Onigiri bento ​​box and colourful salads for a week: 20 best packed lunch recipes – part 3 (2024)

Shuko Oda’s onigiri bento box

I grew up eating bento lunches throughout my school life. There’s something very special about the anticipation and excitement of opening a bento box. Onigiri rice balls are soul food for me, and this is a recipe for a classic onigiri bento box. You can make the egg roll and runner beans the night before, but add the sesame dressing to the beans just before packing into your box.

Drain the rice in a colander and leave it to dry for about 30 minutes, then place in a saucepan with 450ml water and put the lid on. Place on medium heat and bring it to the boil (try not to take off the lid).

Turn down the heat to minimum and continue cooking for a further 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave it to steam-cook for another 10 minutes.

Finally, remove the lid and give it a stir. Wet your hands, and sprinkle a small amount of salt on them. Take about 100g of rice, and make a little hole in the middle. Place an umeboshi inside, cover with the surrounding rice. As you cup the rice in both your hands, form a ball or triangle.

Repeat this four times to make 4 onigiri.

Cut the sheet of nori into 4 strips (you can just fold and tear it with your hands). Place an onigiri at the centre of a strip of nori and wrap the nori round the onigiri.

Put the sesame seeds on a flat plate and roll the exposed parts of the onigiri in the seeds. Repeat with the others.

To make the dashi egg roll, pour 100ml of boiling water over the bonito. Cover and leave for 3 minutes, then sieve the bonito, reserving the liquid (dashi) and let it cool. Measure 75g of this dashi and mix in the usukuchi soy sauce, sugar and mirin.

In a separate bowl, beat the eggs well, and then mix in the dashi and soy mixture.

Pour a teaspoon of vegetable oil into a non-stick frying pan (I use one that’s 24cm diameter) and place on a medium heat.

Add about a quarter of the egg mix to the frying pan. Once it is half cooked, using a chopstick or spatula, roll the egg – as you would a crepe – towards you.

Slide the egg roll to the back of the pan, pour a bit more oil into the pan if necessary.

Pour another quarter of the egg mixture into the frying pan, and repeat the above instruction until all the egg mixture has been cooked.

For the chicken karaage, squeeze the grated ginger to get the juice; keep the juice and discard the rest.

Place the chicken in a bowl with the ginger juice, soy sauce and sake, and marinate for 20 minutes, mixing a couple of times in between.

Discard the marinade mixture, leaving a small amount in with the chicken. Add the katakuriko and coat the chicken with it.

Heat the oil to 160C in a deep-fat fryer or frying pan with a depth of 3-5cm, and fry the chicken pieces for 4 minutes, then take them out. Rest them for 4 minutes and, in the meantime, bring the temperature of the oil up to 200C.

Refry the chicken for a couple of minutes, then take it out. Cut one piece to check it is cooked.

Serve with a wedge of lemon on the side.

For the runner beans in sesame, boil the beans (or other vegetables) in water with pinch of salt. Drain and wipe with kitchen roll.

Mix the sesame, soy sauce and sugar. Mix the vegetables with the ginger and the dressing.

Pack all the dishes into 2 bento boxes and keep in a cool spot – not the fridge, as this will make the rice go hard – until lunchtime.
Shuko Oda is executive chef at Koya Soho and City, London

Caroline McGivern’s layered lunchboxes

Thirty years of making my own packed lunch has bought me a house in Kensal Green. Well, that’s what I like to tell people. It’s money-saving for sure, and you know exactly what you’re getting.
I usually do a big cook the day before, but you can split it by making the hummus and beetroot two days before, as they keep well. Prepping, cooking and washing up can take the best part of five hours, but it’s well worth it as you’ll have enviable lunchboxes for the week. Layers of ingredients equal layers of flavour.

For the celeriac remoulade
celeriac about 250g
lemon a squeeze of juice and ½ tsp of grated zest
good mayonnaise 2-3 tbsp
double cream 1 tbsp
flat-leaf parsley 2 tbsp, chopped
golden raisins 1 tbsp (optional)

Next make the hummus. Put all the ingredients into a food processor apart from the olive oil and chickpea juice. Start blending on low and gradually add the olive oil, not too much. Then add some of the juice to loosen the mix. Blend on high until it’s a smooth consistency. Adjust the seasoning. It should have a creamy consistency as it will firm up once it’s in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Lay the beetroot on strong tin foil (or double it up). Drizzle with olive oil and tuck in a handful of garden herbs such as sage or rosemary and add a teaspoon of sea salt. Fold the edges together into a parcel, leaving a decent air pocket for the beetroot to steam and roast. Lay directly onto the shelf and bake for around an hour or until tender. Meanwhile, in a small frying pan, dry-roast the coriander, fennel and cumin seeds on a low heat for up to 10 minutes, or until the spices are blackened and the fragrance fills the house. Tip them into a mortar and pestle, grind to a fine powder. Once the beetroot is done, peel and cut into bite-size pieces and place in a large bowl. Add the ground spices along with a good sprinkling of sea salt and freshly ground pepper. Pour in the vegetable oil and red-wine vinegar. Mix well and store in an airtight container.

Now prepare the feta. Turn up the oven to 220C/gas mark 7. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper, place the feta on the paper and grate over the lemon zest. Sprinkle over the seed mixture grind over some pepper, drizzle with olive oil and roast till the feta is golden, about 15-20 minutes.

Next make the celeriac remoulade. If you have a mandolin, this will make the job of slicing the celeriac a lot easier, otherwise peel and cut the celeriac into matchstick-size pieces. Mix straight away with the lemon juice and zest. Add all the other ingredients and mix well.

Finally, prepare the salsa. Place the onion, pepper tomatoes, chilli and parsley in a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients, a teaspoon of sea salt and a good grind of black pepper to taste, and give everything a good stir. Allow at least 15 minutes for the ingredients to macerate.

Every morning before work, layer the rice at the bottom of a box, followed by 2 tablespoons of hummus and 2 tablespoons of beetroot. Next, 2 tablespoons of celeriac remoulade, a layer of little gem, 6 evenly distributed teapsoons of salsa and a decent chunk of feta, which should lie in the middle. Liberally scatter the whole box with at least 3 teaspoons of roasted nuts and seeds.
Caroline McGivern is the Observer Magazine’s deputy art director

Yotam Ottolenghi’s lentils, radicchio and walnuts with manuka honey

Manuka honey is expensive and not available everywhere, so you can substitute it with Scottish heather honey or another strong variety. Radicchio’s bitterness offers the right balance to the rich sweetness of honey, but if this isn’t to your taste you can leave it out or replace it with red endive.

Serves 4
puy lentils 200g
bay leaves 2
red-wine vinegar 3 tbsp
olive oil 90ml
manuka honey 100g
walnuts 100g
chilli flakes ¼ tsp
ground turmeric ½ tsp
radicchio ½ medium, or 2 red endives, quartered lengthways (120g)
pecorino fiore sardo or goat’s cheese 60g, shaved
basil 20g, roughly chopped
dill 20g, roughly chopped
parsley 20g, roughly chopped
salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 170C/gas mark 3½. Place the lentils in a medium saucepan, cover with plenty of water, add the bay leaves and simmer for 20 minutes or until tender. Drain well and return to the pan.

Whisk together the vinegar, half the oil, half the honey, ¾ teaspoon of salt and some black pepper until the honey dissolves. Stir into the lentils, while they are still hot, and leave to cool down a little, discarding the bay leaves.

While you are cooking the lentils, prepare the walnuts. Put the remaining honey, chilli flakes, turmeric and ¼ teaspoon of salt in a small bowl. Mix well, adding just enough water – about 1 teaspoon – to create a thick paste. Add the walnuts and stir until well coated. Spread them out on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment and roast for about 20 minutes, stirring once, until golden and crunchy but still a little sticky.

Remove from the oven and set aside, removing the walnuts from the baking parchment as soon as they are cool enough to touch.

To cook the radicchio, pour the remaining oil into a medium frying pan and place on high heat. Cut the radicchio into 8 long wedges and place in the hot oil. Cook for about a minute on each side and transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add the lentils, walnuts, pecorino and herbs. Stir gently and spoon into a plastic container or tiffin. When you get to work, refrigerate if possible, but take it out 30 minutes before lunchtime.
From Plenty More by Yotam Ottolenghi (Ebury Press, £27)

Jane Baxter’s chicken, tonnato and bean wrap

Tonnato dressing is a very tasty sauce usually used with poached veal. However, it makes a great dressing for chicken, pork and lots of veg. At this time of year there is always a glut of beans and tomatoes.

To make the dressing, place the anchovies, drained capers, basil and garlic in a pestle and mortar and bash until you have a rough paste. This can be done in a small blender. Stir in the mayonnaise and tuna flakes, adding a little olive oil to make the dressing coating consistency. Season well.

Trim the french beans and thinly slice the runners. Blanch in boiling salted water for about 4 minutes or until just cooked. Refresh in cold water, drain and shake off any excess water so the dressing will coat easily.

Toss the chicken and beans in the tonnato dressing. Lay out the wrap and sprinkle with the lettuce and tomatoes. Pile the chicken-bean mix in the centre and roll up, tucking in the edges.
Jane Baxter is a chef and food writer

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Jeremy Lee’s Quo Vadis ploughman’s

A ploughman’s is slices and pieces and servings of all the things we love best. A gathering of good things on a dish. Star billing goes to ham, cheese, a terrine of some sorts or a paté en croute (AKA pork pie), fruit, bread, butter, chutney or relish, soft green lettuce or a bunch of bright fresh watercress. A wise traveller often carries that rather natty tube of Colman’s mustard in a pocket ready to apply should one find oneself on the high road without some vigour. As with all good things, any stinting and the ploughman’s is diminished. Plastic and foil are most unwelcome – after all, its origins are steeped in hale, hearty and wholesome.

Chief delight of a paté or a terrine is a flavour of pork, rabbit or maybe duck, delicately seasoned with a subtle use of herbs and essential, though discreet spice. A lovely texture of coarse and smooth meats is well judged and mixed with the merest hint of wine or eau de vie. The whole is then spooned into the cooking vessel, the terrine itself, lined with bacon or lardo (pork back fat), sealed and cooked in a water bath in the oven. Once cooked, the terrine is weighted to ensure a well-packed interior that cuts perfectly and looks great.

Bone the rabbit and cut the meat (all save the leg meat) into neat cubes of 1cm size. Roughly chop the rabbit livers and add to the cubed meat. Pour on the madeira, and leave overnight.

Cut the rabbit leg meat into small pieces. Add the prunes, crushed garlic, the ginger and the cloves. Pour over the wine and the eau de vie de pruneaux. This sits covered overnight as well.

The following day, heat the oven to 180C/gas mark 4. Remove any rind from the back fat, and cut into small pieces. Remove the prunes from the marinade and mince the rabbit legs. Remove and discard any stones from the prunes and add them to the bowl. Combine everything together along with 1 tsp of sea salt and plenty of freshly milled black pepper. Salt and pepper are our friends and it is essential in cookery to be confident, brave and true with seasoning. Try frying a wee piece of the mixture to taste if it requires more seasoning. Mix everything very thoroughly. Once the terrine is completely mixed and seasoned ready to decant, add the egg to the mix. Let stand while preparing the terrine.

Line the terrine (I use a Le Creuset terrine, 7cm x 25cm x 9cm) with slightly overlapping slices of the bacon. Pack in the mixture and push into all the corners. Pull over the bacon so the terrine is completely encased. Cover with a lid or greaseproof paper secured by tin foil.

Place in a bain-marie (a second container, such as a deep roasting tray, filled with water) and put the whole shebang in the oven for 1½-1¾ hrshours. Insert a long thin skewer, and if it is hot in the middle and the juices are clear then the terrine is done. Cool the terrine and place a weight on it. Refrigerate and serve at leisure. It is good to let the terrine sit, covered, out of the fridge for an hour before serving, so the flavour and the texture is not lost in the coldness of the fridge.

To prepare your ploughman’s lunch, wrap and pack each delight in good paper into a box or basket. When hungry, remove each part of the ploughman’s, unwrapping the paper, and place upon a board.
Jeremy Lee is chef-proprietor of Quo Vadis, London W1