Some might say that bento bowls are in trend right now, maybe even a tad pretentious. Just to get things straight, I think stuffing a big, pretty bowl with a heap of salad and then sticking the word ‘bento’ before it just because you serve it with chopsticks is kind of cheating because it’s just hyping up a bowl of flipping salad. In addition, a bowl is such a cop out if you’re under the impression you’re getting a home-cooked meal (as I once experienced at a friend’s house who invited me over for ‘dinner’). Though admittedly, I can’t always be arsed either, so a 'bowl' meal still has it's uses, and very convenient ones at that.

You might say I’m being hypocritical since I’ve gone and made one such bowl myself after just insulting the very basis of it, however, what I will do to justify me calling it a bento bowl is stick tofu, rice and pickled vegetables in, because after all, it does originate from Japan where a single portion would typically be contained within a convenient take-away box.

The word bento refers to an individual’s meal, not one that is to be shared, and I like that concept because when I have food I love, I really don’t want to share it, so it’s okay to be selfish!
By the way, I’m not showing off with my ingredients, but since I’m in China and no longer in England, I want to make the most of the exotic fruits here so that’s what’s going in my bowl.

I haven’t written quantities because that will depend on a number of factors:
a) how greedy you are
b) how much you love salad (maybe you want less of the stuff)
c) how big your bowl is
d) how many bowls you want to make (for others, or just for yourself, I’m not judging!)

Serving size:
Serves 1

Ingredients for salad:
• Pickled cucumber
• Pickled ginger
• Dragon fruit
• Mango
• Rice
• Pan fried tofu
• Carrot
• Apple

Ingredients for dressing:
• 1tbsp soy sauce
• 1tbsp agave nectar
• 1tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 cloves garlic crushed
• 1tsp ginger crushed

Method:

1. Cut all vegetables in a not-so-ordinary or lazy way (or you can go for bog standard chopping if you’re not into the
   fancy stuff)
2. Arrange everything nicely in the bowl (or box if you’re being really traditional)

Now you can enjoy