Nori Bento (Roasted Seaweed on Rice) is called Noriben in Japan. It is a classic bento consisting of just rice, bonito flakes, soy sauce and nori (roasted seaweed) . But I added fish and vegetable dishes to make it more nutritious.
Because bento is usually made mostly from left-over dishes or make-ahead dishes, the time indicated in this recipe only shows the time to pack the bento box.
- 1 cup cooked rice (note 1)
- 2 sheets nori (roasted seaweed) the same size as the rice surface area (note 2)
- 2.5g / 0.09oz bonito flakes (note 3)
- Soy sauce
- 1 Spanish Mackerel Saikyo Yaki halved (note 4)
- 1 Japanese Fried Fish Cake (Satsuma Age) cut in half diagonally (note 5)
- 30g / 1.1oz Karashi-ae with gai choi/Chinese mustard greens (note 6)
- 1 Pickled Chrysanthemum Radish
- A bento box of your choice
- 1 okazu cup (note 7)
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Tear the nori sheets into smaller pieces.
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While the rice is still hot or warm, place ½ of the rice in the largest compartment of the bento box. Level the surface.
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Spread ½ of the bonito flakes and dribble soy sauce (note 8) to wet the bonito flakes.
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Spread ½ of the nori pieces covering the rice and bonito flakes as much as possible. Dribble/spray a small amount of soy sauce over the nori.
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Put the remaining rice on top of the nori and level the surface.
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Repeat the step 3 and 4.
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In one of the empty compartments, place Saikyo Yaki fish pieces.
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Put Karashi-ae in an okazu cup and place it in the corner of the other empty compartment.
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Place Pickled Chrysanthemum Radish next to Karashi-ae.
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Put Japanese Fried Fish Cake on Noriben in the corner (note 9).
1. It is best to pack cooked rice in a bento box while hot or warm as it is easier to shape the rice into the bento box.
2. If you are making a single layer Noriben, you only need 1 sheet.
3. A small plastic packet usually contains 2.5g / 0.09oz of bonito flakes. You can increase the amount of bonito flakes if you like.
4. I halved the fish after grilling so that it fits in my bento box. If your bento box is large, you can pack a whole piece.
5. Make ahead, left over from the meal, or even use a frozen fish cake. If using a frozen fish cake, leave it on the kitchen bench to thaw naturally or use a microwave to defrost. Do not overheat in the microwave as fish cakes will explode. You could grill frozen fish cake over medium low heat to heat up, too.
6. Please use the recipe Broccolini Karashi-ae (Mustard Dressing) and use blanched gai choy/Chinese mustard greens cut to 4cm / 1½” long instead of broccolini.
7. Instead of an okazu cup, you can use a cupcake liner or a small sheet of aluminium foil to separate the two items.
8. I spray soy sauce using a soy sauce spray bottle. See the sample photo of a soy sauce spray bottle in the post. I bought it in Japan but Amazon sells it and you might also find it at Daiso discount shops. It’s a really handy little bottle when you want to control the amount of soy sauce and evenly spread it over the food.
9. I didn’t have room to put the fish cake pieces in the dish area so I placed them on Noriben. You don’t need to do this if you have more room to pack the fish cakes.