Season 7-11 Curry Goya Champuru Bento & Purple Sweet Potato Korokke Bento

Today, Marc makes a bento featuring "goya" or bitter melon,

a vitamin-rich specialty of Okinawa.

Maki makes fluffy "korokke" or croquettes

with purple sweet potatoes rich in antioxidants.

And a bento maker in the Faroe Islands shows us her son's favorite bento

made with lamb liver paste and dried mutton.

Obento.

We love bento!

We love bento!

(The Global Lunchbox 7-11)

Welcome to BENTO EXPO,

your guide to the wonderful, delicious world of bento.

Thank you for joining us.

We love seeing the delicious looking bentos submitted through BENTO EXPO's website.

They are packed with wonderful ideas.

So let's start by checking a few of them out.

Okay.

First, a picnic bento from Elsa who lives in Japan

with her Japanese husband and family.

Hello.

My name is Elsa. I'm from the Faroe Islands.

The Faroe Islands are located in the North Atlantic.

With green pastures and sheer cliffs,

they look like they came straight from the pages of a fairytale.

The name of the Faroe Islands means "sheep."

So, there are more sheep than people.

Elsa is making a picnic bento for several open-faced sandwiches featuring lamb.

Elsa uses rye bread and spreads on lamb liver pate for her first sandwich.

It's one of Kaoru's favorites.

- Pickles!
- Yeah, how does it taste?

- Is it yummy?
- Yummy.

The rich pate goes well with the tangy gherkins.

So how many pickles are you using?

- Five!
- Five, oh yeah.

Next, dried mutton with butter on a piece of bread.

This is a traditional delicacy of the Faroe Islands.

This is my favorite bread.

The Faroes are also famous for salmon,

and Elsa also tops hers with chopped garlic chives.

Once, when we were on the Faroe Islands, we used to go to different places,

different mountains and we always brought open sandwiches for our obento.

Elsa also packs a traditional spherical sweet snack.

For my child, I would like them to taste the real taste of Faroe.

They will never forget the taste of the Faroe Islands.

Now it's time for their picnic.

Umm. This is good.

We like obento!

Next, from Dian, a bento for her homesick son.

Hello, my name is Dian. We came from Indonesia.

Dian's family moved to Japan last year for her husband's work,

and she's been packing bentos for her son Ruben to cheer him up.

Today she's making meatballs called "bakso."

It's an Indonesian comfort food and one of her son's favorites.

She seasons the ground chicken with salt and pepper,

and shapes the mixture with her hand.

Press it, then like this.

By squeezing in this way,

you can get the chewy texture of Indonesian meatballs.

That looks fun!

Next, she deep fries the meatballs in oil until they're golden brown.

This is inside it.

Look at how uniform they are on the inside.

For her side dish, Dian makes Japanese "tamagoyaki" with crab sticks.

This is Ruben's favorite Japanese dish.

Dian rounds out her bento with broccoli florets and sausage and carrot flowers.

What a colorful bento.

I believe this will increase my son's appetite.

So, what do you think, Ruben?

Thank you, Mom!

The carrot looks like a star. It's so cute.

- Good?
- Yeah!

- We love bento.
- We love bento!

- It's time to get started on our bentos.
- Okay.

Today, both Maki and I are going to be using super nutritious vegetables to make our bento,

like this goya or bitter melon.

And these beautiful colored, purple sweet potatoes.

Yeah, and they look beautiful together, don't they?

I'm going to be making a curry "goya champuru" bento.

Sounds great!

Goya, or bitter melon, is super rich in vitamin C,

and the bitter compounds it contains are said to have medicinal effects.

Goya champuru is a comfort food in Okinawa

comprised of the southernmost islands of Japan.

Champuru is a local word for "mixed," and in my version,

I add in some curry powder to mix things up.

Let's start by preparing the goya.

Okay, we're first going to trim off both ends,

and then I'm going to go ahead and cut this in half lengthwise just like that,

and it's going to reveal the pit and seeds in the center.

So I'll just use a spoon and scoop all of this out.

Once it's hollowed out, cut the halves into 3mm-thick slices.

Then I'm going to toss the goya with some salt and let them sweat for 20 minutes.

I'm just going to use my hand like this.

So much water!

That's going to be a lot of that bitterness and it's going to make it a little bit less harsh.

I'm going to squeeze this with my hands.

- Wow!
- Yeah, look at that!

This process also brings out the vibrant green color

and crunchy texture of the goya.

Now let's prepare our other ingredients.

Luncheon meat has become a staple in champuru

due to the US military presence in Okinawa.

Now you want to beat the egg,

and tear the well-drained tofu into chunks like this.

Okay, it's time to make our champuru.

- Mix, mix, right?
- Yeah, exactly!

Start by browning both sides of the tofu in oil.

Ooh, it's nice and brown.

Because we crumbled it with our hands, we've got a lot of crisp surface on the outside.

Okay, and then I'm going to go ahead and add our luncheon meat.

Add the onions on top of here.

So this luncheon meat will give us a ton of flavor in our goya champuru.

- Okay, I'm going to add the goya.
- Goya! Yes!

It's the star of the show.

And then we're also going to add the curry powder and toast it a little bit with the goya.

So colorful!

To season it, I add honey and soy sauce.

But there's one more ingredient.

It's not goya champuru without the egg.

We're going to scramble this in.

- Nice!
- So, once the egg is scrambled,

our curry goya champuru is done!

It looks so nice.

What a colorful mixture!

So Maki, are you ready to try my curry goya champuru?

Yes, itadakimasu!

(This food was prepared in a separate, hygienically controlled environment.)

The spicy curry goes well with the bitter goya.

A wonderful harmony of sweet honey, rich luncheon meat, and bitter goya.

- And that's the magic of curry powder.
- Yes!

I pack my champuru with a shredded carrot stir fry

called "ninjin shirishiri" for some extra color.

This Okinawa-inspired bento is sure to spark your appetite.

So, Maki, what are you going to make for us today?

I'm going to make purple sweet potato "korokke"

using these beautiful potatoes.

I love purple sweet potatoes.

Purple colored sweet potatoes are loaded with vitamins and fiber,

and their vibrant purple hue is a result of their high anthocyanin content.

Maki is going to turn these into Japanese style croquettes or korokke,

and the fun color and delicious taste makes it a perfect bento item.

Maki starts by slicing the sweet potatoes into 1cm-thick rounds.

The skin is also delicious.

Then she cuts them into small cubes and boils them

for 5 to 7 minutes until they're nice and tender.

While she waits for the sweet potatoes,

Maki sautees the onions and ground beef for the filling.

I bet that savory beef's going to make a nice contrast with the sweet potato.

Exactly.

The potato is sweet, so add a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper.

Once the meat mixture is done,

Maki checks her potatoes and transfers them to a bowl.

Oh, nice color!

While the sweet potatoes are hot, Maki adds the butter and mashes it in.

I can't believe there are still skins in there. It looks so smooth.

It's full of flavor.

Then Maki mixes in the beef mixture and milk.

This looks good enough to eat with a spoon.

Wait for the korokke.

Okay.

Maki shapes her korokke into spheres

and coats them with flour, egg and panko.

- Okay, let's fry them.
- Okay.

It's already cooked through, so you just need to make it crisp.

It smells so good. It's almost like a pastry.

It smells sweet.

Okay, my purple sweet potato korokke is done!

So, Marc, try my purple sweet potato korokke.

Look at the color of this. It's like my shirt!

(This food was prepared in a separate, hygienically controlled environment.)

It's amazing.

I love the sweetness of that potato with that savory beef and the onion.

And it was so smooth, I didn't even notice the skin in there.

- It's delicious, Maki.
- Thanks!

Maki packs her bento with okra, boiled egg and tomatoes for even more color.

For kids, she makes flowers cut from sweet potatoes and the tips of a few okra.

It's such a fun and vibrant bento, I can't help but smile.

Today, both Maki and I made bentos with vibrant veggies

that are rich in antioxidants and vitamins. So we hope you'll...

give them a try!

Bento Topics.

Today from the Buddhist country of Thailand.

Giving alms to monks is a morning ritual

believed to bring happiness and good fortune.

The food is offered in a "pinto,"

a traditional bento box used by people of all ages.

In recent years, pintos have become more stylish and chic,

attracting attention from all generations.

This restaurant features pintos not only in its décor,

but also in its food presentation.

I use pintos at my restaurant, because I want to keep the tradition alive.

Their signature dish is tom yum noodle soup

with a fried wonton in the shape of a heart. It's so cute.

I think using pintos is a great idea. It's a wonderful tradition.

Pinto bentos have gone viral on social media.

This account has over 20,000 followers.

Let's meet the person who runs it.

Hello. My name is Preaw. Nice to meet you.

Preaw works in the apparel industry.

She's been posting pinto bentos for about four years.

People who work in the city say they love seeing the photos.

They're reminded of their mom's or grandma's cooking.

Preaw's mum prepares all these bentos for her daughter.

Today, Preaw is lending a hand.

First, a traditional soup full of shrimp and vegetables.

"Krachai" is a traditional herb used to mask fishy smells.

It's mixed with other ingredients to make the soup base.

Krachai is very good for you.

Health-conscious Pon avoids using artificial additives,

and focuses on bringing out the inherent flavors of the ingredients.

The soup is infused with the flavors

of the spicy paste, vegetables and shrimp.

Next, Preaw makes her mum's favorite.

Deep-fried pork and salted fish meatballs.

She adds coriander paste to give it a kick.

Knead thoroughly.

Her mum's specialty meatballs contain whole chili peppers.

Now she just needs to fry them.

One bite, and a medley of flavors bursts in your mouth.

How does it taste?

Delicious!

Because it's made by your daughter!

Time to pack the food in the pinto.

The meatballs go on top of a bed of mixed-grain rice.

The soup goes into the next layer.

And for dessert, pumpkin in coconut milk.

All set.

The pinto makes the food look so tasty.

It's packed with mom's love.

Eating together makes it taste even better.

We love bento!

- Bye-bye.
- Bye-bye.

That looked delicious. Bento packed with love!

Yeah. And it must be fun discovering what's in each tier.

Maki and I love seeing your bentos

you share with us through BENTO EXPO website,

and we're looking forward to seeing your holiday season-themed submissions.

Well, that's all the time we have for today,

but we hope you'll join us again here soon on BENTO EXPO.

- See you soon!
- Bye.

Bye.