(Part 2)
In my recent visit to Japan, I was very priviledged to be received and hosted by Nippon Restaurant Enterprise Co Ltd to visit their Ekiben-ya Matsuri store at Tokyo station (read Part 1) and also an exclusive behind-the-scenes trip to their Daimasu Factory.
Nippon Restaurant Enterprise Co Ltd (NRE) is the comprehensive food business of JR East Group.
I was really excited to check out what goes behind the making of these beautiful yummy delicious ekibens and bento!
We arrived at the Central Kitchen of NRE Daimasu which is located just 30 mins away from Tokyo station by car. There is a good reason for this – to ensure short delivery time to ensure the freshness of the ekibens and bento sold at Ekiben-ya Matsuri retail store.
I was introduced to the background of the company and their driving principles behind their successful business. The 3 pillars are: 1.hygiene and safety 2. delicious food 3.beautiful presentation.
Check out the wide variety of bento packaging/boxes of their ekibens and bento. These are just tip of the iceberg as they have produced so many ekibens and bento.
One that caught my eye was this cool vintage style aluminium bento box. On the cover is an image of a very old anime. 
To enter the kitchen area, we were required to change into the special clothing and shoes to avoid any contamination of the food. We also had to wash our hands four times using two three types of washing liquids. Right before entering the facility, we had to stand in front of the blower too!
Can you tell which one is me?
What awaited behind the doors were so many delicious food prepared and carefully arranged and packed into the ekibens and bento.
One of my favourites! Inari-zushi!
To ensure that the food are thoroughly cooked through and are safe to consume, special gadgets are used to check the temperatures and even the PH levels of the food.
What I was most impressed with was how many people were involved in carefully preparing and arranging the ekibens and bento. I counted that there wereactually 17 to 20 persons just for one type of bento!
So when you are enjoying the ekiben, know it that there has been about of ‘heart’ and effort put into making their beautiful boxed meal!
Want to eat ekiben? Head over to Tokyo train station to Ekiben-ya Matsuri, one of the largest retailers of ekiben boxed meals sold on trains and at stations for travelers. It offers a lineup of over 170 specialties from Hokkaido in the north to Kyushu in the south. Part of their appeal is that they invite regional bento makers to come and cook at the shop so that customers get to taste regional specialties in the freshest way possible.
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