Goshiki

A beautiful bento is a matter of balancing many aspects, and one of the most important is color.  It can be intimidating to try to work everything into one bento, but when you break it down, not only does the job become easier, but it helps you to prepare a properly balanced meal.  This article talks about color profiles in food, as well as ingredient suggestions.

White – Rice!  When rice is polished, it loses its brown bran and becomes the white rice we think of, and a true foundation to any bento.  If you’re absolutely certain you want to use a different kind of rice, or no rice at all, you can instead use tofu or some brands of white bread as your base.  In some situations, pork, chicken, or turkey can also satisfy this color when the proper and cooking techniques cuts are used.  This is the easiest color to put into a bento.

• White Rice
• Tofu
• White Bread
• Cauliflower
• White Cheese
• Daikon
• Potato
• Eggwhites
• Onion
• Marshmallow

Black, Brown, or Purple – This is another extremely easy color profile to satisfy, especially since all three colors are considered one requirement.  Most people turn to nori (dried sheets of seaweed) as it can be used to wrap rice balls, or cut into decorative designs for kyaraben.  Brown rice is an easy foundation piece for a bento, or the use of chocolate in dessert.

• Nori
• Black Noodles
• Black Beans
• Beef or Burger
• Brown Rice
• Chocolate
• Whole Grain Bread
• Mushrooms
• Purple Yams
• Purple Grapes
• Red Cabbage (it usually looks purple!)
• Red Onion (also purple!)
• Blueberries
• Blackberries
• Purple Cauliflower
• Eggplant

Orange, Pink, or Red – Ham and surimi are some of my favorite choices for this color profile.  Surimi is a white fish puree that’s often flavored, shaped, and colored to mimic crab, lobster, and shrimp meat.  If you’re lucky, your local import grocer may carry ‘kamaboko’, which is a kind of surimi ‘loaf’ that is often dyed pink on the outside.

• Tomato
• Strawberry
• Bell Peppers (Red or Orange)
• Watermelon
• Apples
• Cherries
• Rare Beef
• Surimi
• Salmon
• Azuki Beans (and products like anko and anmitsu)
• Pink Grapefruit
• Orange
• Tangerine
• Mango
• Apricot
• Pumpkin
• Sweet Potato
• Butternut Squash
• Carrot

Yellow – Cheese and eggs are easy choices.  If you’re making a kyaraben, cheese can be easily cut into shapes and designs.  If you’re going for a more classic bento, egg can be used in a rolled sweet omelet, or omurice (fried rice in a thin egg omelet).  Fried foods (such as tempura or tonkatsu) are also considered part of his color group, because of their golden color.  Saffron rice is also an excellent alternative to white rice.

• Cheese
• Egg (yolk, scrambled, rolled omelet, omurice)
• Yellow Cheeses
• Bell Pepper (Yellow)
• Corn
• Banana
• Gold Potato
• Squash
• Peaches
• Mararoni and Cheese
• Lemon

Green – A lot of vegetables can easily cover this field!  If there's no green in your bento, then you need to take a close look at the nutritional value of the meal.

• Zucchini
• Pickles
• Cucumber
• Lettuce
• Collard Greens
• Turnip Greens
• Cabbage
• Spinach
• Bell Pepper (Green)
• Sugar Snap Peas
• Snow Peas
• Edamame
• White Grapes
• Brocolli
• Artichokes
• Kiwi
• Lime
• Avocado
• Cabbage
• Celery
• Kale
• Brussel Sprouts
• Scallions
• Leeks

Often, multiple colors can be worked into one dish.  Many grocery stores sell packages of red, yellow, and green bell peppers together, or packages of precut squash and zucchini mix.  A single salad can be green (lettuce), red (tomato), white and/or yellow (cheese, egg), and purple (cabbage).

When packing a balanced bento, cooking methods and proportion are also important, but that’s a topic for another time!  Have fun packing your colorful bento!