When you think "bento box" you think orbicular rice balls, shaped painstakingly into an adorable cartoon rabbit with seaweed eyes and a carrot mouth, resting photogenically on a bed of triangle-shaped lettuce leaves. Preparing bento boxes has become a niche adult pastime and an acceptable way for parents to play with their kids' foods.
Consisting mostly of rice, vegetables and lettuce garnishes, bento boxes are the highlight of many children's lunchtime hour. But from coastal southern Honshu comes a no-nonsense boxed bento made with the refined gastronomer in mind.
This wagyu bento box costs an arm, a leg, a cow, and likely, a plane ticket. Pictured below is delivery service, Gochikuru's "Tottori Wagyu Complete Cow" bento, a gourmet bento consisting of premium wagyu beef from Tottori Prefecture and rated as the highest-quality beef in Japan by the Wagyu Registry Association. It is quite literally the rarest and most exceptional beef you can possibly get.
This meaty offering costs $2,615, tax included. According to Sora News, that's about a whole month's worth of ordinary priced, but adorably designed, bento lunches. You won't find carrot whiskers or flower-shaped onions in this bento. Each cut of beef corresponds to its respective anatomical compartment -- prime rib, tenderloin, sirloin tip, brisket and chuck tender, all of the highest quality combined into 8.8 pounds of beef. Also included, cow tongue and cow temple, to expand your palate and waste as little valuable meat as possible.
Everything about the wagyu bento box is of the utmost quality, down to the box itself, constructed with two feet of solid wood, not plastic, and weighs in at about 33 pounds when filled. Served alongside silky, white Tottori-grown Kinu-Musume rice and dipping sauce flavored with Tottori-grown pears and wasabi, this regional-themed fare is a serenade to Japan's Chugoku region, a place deemed by many as the "food capital of Japan."
Orders for wagyu bento boxes must be placed two weeks in advance and are available for delivery in Japan only until March 31, 2018. If you want to get serious with your meats this upcoming year, it behooves you to pinch your pennies and save up for a meaty melange of a lifetime. Wagyu waiting for?