Bento boxes are never out of fashion. In fact, what began as a Japanese style of packing lunches has slowly risen in popularity and can now be seen around the world.
Instagram has also helped push the concept of a single-portion home-packed meal forward. With more than 330k followers, Shirley Wong—aka Little Miss Bento—might as well be the godmother of bento boxes.
Based in Singapore, Wong is in fact the first Singaporean to be certified under the Japan Sushi Instructor Association in Tokyo and the Japan Salonaise Association.
An award-winning bento artist, her inspiration comes from her day-to-day, with special focus on pop culture references. “I tell people that inspiration is not from one source, but it is from multiple sources,” she explained in an interview with the Epoch Times. “I could be inspired by pop culture, popular culture, or whatever that is trendy now.
“I will usually draw first, after which I will come up with the design and figure out what box I would be using, and the ingredients which I need,” relayed Wong, going into detail about the process itself. “This usually happens the night before, or sometimes a few nights before. I can also have the design hanging out for a week before I start making it.”
In Japan, the word “bento” has been used since the 13th century, and the container itself—also called “bento”—has been known since the 16th century. But over the years, the bento box has changed its face many times.
