくりました。
しろくまーごはん、ハム、のり
とんかつーコロッケ、ハム、のり
ブロッコリーをハートで飾りつけしました。
ソーセージはたことカニに切りました。
いちごはハートの形にしてかわいくしました。

Tonarinrin – Japan

仕掛け弁当 #trickbento
pic1
The minion looking at chopsticks.
He says, “Is this situation going to be eaten by someone?”
pic2,3
Looking from directly above it looks like this.
・Small hamburger steaks
・Green pepper with salted kelp seaweed
・Seasoned egg (soak dashi-soy sauce)
・Kinpira of burdock and canned mackerel
・Simple Pasta ~Black Pepper and mayonnaise~
・Compote of sweet potato
・Soak Red cabbage with sweet-vinegar
・Chorogi