Bento cakes or lunch-box cakes are pretty, minimalist, two-by-four-inch cakes that weigh about 300-350 grams. First seen in Korea, these cakes have now made their way to India, during the pandemic.

When Ines Sun was growing up in Taipei, Taiwan, she recalls her mother preparing a bento lunch for school. The night before, her mother cooked a dish often a stir-fry and placed it on a bed of rice, ...