Most Japanese bento include rice, often pressed into easy-to-eat shapes. When that ubiquitous rice is coaxed into bite-sized cylinders, the meals become known as makunouchi (literally translated as ¡°between the acts¡±) bento, a reference to their Edo-period origin as intermission eats for kabuki audiences.
Makunouchi bento remain popular today, with reasonably priced ones sold at nearly every convenience store and upscale versions available at depachika (basement-level food halls in department stores).
To coax cooked rice into cylindrical bundes, it¡¯s convenient to use rice molds. Look online or in the housewares section of department stores for these handy tools. Inexpensive ones made of plastic cost only a few hundred yen, while wooden molds are sturdier and more eco-friendly but cost a bit more (about ?1,500).
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