Mom's bento boxes are almost too pretty to eat
Even with back to school happening from home for many Americans, there's a simple way for parents to prep lunchtime for kids with perfectly portioned bento box meals.
Thanks to Jessica Woo, who shares videos at @sulheejessica with her 3.2 million followers on TikTok, creating compact dishes full of nutrition and flavor for her own kids have become a trend anyone can try at home.
The mom of three and her eldest daughter Adeline, 9, joined "GMA" from their home in Las Vegas, Nevada, for our "Taste of TikTok" series and shared her favorite fast recipe for fried rice as well as tips for plating and arranging the components of her dish.
The traditionally Asian meal typically includes rice or noodles, fish or meat with vegetables served in a single-portion box.
Woo has filled her wildly popular TikTok feed with riffs on the classic container recipes, making everything from egg salad to club sandwiches and rice with cajun shrimp or tuna onigiri (tuna rice balls.)
She also uses reusable silicone inserts to divide the food into aesthetically appealing arrangements. The main portion of the meal sits in the largest space of the bento box and Woo fills in the rest with fresh fruit or veggies that she likes to use cutters to create fun shapes, held together with specialty toothpicks.
Traditionally Omurice is fried rice wrapped in a thin egg omelette. Woo's Korean version of the dish adds the egg right on top for an even easier approach.
Check out the full recipe below and give it a go in your own kitchen.
Omurice, Fried Rice with Omelette
Serves: 2
Ingredients
2 cups of cooked day old rice
1 tbs chopped onions
1 tbs frozen carrots & peas
4 ounces of ground beef
(You can add any meat or other vegetables if you would like)
1 tbs soy sauce
1-1/2 tbs ketchup
Salt and pepper to taste
Oil for frying4 eggs
Furikake rice seasoning (optional)
Directions
Finely chop the onions.
Heat a large skillet over medium high heat with 2 tablespoons of oil. Add the onion, carrot, peas and ground beef, and stir fry until the onion turns soft and the meat is cook through. Stir in 1 tablespoon of soy sauce and salt and pepper to taste.
Reduce the heat to medium. Add the rice, and stir until all the ingredients are well combined. Add 1-1/2 tablespoon ketchup and salt and pepper to taste, and continue to stir until the ketchup is evenly incorporated into the fried rice.
Transfer to a plate.
Beat 2 eggs in a bowl with a a fork. Add a pinch of salt. Heat a lightly oiled small non-stick pan over medium low heat. Add the egg mixture to the pan and swirl it around to cover the pan. When the bottom is set, flip it to the other side and cook for another few minutes.
Repeat the last steps for the 2nd egg omelette.
Add the fried rice onto your bento box (or plate). Use kitchen scissors or food shape cutters to make shapes with the egg omelette and place it on top of the fried rice.
Add Furikakae rice seasoning to finish it off for more flavor and color to your dish!
TikTok Star's Top Tips to Upgrade Lunch
Cooked rice is a hero ingredient
"My hero ingredient is cooked rice. I always have rice cooked and leftover rice is perfect for making fried rice for a lunch meal," she explained.
Use scissors or kitchen shears
The simple kitchen tool is Woo's favorite to help elevate the appearance of food by cutting them into decorative shapes.
