[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYWFrqm8NEQ?rel=0&w=600&h=338]
The perfect travel food arose in Japan around a thousand years ago. It is called bento, and there is still nothing better for getting a complete, cheap, and nutritious meal on the road.
Bento boxes, called biandang in Chinese, are East Asia’s answer to an American school child’s brown bag lunch packed by mom. They are a cheap and readily available complete meal, packed in a singular container that can be transported easily and eaten when traveling or on break from work or school.
A typical bento box will be made from bamboo, but today they are often made from the entire array of food packaging materials.
Though the inside is where the essence is. Packed within the rectangular confines of the container will be a bed of rice blanketed with a slab of meat (pork, beef, or fish being the most common), vegetables, and perhaps a slab of tofu or two. In one package you get protein, carbs, and vitamins — an entire balanced meal.
Bento originally comes from Japan, where the custom is still very popular, and was spread to Taiwan, Korea, the Philippines, mainland China — even Hawaii has a take on it. They are sold in convenience stores, bento shops, department stores, airports, and railway stations throughout East Asia. It is the staple food of rail travel in Japan, and you really wouldn’t think of getting on a long distance train there without one.
From the start, bento was a traveler’s meal. In Edo Period Japan travelers and tourists would go around with their lunch “bento boxed” to their waists. I have not come upon a more appropriate travel food in these 15 years of wandering around this planet. Bento is a cheap, delicious, nutritious, and portable meal — do we need anything more?

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About the Author: VBJ
I am the founder and editor of Vagabond Journey. I’ve been traveling the world since 1999, through 93 countries. I am the author of the book, Ghost Cities of China and have written for The Guardian, Forbes, Bloomberg, The Diplomat, the South China Morning Post, and other publications. VBJ has written 3729 posts on Vagabond Journey. Contact the author.
VBJ is currently in: Rome, Italy
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