Today's bentos are full of colors.

Marc's rainbow "soboro" bento features a variety of colors and textures.

Meanwhile, Maki creates an adorable sandwich bento

packed with healthy greens.

And from the US,

a nine-year-old tries her hand at making her very first bento.

What a cute bear!

We love bento!

We love bento!

(The Global Lunchbox 8-8)

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 you submit

through BENTO EXPO's website.

They are packed with wonderful ideas.

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

Okay.

First from the US, a nine-year-old makes her very first bento.

And it's un-bear-ably cute.

I wanted to make this bento for our picnic.

And that's what we're going to make for you today.

Eloise loves going out on picnics,

and it got her curious about bento making.

First, mom's going to make their family's favorite orange tofu.

She makes the sauce using fresh orange juice,

soy sauce, and orange zest.

And she uses it to marinate the tofu.

So much better when it's fresh.

Then, she stir-fries the seasoned tofu,

with broccoli and the sauce.

Wow, that was easy!

- Oh, it smells so good.
- I bet!

And let's see what Eloise is up to.

She makes a few round "onigiri"

and places them together in her bento box.

Then, she uses some nori and sausages to make a face.

These are ears.

She rounds it out with some fruits and veggies, and...

- That's it!
- Un-bear-ably cute.

"Un-bear-ably" cute indeed.

Time for a picnic!

It's "oishii."

It's so good.

We love bento!

Next, from Guatemala,

a bento full of tasty treats.

This is my beautiful family.

We are from Guatemala.

Yohana is using cooking bananas to make a traditional fried snack.

She boils the cooking bananas with fragrant cinnamon,

and then mashes them up to make a dough.

Then, she flattens out a patty of banana,

and fills it with a sweet, black bean paste

before cooking them in an air fryer.

Golden brown.

Decorate with sugar, and done.

Yohana also makes sandwiches with cream cheese and ham,

and cuts them out like bunnies, which Emily loves.

Then, she adds some homemade blueberry gummy bunnies,

and she even turns the apples into bunnies!

Along with carrot sticks for the bunnies,

Emily's fun bento is ready to eat.

So, how is it?

Delicious!

Enjoy!

We love bento!

It's time to get started on our bentos.

Okay.

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

inspired by colors of the rainbow.

Yes, and Marc,

the ingredients you prepared are so colorful.

What are you going to make today?

Well, I had a little trouble deciding on just one color,

so I decided to use them all, to make rainbow soboro bento.

Wow, that sounds interesting!

My rainbow soboro bento is made with a variety of colorful ingredients

lined up on a bed of chicken soboro rice.

The contrast of flavors, colors and textures

will brighten up anyone's day.

Although we need to prep a lot of items,

some efficient planning makes them come together quickly and easily.

First up, some shredded red cabbage

that I'm going to season with sushi vinegar to make quick pickles.

Then, I'm going to shred a carrot that we're going to cook later.

Next, let's marinate our chicken.

All right. I've got some ground chicken.

And I'm going to go ahead and add some grated ginger

and some 3S (Soy sauce+Sake+Sugar) sauce.

And then, we're going to add some soy sauce to shift the balance towards savory.

Then, I'm just going to mix this up.

3S sauce is such a fine item for making soboro.

Yeah, it's great for seasoning all kinds of protein,

but it also works really well for seasoning vegetables.

This is going to give it a nice, sweet and savory flavor.

All right. And our chicken is good to go.

For the egg, I'm going to add a pinch of salt and sugar,

and beat it until it's uniform in color.

Now let's cook these three items.

You want to start with the lightest colored ingredient,

so I'm starting with the egg.

Mix this up quickly to make nice, small crumbles of egg.

- Okay, our egg is done.
- So quick!

Transfer the egg soboro to a bowl,

and wipe out the pan with paper towels.

Then, I'm moving on to the carrots.

This way, you can use just one pan while keeping the colors pure.

Okay, and once it's coated with oil,

I'm going to go ahead and add our 3S sauce.

Crunchy stir-fried root vegetables like this is called "kinpira."

And it's a really popular item for bento.

I'm just going to coat it with the sauce.

Okay, and our carrots are done.

I love kinpira.

Wipe out the pan again.

And then, we're going to go ahead and add in our chicken.

We're going to scramble this up so it's nice and crumbly.

It smells so nice.

Yeah, that combination of the 3S sauce with that ginger.

This is the main protein for our bento,

and it's going to add a ton of flavor.

Okay, so let's go ahead and get this into the rice.

Wow, so amazing!

Are you mixing the soboro and rice?

Yeah, it's going to season that rice

with all the flavor from the chicken and the 3S sauce.

Let the chicken soboro rice cool to room temperature,

and shell some boiled edamame for our fourth topping.

And now, let's assemble our rainbow.

So Maki, please.

So beautiful.

I'm having a bit of everything!

Different textures in one bite!

It's both crunchy and fluffy.

So varied, just like a rainbow.

Like a rainbow of tastes and textures.

It's also a rainbow of nutrients, with protein,

fiber, vitamins and minerals.

Marc, look what I have here.

Wow, Maki, you've got a beautiful palette of green veggies.

Right. So I'm going to make green-themed chicken sandwich bento today.

I can't wait to see it.

Green fruits and vegetables are loaded with vitamins,

and it's a color that tastes and looks refreshing.

I love Maki's idea of using it as a theme for her bento.

First, Maki pan fries some chicken seasoned with salt and pepper.

Here's a tip.

Press with a spatula to flatten.

This makes it easier to stack.

Also, the cross section looks nicer.

Okay, let's flip this over.

The skin's crispy and it's nice and flat.

So it's going to be perfect in the sandwich.

Next, Maki prepares her green veggies.

She tears up some lettuce, slices some cucumber and zucchini

so they match the size of the bread.

And then she shreds a generous amount of cabbage.

To prep her bread, Maki slathers them with mayonnaise.

Okay, let's make a sandwich.

Maki layers cheese, "shiso" and lettuce along with mayonnaise.

Then, she piles on a mound of shredded cabbage.

Next, cucumbers and tomato.

It's a nice contrast with the green veggies.

And here comes the chicken.

It's rich in protein!

Then, she layers on some zucchini

before topping it off with cabbage, lettuce and shiso.

I like layering different textures.

Cover it...

Wow, that's such a tall sandwich.

I don't think it's going to fit in my mouth.

You can do it!

Maki wraps the sandwich tightly with plastic wrap

to press it into shape.

And then she marks the center with tape.

The tape shows you where to cut.

And it keeps the sandwich from falling apart.

So Marc, try my sandwich.

Wow, it looks so good, look at that.

So good.

So first, you get that crunchy texture of the different vegetables in there,

and you've also got that fragrance of the shiso, which is really nice.

And then as you're chewing, you get that savory chicken,

and it just feels healthy.

And I'm going to make this sandwich more exciting.

- Really?
- Yeah!

Maki packs her sandwich with green veggies and fruit.

Then, she uses the edge of a cookie cutter to make a fun shape.

Let's see what she's making.

- Is that a frog?
- Yeah!

It's so cute.

And, a big one too.

Oh, that's so cool! The whole sandwich is a frog.

A bento inspired by green.

Maki's green sandwich bento is refreshing, delicious and nutritious.

And it's a ton of fun to eat.

Today, both Maki and I made bentos inspired by colors of the rainbows.

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

Bento Topics.

Today, from the town of Daigo in Ibaraki Prefecture.

It's home to Fukuroda Falls,

one of the three most scenic waterfalls in Japan.

But that's not all it's famous for.

These chickens are Okukuji Shamo.

The Okukuji Shamo is a premier cage-free pedigree chicken.

They're raised over a period of time

that's three times longer than a typical chicken.

They're slowly grown, so the meat is dense and flavorful.

They taste like wild chickens.

They're given a special mineral-rich feed of vegetables

and locally farmed rice,

and raised with the utmost care.

They've become a Daigo specialty,

with nearly 60 restaurants serving Okukuji Shamo.

A local market offers a wide range of "shamo" dishes.

The most popular dish is "oyakodon."

Shamo meat and eggs simmered in a sweet and savory sauce on a bed of rice.

It's full of umami.

So good!

Shamo croquettes are another favorite.

Inside is a filling of shamo chicken and creamy eggs.

How is it?

Amazing!

This "ryokan" serves a special hotpot

that makes the most of the firm, juicy and flavorful shamo.

The ryokan also has a specialty bento

packed with shamo simmered in a sweet and savory sauce.

About 40 years ago, the then-proprietress created this bento

to promote Okukuji Shamo.

Her younger sister is preserving the traditional taste

with the help of local chefs.

She cooks the shamo just like her sister did,

regularly replenishing her sister's secret sauce

designed to bring out the shamo's distinct flavor.

I cook the chicken just like my sister did.

It's her original recipe.

She also uses shamo eggs to make soboro,

a scrambled topping.

It has a rich and rounded flavor.

Locally grown rice, topped with soboro,

sweet and savory burdock root,

and thick slices of shamo.

And finally, a drizzle of the rich, simmering sauce.

With that, the bento is ready to be enjoyed.

This local resident says he grew up eating this bento.

The flavor is steeped in the chewy meat.

And the soy sauce in the rice balances well with the chicken.

The taste remains unchanged.

It's our local specialty.

A treasured local bento, passed down through the ages.

We love bento!

Such a rich bento.

Yeah, it's like a gift from nature.

We're looking forward to seeing your animal character bentos on our website,

but just remember, they need to be your own original characters.

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! Bye!
- Bye.