Make delicious sushi for your packed lunch
Stand out from the crowd at lunch-time with amazing looking Japanese inspired sushi. A bento box is a Japanese lunch box typically containing one full meal. Make your own delicious Pokémon Poké Ball, penguin or a panda bear and build a cute bento box for your lunch!
- Pre-cooked and cooled rice
- Dried seaweed sheets (Nori)
- Rice vinegar
- Salt
- Ketchup
- Cheese
- Mayonnaise
- Fruit and vegetables - Sweetcorn, cucumber, tomatoes, carrots, lettuce
- Scissors
- Cling film
How to make a sushi panda for your bento box!
🚨Make sure to wash your hands, as you'll be handling food!🚨
1. First make your sushi rice by mixing in vinegar, a pinch of salt and a pinch of sugar.
TOP TIP: The stickier the rice, the better so sushi rice or jasmine rice is best.
2. Place the rice mix onto your cling film and wrap it into a tight ball.
3. To create a cute panda, cut a long strip from your nori (seaweed) to make your arms and legs. Then cut small circle shapes for your ears, eyes and nose. Be careful when using scissors. 🐼
4. Take out your rice ball and add your arms, legs, eyes and nose, so simple, but so gorgeous.
5. Get creative and see what other creatures you can make, check out our penguin in the video above, we love it! 🐧
6. To complete your lunch add some lettuce, carrots, cucumber, sweetcorn, tomatoes, grapes, cheese... whatever you fancy 🥗
How to make a sushi Poké Ball for your bento box
1. Make some flavoured sushi rice as above, by adding your vinegar, sugar and salt.
2. Split your rice in half and add one half to a bowl. Mix in some ketchup to make a lovely red colour.
3. Roll your plain sushi rice into a ball and place onto some cling film. Roll your red sushi rice into a ball and place on top of the plain rice. Wrap the cling film around both balls and roll together in the cling film to create a ball shape. Leave to set.
4. Cut a long strip of seaweed to wrap around your ball and a circle shape.
5. Next cut a circle shape of cheese and use mayonnaise to stick it to the circle of seaweed.
6. Remove your rice from the clingfilm and wrap your strip of seaweed round the middle. Stick your cheese and seaweed circle to the centre with some more mayonnaise.
7. Your sushi Poké Ball is ready to go and catch some Pokémon, or to get everyone chatting at lunchtime.
Take our Japanese food quiz
If you've got a taste for Japanese food and culture test your knowledge in our super fun Japanese food quiz. 🍣
Check out more fun Pokémon Horizons quizzes and activities
Go back to school with Blue Peter
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And remember, you can play games and quizzes, enter our competitions, get creative with recipes and crafts, and chat to other BP fans over on the Blue Peter page!