Introduced here is the Yakiniku Bento, a simple ekiben with a large piece of yakiniku meat on a bed of white rice. The main attraction is the three pieces of grilled meat. Each piece is so large that it completely covers the rice. The sauce is quite sweet, but not at all cloying. The combination of this yakiniku with the rice, which is well seasoned with the sauce, is not bad, and you can eat it all at once while picking up some other side dishes along the way.
There are four accompanying dishes: wasabi pickles in a cup, simmered vegetables, sesame kelp, and shibazuke (Japanese pickles). Since this is an ekiben that is meant to be eaten with the main course of meat and rice, the supporting teams are all small in quantity.
The refreshing taste of the pickled wasabi goes very well with the grilled meat with sweet sauce, and its presence is sufficient. You can have it on top of the meat, or just pick a little bit of it up along the way. It enhances the sweetness of the meat and refreshes the palate. Other dishes include simmered carrots and bamboo shoots with just the right amount of sweetness, and sesame kelp with a sweet flavor. Sesame kelp is sweetly seasoned. Shibazuke is crunchy and refreshing.
This ekiben is from Manyoken, a long-established Chiba ekiben shop that has been in business since before World War II. The company’s signature ekiben, “tonkatsu bento,” is also simple, consisting only of meat and rice, making it seem like a sibling to the company.
As a side note, there is a “barbecue bento” at Kisarazu Station in Chiba Prefecture, and although not an ekiben, Toshimaya, a bento shop with many branches in Uchibo, has a “chashu bento”, also known as a “bar bento” or “char bento”. It is popularly called “bar-ben” or “char-ben. Chiba Prefecture is a treasure trove of simple bento bentos that feature rice and meat, including pork cutlet, barbecue, char siu pork, and the yakiniku introduced in this article.
© Source travel watch