Yummy Kawaii Bento Book Review

I am so happy to be given the opportunity to review a great book titled Yummy Kawaii Bento, and written by one of my favorite bento artist and friend Ming, who blogs over at Bentomonsters.com.

I've been a fan of Ming's blog for a long while and was very excited to get my hands on a copy of her book! Kawaii, for those new to the term, is a Japanese expression for those things which are, from the Wikipedia definition, "lovable", "cute", or "adorable", and is perfectly applied to what you will find in Ming's book. It is true that you can't judge a book by its cover, but this one gives a pretty good hint regarding Ming's incredible talent. Look close; those bears have bentos! 

Early in her book she introduces the reader to the basics of bentos, selecting all the helpful stuff like boxes and tools like cutters, picks, barans and the rest. Then she shows how to use them to create amazing foods. Want to know how to make rice in various colors? She will teach you that even before you reach page twelve. And then come her amazing tutorials, with step by step instructions and illustrations. She includes a fabulous collection of her food art complete with the photos of the work in progress. Want more? You'll find it! There is an entire section devoted to delightful recipes, with, of course, the ingredients and the method of preparation. Just like the bentos, her book is a masterpiece!

Here is a photo of the book's cover. I just can't get over those little bear's tiny bentos!

Nikolai began the school year with a whole bunch of little sticky markers for his text books and as I was perusing this book I kept asking him for yet another one to mark a place of special interest. The result you can see below, and I was a long way from the end. I'm sure that I'll be making many more bentos inspired by examples from this book.

Using the pages from the photo above, I made something similar as shown below. The Hot Dog Bear Sushi was accompanied by carrot sticks and cotton candy grapes in a lettuce leaf cup, and a small container of ranch dressing.

Overall, Yummy Kawaii Bento is a fantastic book with cute ideas for lunches that Nikolai loves. I think everyone should have a copy of this book, beginning or pro lunch makers alike. It would make a lovely gift also!

Disclosure: Skyhorse Publishing sent me this book to review without cost to me. I have received no other compensation for this review and the opinions I’m expressing here are solely my own.

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