Teriyaki salmon bento box
45 min · 54 g protein · 552 cals / serving
A packed lunch that feels like a treat: glossy home-made teriyaki salmon over a small bed of short-grain rice, with a jammy egg, steamed broccoli, edamame, carrot ribbons and quick-pickled cucumber in their own corners. Good cold, good warmed, and four boxes come out of one baking tray.
Ingredients
Rice
- 2/3 cup sushi rice, uncooked, rinsed until the water runs clear
Teriyaki glaze
- 3 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
- 4 tsp mirin
- scant 2 tsp honey
- 1 tsp ginger, finely grated
- 1 clove garlic, finely grated
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 2 tbsp water
Salmon
- 4 fillets (6 oz each) sockeye salmon, wild sockeye, skinless
Bento sides
To finish
- 2 tsp toasted sesame seeds
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
Steps
- Cook the rice with 3/4 cup water: bring to the boil, cover, turn the heat to its lowest for 12 minutes, then leave it covered off the heat for 10 minutes. Fluff and spread it on a plate to cool.
- Heat the oven to 400°F. Stir the soy sauce, mirin, honey, ginger, garlic, cornstarch and water together in a small pan and simmer for 2–3 minutes, stirring, until it thickens to a glossy glaze that coats a spoon.
- Lay the salmon on a lined tray, brush with a third of the glaze and bake for 8–10 minutes (wild salmon is lean and cooks fast), until it flakes and reaches 145°F in the thickest part. Brush with the rest of the glaze as it comes out.
- Meanwhile, lower the eggs into boiling water for 7 minutes, then into cold water; peel. Steam or boil the broccoli and edamame together for 3–4 minutes, until bright green and just tender, and drain well.
- Toss the cucumber with the rice vinegar and a pinch of salt and leave for 10 minutes, then squeeze out the liquid.
- Let everything cool, then build four boxes: rice in one half topped with a salmon fillet, sesame and green onion; broccoli, edamame, carrot ribbons and half an egg, cut side up, in the other half, with the cucumber in a small pot or silicone cup.
Good to know
How long does it keep, and do I eat it cold or hot?
Up to 3 days in the fridge, because of the fish and rice; cool everything within an hour of cooking and refrigerate right away. Keep the salted cucumber in its own cup or it soaks the rice. Rice firms up in the fridge, so either let the box stand out for 20–30 minutes before eating, or take the egg and cucumber out and microwave the rest for about 90 seconds, until steaming hot.
Can I have more rice?
Yes. With 1 cup dry rice and 1 1/4 cups water the bed of rice is a regular bowl-sized portion, at about 64 instead of 68.
Can I use farmed salmon?
Yes. Farmed Atlantic salmon is fattier and more forgiving, so it stays moist even if it bakes a minute too long; the box scores 59 instead of 68. Give it 10–12 minutes.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 91
- Protein
- (40%)
- 9 g
- Fat
- (24%)
- 2 g
- Carbohydrates
- (36%)
- 9 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 2 g
- Sodium
- 109 mg
About 75% of the alcohol remains after cooking; the label counts only that.
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 2207 kcal goes into the pot and 2527 g of ingredients comes out as about 2420 g of food: 91 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.