Today, a look at some of the bentos posted on our website

that received the most likes in the second half of this season.

From Marc and Maki...

Marc makes "sobameshi," chopped "yakisoba" and fried rice.

Maki makes kabocha dumplings stuffed with cheese.

We love bento!

(The Global Lunchbox 7-20)

One of the most popular bentos from this half of the season

was this "two little piggies" bento by Chatty from the Philippines.

So let's talk to Chatty.

Hi, Chatty.

Hi, Chatty, congratulations.

Hi, Marc and Maki.

I am so excited to hear that many people liked my piggie bento.

Let's take a closer look.

Fried shrimp is her daughter's favorite dish.

And she has a tip to make them extra crispy.

Ice cold water...

Great idea!

Cold temperatures inhibit the development of gluten in the flour,

so it keeps the coating light and crisp.

It's done.

It looks delicious.

Next, Chatty makes a couple of round "onigiri"

and adds pieces of ham cut into triangles and circles.

They're looking like pigs already.

Then, she uses nori to give the pigs expressions that bring them to life.

Packed with some colorful veggies and fruit, Chatty's bento is a ton of fun.

Nickie, I have prepared something for you.

Thank you, Mama.

Enjoy, Nickie!

How is it?

Good.

I like your bento. They are nutritious and very cute.

Thank you, Maki.

I started making bento to encourage my daughter to eat healthy snacks.

And for two years, she was awarded as one of the healthy eaters

during kindergarten years.

Wow, congratulations!

Thank you.

And now, I started making bento for my husband.

And I hope it makes him happy and healthy.

We love hearing stories like that.

And we really appreciate you sending in your bento.

And we hope to see some more from you soon.

- Bye, Marc and Maki.
- Bye, Chatty.

Our next popular bento is from Aida in the US,

who made a colorful sushi roll bento.

Hi, Aida, congratulations.

Hi, Aida, congratulations.

Hi, Marc and Maki.

I'm so happy that everybody voted for my bento.

I'm so happy to be here.

Let's see how she made this beautiful heart-shaped sushi roll.

Beets are loaded with vitamins and minerals

and they're a popular ingredient in her homeland of Iran.

She starts by peeling them,

and then she boils them with sugar and water to make a beet syrup.

Don't you love this beautiful color?

Yeah, it's a terrific natural way to add color to any bento.

To make her heart-shaped roll, Aida uses this special mold.

She starts by adding a layer of nori along the bottom

and lines it with her pink rice and colorful fillings

before topping it off with more rice.

Then, she wraps the nori around and shapes it with her mold.

Slice them up, and look! A perfect heart.

Nice.

For her side, Aida grates some beet

to make a traditional Persian dip along with some yogurt.

Just look at that color.

Then, she makes the second dip with spinach for a contrast of colors.

Now she's going to pack her hearts into the bento and it's ready to go.

How's your mom's bento, Artin?

So good.

We love bento!

Using beet for sushi and dip is a great idea.

Thank you, Maki.

I like to use beautiful natural colors of veggies,

and beet is one of my favorites.

And I love that you have included your culinary traditions in your son's bento.

Yes, he enjoys it.

He will ask me, "Mom, what's this? What's that?"

And yes, it's a great way.

I really love that. So thank you so much for joining us, Aida.

And we hope to see more bentos from you soon.

Thank you, Marc and Maki. Bye.

All right, thank you!

Remember to share your bentos with us for a chance to be featured.

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

Today, both Maki and I are going to be making regional comfort foods

that'll make you smile when you open up your bento.

I am going to use this kabocha to make pumpkin mochi bento.

That does sound comforting.

Kabocha is a sweet and starchy winter squash

which can be used for both savory dishes as well as desserts.

There's no mochi in it,

but this dish gets its name from its resemblance to the sweet treat.

It's a comfort food in Hokkaido where it gets frigid in winter.

Maki starts by peeling the skin from the kabocha

and cuts them into pieces before boiling them for about eight minutes

or until they are tender.

Like this.

Then, she makes her dough.

Just mash a little bit.

Look at that, that kabocha smells so sweet.

And it looks nice and fluffy.

Yes. And...

add some potato starch and knead well.

- That's it?
- That's it.

That's easy.

It's starting to come together a little bit.

It's like modeling clay.

So you can have fun with your kids.

Maki portions and rolls the dough into bite-sized balls.

Then she cuts and stacks a slice of cheese into thick pieces

to stuff into her kabocha mochi.

Just wrap so the cheese comes to the center.

That savory cheese is going to go so well with that sweet and creamy kabocha.

Yeah, I love the combination of sweet and salty.

To make them nice and rich, Maki's going to fry her kabocha mochi in butter.

It smells so good already.

Hokkaido is known for their dairy products

and that nutty butter and that creamy cheese is going to go great with the kabocha.

OK, let's flip them over.

Wow, look at this.

I can just imagine how the cheese is melting inside.

OK, my pumpkin mochi is done.

Wow, look at that cheese.

Marc, try my pumpkin mochi.

- OK! You've got that...
- "cheese."

Let's try this out.

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

It's so comforting and delicious.

That sweet kabocha and that savory cheese go perfectly together.

And this kabocha has a ton of beta-carotene, so it's perfect for kids as well.

I'm glad you like it.

Maki packed her kabocha mochi with sausages and veggies

and she's also prepared a sweet and savory sauce to go with it.

For kids, she presses an indentation into the mochi

and then pinches the peaks on both sides to make a cat.

Cheese and nori accents give her kitties expressions,

and her vitamin-packed bento is ready to feed and entertain kids.

So, Marc, what are you going to make for your regional comfort food?

Well, I'm going to be making sobameshi

which is the mashup of noodles and rice.

We are also going to be using a lot of vegetables and protein.

I can't wait to see that.

It's said that sobameshi was originally created by a factory worker in Kobe

who asked a diner to add the rice in his bento into his order of stir-fried noodles to bulk them up.

I'm using cold leftover rice which has gotten crumbly.

For the noodles, I'm using a brick of instant ramen,

and here's the fun part.

OK, I've got my instant noodles in the bag here

and I'm going to go ahead and just break it up with my hands like this.

- Hey, what are you doing?
- Don't worry, Maki.

We want to actually get our noodles about the same size as our rice.

I want to try that.

It's super satisfying.

The goal is to get them about the same size as the rice.

For the sauce, I'm combining ketchup, oyster sauce and Worcestershire sauce.

Then, I'm going to dice cabbage and carrots into thin squares.

Let's get cooking!

I start with the vegetables, and add the ground chicken.

Break the chicken up with a spatula until it's cooked through.

Smells good!

OK, and once our chicken is crumbled up like this, add our instant noodles.

Great!

And then we're going to add some water to rehydrate these.

Once there's no liquid left in the pan, it's time to add the rice.

Rice! So interesting.

And now, we just need to stir-fry this in with the noodles and the vegetables.

All right. And once our rice is just starting to brown...

add the sauce.

Drizzle this in and toss this together.

It smells good, doesn't it?

Once the sauce is distributed into your rice and noodles,

my sobameshi is done.

It looks so delicious.

So Maki, try it out.

Itadakimasu!

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

You get a nice mixture of textures.

The tangy sauce hits the spot.

It has great umami from the chicken and veggies.

I can't stop!

Great, it's all yours.

I packed my bento with snap peas, strawberries and half a boiled egg,

and chopped scallions make a great garnish for the sobameshi.

This easy bento item is the perfect way to use up leftovers in your fridge,

so have a look, and try it out.

Today both Maki and I made bentos inspired by regional comfort foods

that will put a smile on your face

so we hope you'll...

give them a try!

Bento Topics.

Today, from the port city of Kobe, in Hyogo Prefecture.

Kobe was one of the first ports to open up to foreign trade in the late 19th century.

The city developed under the strong influence of Western culture.

From Kobe, the custom of eating beef spread throughout Japan.

A Kobe beef restaurant is shown in this book

that documents this period of Kobe's history.

Carefully selected from cattle raised in Hyogo Prefecture,

only the highest quality beef is certified as Kobe beef.

Tender and sweet, Kobe beef is recognized as one of the world's premium beef brands.

This beef restaurant has been in business for over 60 years.

Its signature dish is sukiyaki.

Paper-thin slices of beef are seared in an iron pot,

then simmered in soy sauce, sugar, mirin, and sake.

The sweet and savory sauce enhances the beef's umami flavor.

It's a favorite Japanese dish that brings out the best of both beef and vegetables.

The beef is typically dipped in raw egg.

The sauce is so sweet, and I love the egg sauce.

Good balance with the beef.

I like sukiyaki.

Kobe offers a specialty "ekiben" or station bento

that features sukiyaki.

This is our sukiyaki bento made with Kobe beef.

Sukiyaki made with the finest Kobe beef coupled with mushroom rice.

What a feast.

The sukiyaki is prepared in a way that makes it ideal for packing in a bento.

First, the beef is simmered.

To make the most of the flavor of Kobe beef,

the seasoning is not as sweet as traditional sukiyaki.

The cooking time is also very important.

It should taste good even when cold.

So we're careful not to overcook and lose the umami.

The vegetables are prepared separately

to prevent everything from tasting the same.

The bento features a medley of flavors.

The mushroom rice is cooked in chicken stock,

a simple yet highly aromatic combination.

The rice highlights the flavor of the tender Kobe beef.

A bento packed with Kobe specialties.

Itadakimasu.

The beef is cooked separately from the vegetables. It's so sweet!

The fat itself is sweet and fragrant.

We love bento!

I want to try that Kobe beef sukiyaki bento in Kobe.

Yeah, it looked worth the trip, didn't it?

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

so head over and send us a photo of a recent bento

to share 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.