Bento 108: New Eco Lunchbox

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Like many of my bento buddies, I am in love with stainless steel boxes. It looks so clean and understated, perfect for displaying food – the minimalistic design focuses the eyes on the food itself. Why, it was only the other day that Debra reviewed a stainless steel box from Lunchbots – which promptly reminded me that I need to try out my new Eco lunchbox! I have been sick all last week (stayed home until Thursday!) = no bentos, but after spending 1/2 week in bed, I am ready to roll again.

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I had purchased the Eco Lunchbox sometime in December, and had got it delivered to my friend’s place in the US. It is slightly bigger and deeper than what I usually use, and I was initially stumped at how to fill it without using too much food. It also comes with a small round pot with a waterproof plastic lid – I used that to fit my tangerine segments & blueberries in. I can see that being very useful if you are packing ‘wet’ and saucy foods or yoghurt/mousse for dessert.

In my test-run bento, I first filled the box with some spicy noodles with lots of veggies and sliced fish cake in a ‘bowl’ fashioned out of bibb lettuce. I had some egg white left over from baking, and decided to make a quick egg white soboro with sliced beans to top over the noodles. I cut bunnies out from more fish cake slices, and used sesame seeds as eyes. I had what I thought was a brilliant idea for their mouths – I wanted to ‘pin’ the bunnies down instead of sticking them with mayo and such – and spotted some new picks that I got from bff dreymer over Christmas. They look small enough, so I stuck them through the punnies and voila – pinned down, not moving! Yay! I only realised that it looked like bits of carrot & peas after I took the picture – heh . I padded out the rest of the bento with sugar snap peas and plum tomatoes. And oh, a new giant heart-shaped pick as well.

I love this box. The oval shape is easy to fill, and the double latch keeps your food firmly in the box and not out without a bento band. The inner pot is a great idea and can be used separately to port nuts, raisins, yoghurt or for wet and saucy food. I like stainless steel, but sometimes you need some plastic in your life.

If you are in the UK and are interested in getting a stainless steel box for bento, the good news is we now have access to them! The popular Lunchbox Duo and the Lunchbox Trio that Debra reviewed would be my main pick – they were not available when I decided to get myself the Eco Lunchbox last year. Lucky you!

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