Look at that!

Pork chops cooked in a sweet and tangy sauce

with garlic chips.

An energy-boosting Tonteki Bento from Marc.

Smells so good!

Maki cooks savory simmered clams with rice

to make a nutritious Clam Rice Bento.

We love bento!

(The Global Lunchbox 6-19)

Welcome to BENTO EXPO,

your guide to the wonderful, delicious world of bento.

I'm Marc Matsumoto.

And I'm Maki Ogawa. Thank you for joining BENTO EXPO.

As always, we've received some delicious-looking bentos from around the world,

so let's start by checking some out!

OK!

First, a flavorful floral bento packed with textures and tastes.

Hi, I'm Cindy from the United States, and this is my sister,

and today I'm going to be making a quiche to put into my bento.

Cindy is going to make her take on quiche

using spinach and goat cheese.

The tangy, umami-rich taste of the goat cheese

goes well with the spinach.

I use goat cheese that's packaged with herbs for extra flavor.

She spreads the goat cheese and spinach over the crust,

and moves on to make the custard.

Cindy's key seasoning is mace.

It's a spice made from the aril surrounding nutmeg,

and its milder flavor makes it perfect for the delicate quiche.

She whisks in the milk and pours it over the other ingredients.

My grandmother really loved quiche.

I tried a lot of quiche recipes and I finally made up this one.

That looks good!

Cindy lines up some thin slices of cucumber

and rolls them together to make a beautiful rose.

She packs her quiche with ham and cheese roses,

as well as raspberries for a pop of color.

I make bentos because they make me happy.

It's something to cheer me up in the middle of the day.

Rounded out with some potato balls and veggies,

Cindy's bento looks like a colorful flower garden.

Great job!

We love bento!

Next, from Thailand,

a heartfelt character bento with a grandmother and her grandson.

We are from Thailand.

Top has been making character bentos to celebrate family birthdays.

Here's one he made for his father-in-law,

showing him driving with his grandson.

Today is his mother-in-law's birthday

and he's going to illustrate her cradling her grandson.

First, he's going to make salmon fried rice.

The key is to use fried garlic.

Fried garlic is often used in Thailand.

He combines it with rice and seasons it with soy sauce

before stir-frying it with salmon, eggs, and veggies.

The savory salmon and pungent garlic go so well together.

It's a family favorite!

Next, he seasons fried bacon and veggies with "chunjang,"

a Korean black bean paste to make "jajangmyeon."

The sweet, earthy flavor of chunjang goes so well with the pork and noodles.

To assemble the scene, Top uses cut pieces of "nori" for the hair

and to complete the look, he uses a stick to add curls to her hair,

then layers on ham and cheese to dress the pair.

The jajangmyeon creates a nighttime backdrop,

and he finishes it off with a moon and stars made from cheese!

What a peaceful scene!

She sings a song and puts my little one fall asleep.

Happy Birthday!

- Good?
- Good!

We love bento!

It's time to get started on our bentos!

OK!

Today, both Maki and I are going to be making bentos

that will make you feel "genki", or lift your spirits!

Like, "Maki, are you feeling genki?"

"Yes, I'm genki!"

Great! So, what's your Genki Bento going to be?

I'm going to use clams to make Clam Rice Bento

that's super-easy and rich in umami!

That sounds good!

Clams are rich in B vitamins and are a great way to boost your energy

when you're feeling tired.

Cooking clams with rice is a classic combination

that infuses it with loads of flavor.

Maki washes the rice and soaks it in water for about 30 minutes.

While she's waiting for that,

Maki prepares the clams.

Today, she's using frozen shucked clams that have been defrosted.

To the pot, add soy sauce,

sake, sugar, and a little bit of salt, and bring this to a boil.

Then she adds the clams and ginger,

and lets that simmer.

The ginger masks the fishy smell and boosts the flavor.

And look at that beautiful caramel color!

It smells so nice.

Our clams are done.

The sauce is packed with flavor and umami,

so she strains it off to cook with the rice.

Remaining sauce.

Maki adds the sauce first

and then measures in the water according to the lines on the rice cooker bowl.

And add clams.

This can also be done on the stove using the boil, simmer, and steam technique,

but today...

I will leave it to the rice cooker.

That makes it easy!

Let's open!

Smells so good!

It makes me so hungry.

Gently fluff the rice together with the clams to distribute them evenly.

Look at all the clams inside.

My clam rice is done.

"Itadakimasu."

The clams are so juicy! The rice is full of clam flavor.

Every bite is packed with umami to make you feel genki.

Maki packed her clam rice with "tamagoyaki"

and simmered root vegetables for extra protein and fiber.

For kids, she uses "konnyaku" balls

as a canvas to make a pair of cute bears using nori and carrots.

Maki's nutrient-rich bento will boost your energy

and put a smile on your face.

So Marc, what is your genki bento going to be?

I'm going to be using these pork chops and garlic to make a Tonteki Bento!

Wow, that sounds interesting!

Tonteki means "pork steak,"

and it's known as a stamina-boosting food in its birthplace of Mie Prefecture, Japan.

With its savory-sweet sauce and loads of garlic,

this bento is sure to make you genki.

The first thing I'm going to do is thinly slice a bunch of garlic.

Then, I'm going to prepare the "ton" or pork.

It's another food that's rich in B vitamins,

which explains why tonteki is known as a stamina-boosting food.

OK, so let's cut some slits into our pork chops.

We're just going to cut slits,

right through the fat cap and through some of the connective tissue here, just like this.

This is going to tenderize the meat while making it easier to render out some of that fat.

Alright, and this is called a "glove cut,"

because when you spread it open,

it looks kind of like a glove, doesn't it?

Then let's season our pork steaks with black pepper,

and dust them with flour.

This creates a coating that will help glaze our tonteki with the sauce.

Now, we're ready to fry these up!

I'm going to start by frying the garlic.

Spread the slices into a single layer and flip them over repeatedly.

They're done when they start tanning around the edges,

so remove them quickly before they get too dark.

It smells so good.

Let's use this garlic oil to saute the asparagus.

This is a great time-saving way to make a side dish for your bento

that's also going to add a ton of flavor to it.

For the steaks,

I'm going to go ahead and get these into our garlic oil here.

Go ahead and fry these until they're golden brown on both sides.

Look at that!

As you can see, the fat's rendered out of the little fingers of our glove,

and it's gotten nice and crisp.

Once the pork is cooked through, remove them

and use paper towels to soak up the oil.

To make the sauce, I'm going to add the soy sauce,

sake, Worcestershire sauce, honey, and ketchup.

And the sweet flavor of that ketchup with that tangy Worcestershire sauce

is going to go really well with our pork. Alright.

Once the sauce has come to a boil,

return the pork steaks and flip them over to glaze them.

The flour coating is absorbing that beautiful sauce,

creating this nice, shiny glaze on the outside.

OK, our tonteki is done.

Itadakimasu.

I'm going to get a piece of pork here with a little garlic chip on top.

That savory sweet and tangy sauce go beautifully with the nutty pork,

and you've got that crispy garlic on top that just adds this beautiful pop.

I'm feeling genki already.

I place the tonteki on a bed of rice and cabbage,

then I pour over a little extra sauce from the pan.

I recommend packing the garlic chips separately,

so you can sprinkle them on just before you eat your bento.

It's a great combination of flavors and textures

that'll power you through the day.

Today, both Maki and I made bentos that will boost your energy and make you genki,

so we hope you'll...

Give them a try!

Bento Topics.

Today, from Tsukiji, in Tokyo.

It handles a huge volume and variety of fresh seafood.

But there's another thing it's famous for.

Tamagoyaki!

These rolled omelets make perfect additions to bentos.

There are many shops in Tsukiji specializing in tamagoyaki.

It's delicious... and hot!

This store is one of them.

It goes back several generations and makes about 3,000 tamagoyaki a day.

We've been open for more than 70 years.

This is a must-have for sushi.

This store started out as a sushi restaurant.

But after it became famous for its delicious tamagoyaki,

it began specializing in them.

The secret to this shop's tamagoyaki lies in its dashi,

made with "katsuobushi" and "kombu,"

that boosts the umami flavor of the eggs.

A generous amount of dashi is added to a mixture of beaten eggs and sugar.

The result is poured into a special square pan and cooked over low heat.

Once it starts to set,

it's pushed to the side.

And then with a flick of the wrist,

it's flipped over.

This is repeated several times to form a rolled omelet

with dashi sealed between the layers.

The juice is wrapped inside. We use a lot of dashi.

But doing so makes the eggs softer. So they break easily.

It requires a lot of skill to make the store's trademark tamagoyaki.

One bite, and the dashi bursts in your mouth.

Customers expect a certain standard from us.

That's why we adhere to tradition.

Meanwhile, a new way of enjoying tamagoyaki has become a trend.

This is our Tamagoyaki Sandwich.

This store specializes in fluffy white bread

and tamagoyaki sandwiches.

Besides plain tamagoyaki,

there's a variation that contains "aosa" seaweed, as well as one that has truffles.

The truffle tamagoyaki features eggs

mixed with a homemade paste of black truffles and mushrooms,

inspired by "pasta a la carbonara."

The owner opened this store in 2020

to transform tamagoyaki into a trendy dish.

Tamagoyaki is thought of as a Japanese dish.

But in a sandwich, it pairs well with Western ingredients.

The hot tamagoyaki is sandwiched in

between bread that's been spread with mayonnaise.

The sandwiches are then cut and packed.

The vivid yellow tamagoyaki sandwiches are ready.

How does the truffle tamagoyaki sandwich taste?

The fragrance of the truffles spreads through your palate.

And you get a burst of the dashi-filled egg.

It's sheer bliss!

We love bento!

So to all you bento makers out there,

head over to BENTO EXPO's website for all of today's recipes,

and while you're there, send us a photo of your favorite bento for a chance to be featured.

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

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

- Bye.
- See you soon!