A bento is a single portion take-out or home-packed meal, very common in Japan. There are many varieties of bento box. Some prepared by using seasonal food and expensive ingredients, presented in laquer boxes. Some are just simple lunch boxes, packed in disposable containers, readily available at convenience stores or railway stations.

Japanese women used to prepare these for their husband and children to bring to work or school. Japanese take pride in preparing visually appetizing bento.

Most of us know that presenting food in an eye appealing manner enhances our dining experience. However, when cooking at home just for our family, we feel lazy in spending extra time plating our food. But a little extra effort goes a long way.

Occasionally, I do spend some time plating my cooking. This way, it keep things interesting for myself in the process of preparing the meals and also delight my diners.

We don’t have to be a trained chef or have a degree in art to make our cooking visually appealing. For plating at home, it should be about simplicity.

One pot meal or one dish meal are simple meals cooked with little fuss and minimal clean-up. And almost always contain meat and vegetable in one dish.

Some people like to put in every items of the dish, such as rice or noodles in the same pot, making it truly a one pot meal. Personally, I like to serve the rice, noodles or bread separately.

While such all-in-one cooking keep things simple, not all one-pot dishes are easy to prepare.

I served this stew with toasted baguette and steamed fluffy mantou. The beef in this stew are soft and almost melt in the mouth, because of hours of stewing on the stovetop. The gravy is full of flavor and best for dunking baguette and mantou. So which pairing is better? I like both.