The brownish vegetable in the bento box is stir-fried lotus root slices with chicken & sesame. I love the crunchy texture of lotus root, and it’s healthy with a full of fiber. I so wanted my daughter to eat it, but she initially refused to do so (as she always does for anything unfamiliar). But she gave in and took a bite after I sang a Japanese children’s bento song, which goes like this (translated by me):

This big / Bento-box / Onigiri onigiri / Pack your onigiri / Sliced ginger ‘n / Sesame sprinkle / Carrots / Burdoc root / Shiitake mushroom / Lotus root full of holes / Full of fiber, Fuki-root!

If you’d like to listen to the song, here is a YouTube link I found: