Today on BENTO EXPO, Maki fries up pork wrapped quail eggs.

Marc uses a microwave to make a "dashimaki" egg sandwich.

And from France, a bento featuring crepes made with chickpea flour.

It's a comfort food a father makes for his kids.

Delicious.

We love bento!

(The Global Lunchbox 7-19)

Welcome to BENTO EXPO, your guide to the wonderful delicious world of bento.

Thank you for joining us.

Maki and I love seeing the delicious-looking bentos you submit through the BENTO EXPO website.

They are packed with wonderful ideas.

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

OK!

First, from Indonesia, a mother makes a bento for her son that's packed with traditional foods.

I'm going to make a bento made from "tempe."

Tempe is a traditional Indonesian protein that's made by fermenting soy beans.

Selvie starts by slicing up and then deep-frying her tempe.

Then, in a separate pan, she fries chili peppers

together with a fragrant blend of traditional Indonesian herbs and spices.

Here in Indonesia, the brown sugar is usually shaped like an oval.

Add the tempe.

It smells so strong from the chili.

She seasons the mixture with sweet soy sauce and chicken bouillon.

The combination of sweet, spicy, and savory tastes goes great with the earthy tempe.

Then, using "onigiri," Selvie creates a female character for her bento.

Crabstick and egg are cut into cute accessories

and the rice is surrounded by fragrant tempe and stewed beef.

What a hearty bento.

Enjoy!

Yummy!

We love bento!

Next from France, a dad makes a bento for his family packed with a traditional street food.

Hi, we are the Kriegers.

We will make a bento for you.

A special bento called "socca" bento.

Socca is a thin pancake made from chickpea flour that's eaten in the southeast of France.

To make the traditional batter, Vincent combines chickpea flour, salt, water, and olive oil

and whisks it all together.

He lets the batter rest for an hour and a half

before spreading a thin layer onto a crepe pan.

Let's flip it.

It's perfect!

Nice job, Vincent.

Then he cuts out the socca using a cookie cutter.

And look, it's an angel!

For the side, he mixes fresh ricotta cheese and fragrant pesto to make a filling.

Then he wraps it with ham to make a savory and creamy side dish

that's the perfect accompaniment to the socca.

I am dressing the bento for our children.

Steamed artichokes are full of fiber and vitamins

and they're such a fun shape to add to a bento.

It looks delicious.

OK! The bentos are done.

So how is it?

Delicious!

We love bento!

It's time to get started on our bentos!

OK!

Eggs are some of the most common ingredients to pack in the bentos

and today both Maki and I are going to be using these to make our bentos.

I'm going to use these cute quail eggs to make a super crispy fried quail eggs bento.

That sounds great.

Maki's boiled quail eggs are wrapped in meat before being skewered and breaded

which turns these tiny eggs into a super satisfying bento item.

Let's see how she prepares them.

Let's wrap the quail eggs with thinly sliced pork.

OK!

Place the egg on one end of the sliced pork, then roll.

And skewer with pick.

Like this.

So cute, right?

Yeah, it looks like a lollipop.

Yes! This is for kids.

For adults, Maki skewers three quail eggs together.

And let's see what she does next.

Just wrap together.

It's so easy and fun.

Wow, that's easy.

And I love having food on skewers because it makes it so fun to eat.

Yes.

Maki seasons the pork with salt and pepper

and breads the skewers with flour, beaten egg and "panko."

- OK, let's fry them.
- All right.

Just drop in pre-heated oil.

I love this sound.

Yeah, it makes you hungry, doesn't it?

We're using boiled eggs.

You only need to fry two minutes to cook the pork through.

Look at this.

It's looking golden brown and delicious, and it smells amazing.

Yeah, it smells great!

My fried quail eggs are done.

Look at that!

Marc, try my fried quail egg.

Itadakimasu!

Wow, look, it's so crispy.

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

It's super crispy on the outside

and you've got that layer of pork that adds a ton of flavor.

And on the inside, you've got that creamy quail egg that goes so well with that pork.

It's so good.

Great!

Maki packs her quail eggs with fried potatoes and colorful veggies.

And for kids, she cuts out crescents from a slice of cucumber

and places them around a boiled quail egg seasoned with soy sauce to make a turtle.

With a variety of textures and tastes on each skewer,

Maki's fried quail eggs are such a fun and satisfying bento item.

So Marc, what is your egg bento item going to be?

I'm going to be making an egg sandwich using "dashimaki tamago,"

which is a Japanese-style omelet that's loaded with dashi.

That sounds delicious.

Japanese egg sandwiches have been taking the world by storm,

and this version, which originated in Kyoto

is stuffed with a soft and fluffy Japanese omelet.

Today, I'm going to show you an easy way to make this using a microwave oven.

First, I'm going to oil a microwave-safe container that's about the same size as a sandwich bread.

Then, I'm going to make the egg.

To make the egg mixture, I'm going to go ahead and add the potato starch, and our salt,

and then I'm going to add our dashi stock and mix this together first

until the salt and potato starch is dissolved into the dashi.

Once dissolved, we're going to go ahead and add our eggs.

And then I'm just going to beat this together until it's uniform in color.

Marc, what is the potato starch for?

So dashimaki tamago is loaded with a ton of liquid

and by adding potato starch, it binds the dashi and the egg together

to keep it nice and moist while preventing our sandwich from getting soggy.

OK.

Then, I'm going to pour the mixture into the oiled container

and cook it in a microwave oven set to 600 watts for about two minutes,

or until the edges begin to puff up like this.

Wow.

So we are going to go ahead and use some chopsticks to scramble this up.

Break up all of these big curds in here.

I love this smell... dashi and egg.

Me, too.

Then I'll repeat this process cooking it for another 30 seconds...

and scrambling it again.

When the egg is nice and thick, cover the container loosely

and cook it for another minute, or until the egg is mostly set.

Look at that. It smells really good.

I want to see that.

Not yet. We've got to leave the lid on, and it's going to steam it the rest of the way through.

OK.

While we wait for the residual heat to do its job, let's make the sauce.

I add the mayonnaise, spicy mustard and honey to a bowl and stir it all together.

This sweet and spicy sauce is going to go great with our savory dashimaki tamago.

So, this is cooled off. Are you ready to take a look?

Yes.

Let's open it up.

So beautiful.

Although it's fully cooked, the dashi makes the egg soft and custardy.

To assemble the sandwich, just place the omelet on one slice of bread,

and spread the mayo-mustard sauce on the other.

Then, I just sandwich it together.

And our dashimaki egg sandwich is done.

Looks so delicious.

Maki, try out my dashimaki egg sandwich.

Itadakimasu.

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

The egg is fluffy and full of dashi.

It goes so well with the sweet and tangy sauce.

And to think the egg was cooked in the microwave!

You're a genius.

Thanks, Maki.

I packed my dashimaki egg sandwiches with sausages and a colorful assortment of vibrant veggies

for a contrast of taste and textures to the fluffy egg.

Today both Maki and I used eggs to make our simple and satisfying bentos,

so we hope you'll... give them a try!

Bento Topics.

Today, from the Malaysian island of Penang.

A historic trading port, Penang is home to a diverse mixture of cultures.

These colorful Peranakan houses are lined up in a row.

"Peranakan" refers to the blend of Chinese, Malay and Western cultures.

Intricate and colorful designs are a hallmark of Peranakan culture.

Peranakan or Nyonya cuisine features Southeast Asian ingredients

and is bursting with color and fragrant spices.

Steamed pastries called Nyonya kuih have become popular overseas as well.

Natural ingredients like corn and butterfly peas give them their vibrant color.

Hi, I'm Tarina.

Today, I am going to be cooking some delicious Nyonya cuisine

full of colors just like my attire.

Shall we?

Tarina is passing on Peranakan culture by teaching Nyonya cuisine.

What's she shopping for?

This really beautiful bouquet... this is called torch ginger flower.

These beautiful flowers have a gingery fragrance

and are essential to Nyonya cuisine.

Using a medley of colorful ingredients, Tarina prepares a Nyonya-style curry and salad.

"Kari kapitan" is a chicken curry.

Tarina creates a complex blend of nine herbs and spices.

Then, she adds in tomatoes, coconut milk, and more.

Kari kapitan is a wonderful curry that will represent every household in Nyonya.

Rich, creamy, fresh, and spicy,

Nyonya cuisine is a feast of colors and flavors.

Now for a vibrantly colored salad.

The salad dressing has a coconut milk base.

Tarina adds a savory paste and a fermented shrimp paste, then simmers.

Next, she adds both dried and fresh shrimp to create a more complex flavor.

It is so good!

She mixes the dressing with a sweet wild fern common in Malaysia.

Then adds the torch ginger flower.

You see how beautiful and pink this is.

It adds a burst of color and fragrance.

My grandmother's favorite dish.

It's a medley made in heaven.

She uses a traditional Peranakan bento box made more than 200 years ago.

She packs the chicken curry...

the colorful salad...

and rice colored with butterfly pea flowers.

Tarina's bento looks like a jewelry box.

She invites her friends for lunch.

I know, it's so colorful, isn't it? Let's enjoy.

So delicious.

Nyonya food is just very unique.

It's always my pleasure to share my grandmother's recipe with all my friends.

We love bento!

Beautiful bento packed in a beautiful bento box.

Yeah, and with layers of flavors and colors.

Maki and I love seeing your bentos through the BENTO EXPO website,

so head over and share a photo of your recent bento with bento makers from around the world.

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.