Today, we travel to Hiroshima Prefecture in western Japan.

It's home to about 55,000 foreign residents.

Open!

And we'll be taking a peek at some of their bentos.

We love bento!

(The Global Lunchbox 8-2)

First, from Hiroshima City.

Fatoumata is an international student from Côte d'Ivoire in West Africa.

She came to Hiroshima a year ago with a big dream.

I'm really looking forward to working with the United Nations

because I want to work for an easier and more inclusive access to education

for every child and every person in the world.

She's studying at Eikei,

a university founded in 2021.

Along with Fatoumata, students from 15 different countries and regions

have come to study here.

Today, Fatoumata will make bentos for her classmates and teacher

to introduce her country's food culture.

One of the key ingredient she'll need is this.

Peanuts.

I'm going to make peanut butter sauce.

She'll get a hand from Kadi,

a student from Senegal in West Africa.

Peanut sauce is a popular ingredient in West African cuisine.

They process the peanuts into a powder.

Add a little bit of oil.

They add the oil in increments to make a creamy peanut sauce.

Looking nice.

Peanuts are a vital source of nutrition in their home countries.

It's very good and not very expensive.

Almost everyone can get access to peanuts everywhere,

especially people who don't have enough money.

We use it to make so many different things.

They add the peanut sauce to beef stewed in chili and tomato sauce,

turning the soup into a thick stew.

Once the peanut oil forms a film on the surface,

it's ready.

They put the stew in a large container

to share with their classmates and teacher.

It looks so yummy.

Kadi adds a Senegalese chicken and onion dish called "yassa."

A bento full of tasty African cuisine.

Thank you for joining our bento time.

Welcome. Enjoy.

It's gorgeous! Thank you.

Both dishes go well with rice.

How lovely!

I'm so impressed. You're a very good cook.

I thought it was too spicy.

What do their Japanese classmates think?

It's my first time, this kind of taste,

you know, peanut butter with the rice.

I like it.

I really love it.

Thank you very much for your comment.

It's very nice that people appreciate your culture

and get to taste different styles.

It's motivating.

And now I feel like doing it next time for the Japanese.

And for dessert, cookies made by Shaxia from Argentina.

Pink-themed, everything, because it's sakura season.

Here's to your bright futures.

We love bento!

Hiroshima City University sits upon a hill.

These two students, Fadhlina and Chong, are from Malaysia.

They make Malaysian bentos whenever they feel homesick.

Today, they're making a classic Malaysian dish of chicken curry

packed with turmeric and ground chili peppers.

Malaysians, we like spicy food.

Mix in coconut milk and potatoes and the chicken curry is ready.

They use instant noodles to make their next dish.

They add onions and curry powder

to make a variation on a Malaysian pancake called

"murtabak maggi."

It's a popular comfort food in Malaysia.

It bears a striking resemblance to "okonomiyaki,"

a Hiroshima specialty.

When I came to Hiroshima and I saw the okonomiyaki,

I was like, "I've seen this before."

The connection between different foods of different countries is really...

Wow.

A bento to cure homesickness.

It's a success. Malaysian bento.

They recharge their batteries with the taste of home.

Oh, maggi.

We love bento!

Springtime means bento under cherry blossoms.

This group works for a real estate agency in Hiroshima.

The agency they work for provides multi-language support

for people looking for a house or apartment in Hiroshima.

In addition to introducing properties and assisting in signing contracts,

they also provide clients with guidelines

on garbage disposal rules and more.

This is Thui from Vietnam.

Let's see what's inside her bento today.

I brought Vietnamese spring rolls

and chicken and mushroom stir-fry.

Just like my mom's.

Those spring rolls look tasty.

Jiao is from China.

This is chicken with scallion sauce.

And this is fried egg with tomato.

Lots of Chinese people make this!

This charges me up!

Sima is from Nepal.

What's in her bento?

It's "momo," very famous in Nepal.

And this is the sauce.

Dumplings stuffed with minced chicken and cabbage

dipped in a garlicky tomato sauce.

Here's David.

Health comes first. Be healthy, guys.

I prepared a home-made bento with lots of protein

and Japanese sweet potato.

It's delicious, healthy, "oishii."

And here's Andrew.

Apple, and...

peanut butter and banana sandwich.

I love peanut butter.

The diverse group enjoys lunch under the cherry blossoms.

They'll take a break before getting back to work

helping residents of Hiroshima.

Sweet!

We love bento!

People from around the world enjoy making bento in Hiroshima.

That's so great.

Yeah, and it looks like they've built a home for themselves there as well.

Yeah.

Hiroshima is located along the Seto Inland Sea

and its warm climate makes it perfect for growing...

lemons.

These smell so good, Maki.

So fragrant!

So, Maki and I are going to be making our bentos today

using Hiroshima lemons.

And for my bento, I'm going to be using these ingredients

to make lemon-marinated shrimp.

Sounds great.

These lemons from Hiroshima are wax-free

so you can enjoy the peel as well.

This is going to add a ton of flavor to my marinated shrimp.

To make the marinade, I quarter and then thinly slice the lemon.

Then, I squeeze the lemon juice.

Wow, this is really juicy.

All right, and then we're going to add this lemon juice and our salt to this

as well as the sliced lemon.

That zest is going to give a nice fragrance to our sauce.

Next, let's move on to prep the ingredients to be marinated in this.

I start by gently frying the garlic and peppers

in a generous amount of olive oil.

Once your peppers are nice and tender like this,

it's time to add our shrimp.

Turn up the heat to medium and fry the shrimp until they're cooked through.

It look so delicious already.

OK, our shrimp is done,

so we're going to get this into the marinade.

Smells so nice.

And then we just toss this together with the marinade. Just like this.

All right! And our lemon-marinated shrimp are done.

I can't wait!

Let this marinate overnight in the fridge

to allow the flavors to mingle.

So Maki, go for it.

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

It's tangy but not sour.

It brings out the sweetness of the shrimp.

I love the texture of the zest!

Yup, it's all thanks to these great lemons.

I mixed some pickled Hiroshima mustard greens with sesame seeds and rice

to go with the shrimp.

The fresh taste goes great with the briny shrimp,

the sweet peppers, and the tangy and mildly bitter lemon.

So, Maki, what are you going to be doing with these lemons?

I'm going to use lemon juice in place of sushi vinegar

to make lemon "chirashizushi" bento.

That's a great idea.

Using lemon juice in place of rice vinegar

makes Maki's sushi rice fragrant and refreshing

while balancing the flavors of the toppings.

So fragrant!

To make this extra fragrant, Maki slices the zest up into thin strips.

Then she whisks the lemon juice, sugar and salt

to make a seasoning for the hot rice

which she adds to it along with the lemon zest and toasted sesame seeds.

The zest gives it a refreshing texture.

And that zest adds a really nice pop of color, too.

Now let's see how she makes the toppings.

For protein, Maki cooks thinly sliced beef

with 3S (Soy sauce+Sake+Sugar) sauce.

The sweet and savory beef goes well with the tangy rice.

Then, Maki uses a mixture of lemon juice and sugar

to quick-pickle daikon, carrots, and red cabbage.

Nice, so you've got a double-dose of lemon in there.

Let's see how Maki arranges these toppings on her lemon sushi rice.

It's so pretty when you place contrasting colors side by side.

To finish it off, she adds her pickled daikon flowers.

It's beautiful.

It looks like a spring flower garden.

Enjoy!

Itadakimasu.

The beef is rich and meaty

but that zest on there adds a nice bright flavor that's citrusy,

it makes me want to go back to the rice.

Mmm, lemon is great!

The bright aroma of lemon will carry you away on a breeze

from the Seto Inland Sea.

Today both Maki and I used bright aromatic lemons from Hiroshima

to make our bentos, so we hope you'll...

give them a try!

Fukuyama is a scenic city

with a thriving shipbuilding industry.

A nursing home for the elderly stands atop a hill

with a stunning view.

Two of the staff members are from Vietnam.

Meet Tram and Giao.

Hello.

Here's your lunch.

Last year, they passed Japan's nursing care skill evaluation test

for foreign care workers,

and began working at this nursing home.

Let's go see the cherry blossoms.

- So pretty!
- Lovely.

They're in full bloom, even on the little branches.

If they're happy, I'm happy.

It's nice to be appreciated.

Today, they're going on a staff picnic under the cherry blossoms.

They'll make a bento packed with spring rolls

and other Vietnamese dishes to share.

Wow, big pieces of pork!

Pork, shrimp, and other ingredients are wrapped in rice paper.

Some shrimp for color.

The translucent rice paper shows off the fillings.

Your turn, Mom.

The oldest staff member is 79

and treats Tram and Giao like her children.

Everyone has a go at making spring rolls.

You must be Vietnamese!

They also make a Vietnamese beef stew.

Smells great.

It's full of spices and herbs.

Good.

They're also making fried spring rolls

filled with pork, shrimp, and mushrooms.

When I'm homesick, I cook Vietnamese food.

Let's have a look at the finished bento.

Open!

It's packed with Vietnamese specialties.

Due to the pandemic,

this is their first cherry blossom picnic in three years.

Good!

Yeah!

The beef stew is a hit with their supervisor.

You two did great, it's so tasty.

Thank you so much.

I'm so happy.

We love bento!

We hope you enjoyed this Hiroshima Special

as much as we enjoyed making it.

And we'll see you again here soon on BENTO EXPO.

- See you soon.
- Bye!