We’re still months away from National Bento Month. Yes, if you didn’t know, such a phenomenon exists. I didn’t either, until I came across this while bouncing from one tab to another to research my next blog topic. That said, this isn’t a topic that needs a ton of research either. At its core, it’s a love letter to one of the finest Japanese companies (at least IMO), but with one tiny complaint.
Why I love Zojirushi Lunchboxes
I came upon Zojirushi more than a decade ago when I wanted to send cute bento boxes to my husband, in case he ever felt like a home-cooked meal.
But you wonder why an Indian blogger is even looking for a lunchbox when Indians have the infamous tiffin dabba? You see, the tiffin dabba is built for a hot, humid climate where food doesn’t dry out and stays at room temperature at best, even when left open on a plate. But the conditions we have here in California are the exact opposite.
While my husband appreciated my efforts in giving him lunch, he loathed digging into a cold lunch. And a little fun fact about us Indians: we are obsessed with hot food. The tiffin dabba may be ok for cold, snackable, room-temperature foods, but not hot food. So no, none of the lunchboxes we tried here in California worked.
After a ton of research, I discovered Zojirushi and bought it after being convinced by many reviews claiming it kept food hot for several hours. That alone sold me on the lunchbox. The lunchbox itself is a 4-tiered stackable lunchbox with an insulated carrier. Of the 4 containers, one is a large container meant for soups and stews, one for rice, pasta, or roti/pita, one for veg or a protein, and one for fruit/dessert. Just the right mix of portions and container types.
We cook a ton of Indian food in our home, if it wasn’t obvious from my site. But even after a decade of owning this beauty, there is no staining or residual smell of spices. Mind you, we have had days where my husband completely forgot to bring his lunchbox home, and I have seen all kinds of flora growing inside of it. Of course, this was followed by heavy sanitization and sterilization to make sure the box was mold-free.
The lunchbox my elementary school kid uses
Fast forward a decade later, I still use the Zojirushi lunchboxes on days I need to pack lunch for my husband. But my sweet, little elementary school child has this particular one from OmieBox, which is the best we have found in the kids’ lunchbox category. The OmieBox has an insulated container that claims to keep the food warm up to 4 hours. I am yet to experience that. My child says it is not hot or warm, but it is not dry. So I guess that’s a win in my book compared to the many cute options on the market that dry out the food almost instantly.
American Schools and Cold Lunches
And then there’s the great American School Cold Lunch. While cafeterias serve a mix of hot and cold school lunches, lunch boxes brought from home are often kept in coolers or refrigerators to maintain food-safe temperatures, as recommended by USDA food safety guidelines. This absolutely sucks if you come from a culture that loves hot food. So we’re really looking at almost everyone from the Indian subcontinent, but honestly from other Asian cultures too.
Yes, you could ask the teacher to leave the box out. Not a problem. Just one more thing to do among the gazillion other things parents have to remember and keep track of.
The Quest for The Perfect Kids’ Lunchbox
My quest for a kids’ lunchbox that ticks the keeps-warm box restarted when my husband came back from work one day, full of praise for the amazing food I had sent him. In that moment, it dawned on me that my daughter rarely came back from school appreciative of her lunchbox. I always chalked it up to her being a typical elementary school kid, too busy on the playground. While it is true that elementary school kids don’t talk too much about their lunch, I have a child who will talk non-stop about good food. So this appreciation from my husband triggered a rabbit hole to find the perfect lunchbox for my daughter. I should also mention that the lock snap of her OmieBox just recently died on us after nearly a year of use. One more reason for the quest to continue.
I love Zojirushi lunchboxes except this one thing…
My research brain instantly checked out Zojirushi because I have never found a lunch box that could work as well. Of course, I was disappointed to note that they only made Hello Kitty food jars, which are completely different from their tiered lunch boxes. You would think that a company that comes from the land of Hello Kitty, Super Mario, and Sailor Moon – and I say this as the mother of a humungous Super Mario fan – should be able to make cute lunch jars for kids.
I have found other companies with similar models, but none created with the same finesse and thoughtfulness you typically find in Japanese products. I don’t want an adult jar. That would mean too many boxes to open and set out on a school cafeteria table. What I want is something that my child can open, carry, love, and still find warm, like a hug from her mom at noon. Here is my little note to Zojirushi –
Dear Zojirushi,
I love your lunchboxes, but I truly wish you would develop a kid-friendly version.
If you can recreate it bento style, I would take that too.
Thank you
Your Biggest Fan,
Pakoda Stories