BBQ-to-go, but not what / how you think

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  By Elaine Dunn | September 2022

 

Hong Kong is a foodie’s paradise.  And one of the latest new offering affirms its place in food innovation.

 

As the cliché goes, “necessity is the mother of invention.”  Because of COVID-spread fear and mandatory lockdowns, many Hong Kongers have given going out to eat a miss.  So one Hong Kong restaurant has come up with a bento box meal that even the Japanese are envious of.  It brings Japanese BBQ home to the customers hankering for freshly grilled meat!

Bento-Yaki came up with a sleek all-in-one Japanese BBQ takeaway.  The cardboard yakiniku bento box comes with small covered compartments for meat-of-choice, rice, vegetables, a side dish of either kimchi or tamagoyaki, miso soup, sauce and a built-in grill with charcoal.

202209 5 2Individual compartments with plastic covers

 

The customer can choose from three cuts of meat, neatly sliced: karubi plate (meat from between the brisket and flank), chuck flap rib (from the shoulder) and short rib.

To start grilling, just take out the box of matches provided and grill away.  Coal lasts approximately 30-45 minutes.  And when you’re done grilling, use the packet of water, also provided, to douse the grill.  Pretty clever, eh?  Wish you’d come up with it?

Each box is designed for one person and costs from US$8 to US$18, depending on your meat selection.  You can also order side dishes.

Yakiniku, Japanese term for barbecuing small pieces of meat on a table grill, originated in Korea and has become very popular in Japan.

The convenience and novelty of this one-box BBQ -grill-at home bento has so impressed a Japanese food celebrity he tweeted about it.  His post has gone viral and some Japanese have sought to have the same available on commuter trains or train stations.  However, others protested the smell of the grilling would be too “disturbing.”

Debbie downers in Hong Kong also mentioned food hygiene and smoke-filled homes concerns.  Hello … it is a BBQ, what did you expect??  Me?  I just want to know the probability of the charcoal grill burning through the cardboard box and ruining the kitchen/dining table! 

 

202209 5 3  See video on using the bento box

 

 

Tags: Bento-Yaki, yakiniku, bento box, Japanese BBQ, BBQ takeout

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