We've got another episode of "Bento-Making for Beginners,"

here on BENTO EXPO.

And today, we're going to make "shiozake," or salt-cured salmon.

I'll be sharing a few tricks to make it easy and oishii.

That's it?

Yup. Easy, right?

It's a classic bento item

and it can be prepared ahead of time.

That looks so good!

We love bento!

(The Global Lunchbox 8-9)

Let's start with a look at some bentos

submitted through BENTO EXPO's website.

First, a cute animal-themed bento

packed with the flavors of the Philippines.

Hi, my name is Eunice, and this is my daughter, Vien.

Hello, everyone!

I started making bento for her in 2019 when she was in preschool.

Eunice starts by making a Filipino chicken stew called "afritada."

She starts by pan-frying pieces of chicken,

and then adds a bunch of veggies like carrots, potatoes, and green peas,

along with some tomato ketchup.

As the chicken stews,

the sweet and tangy ketchup melts all the flavors together.

Finally, she adds some colorful peppers.

And wow! Look at that!

And here's our chicken afritada.

Next, Eunice uses butterfly pea flower water to color a bowl of rice,

and then she makes Vien's favorite animal.

It starts as a big round rice ball,

with big flappy ears,

and I wonder what this is for?

It's an elephant!

This adorable bento is packed with veggies and protein,

so let's see what Vien thinks.

How is it?

Mmm, yummy!

We love bento!

Next, from an Indian family living in Japan,

a bento packed with the tastes of home.

Namaste! I'm Sumita.

Namaste! My name is Ashish,

and this is our son Saish.

Ashish teaches and studies thermal engineering at Shimane University,

and Sumita's bento's given something to look forward to every day.

Today, I'm making "chicken tikka" roll.

Chicken tikka is a very famous street food in India.

First, Sumita mixes fragrant spices into olive oil,

before adding a chili garlic paste.

Then, she adds chicken along with some yogurt to marinate.

And look!

She even smokes the chicken with charcoal and butter for about 30 minutes.

The smokey flavor makes the chicken taste wonderful.

It sure does!

Next, she skewers the smoked chicken and grills them.

And wow, look at that!

She finishes off her chicken tikka with a little butter.

This adds richness to the grilled chicken.

Finally, she stir-fries the grilled chicken with a medley of vegetables

before preparing a flatbed called "roti."

Beaten egg adds some extra protein,

and she uses the roti to wrap her chicken tikka.

Thank you for making the bento every day.

You're welcome.

The chicken tikka roll is accompanied by butter chicken and a fried dessert,

and tomatoes and chili peppers make a cute face on the rice.

It's delicious.

We love bento!

We've got another episode of "Bento-Making for Beginners."

And today, I'm joined by Arisa Adams.

Hi everyone, I'm so excited to be back as your bento beginner,

and I can't wait to learn another easy and oishii recipe for bentos.

Great. Today, we're going to be making shiozake, or salt-cured salmon,

and it's one of the most traditional Japanese bento items.

Shiozake is one of my favorites,

and I especially love how much it pairs well with Japanese white rice.

But, I'm guessing shiozake requires some technique, though.

Well, it does require a little bit of technique,

but that doesn't mean it's difficult.

That's what I love to hear.

Shiozake is traditionally made by curing whole salmon with salt,

and then partially drying it in a cold, windy place.

This preserves the salmon while enhancing its umami,

and the best way to enjoy shiozake is to grill it.

The toasty salmon goes great with rice,

and it's a classic filling for "onigiri."

Shiozake is also a staple bento item

thanks to its high salt content, which keeps it fresh.

Today, I'm going to show you an easy way to make shiozake at home.

The key is to make a salt water brine.

The first thing we need to remember

is that we need to get this started the night before,

so the salmon has time to cure.

Great, then you wake up with a perfect salmon.

Exactly.

We're going to go ahead and add the water,

the salt and the mirin into our zipper bag.

- In... this?
- Yup.

How convenient!

Just these three ingredients.

The water, the salt...

And mirin.

And you can just shake it around

until you can see that there is no more salt in there.

So, what does mirin do?

So, mirin is a sweet, Japanese rice wine.

It's kind of similar to sake, but it's sweeter,

and it's got a ton more umami.

It's going to add a bunch of flavor to our salmon.

If you can't find mirin, you could add some sugar to sake as a substitute.

It looks like all the crystals are gone, and it looks pretty mixed to me.

Yup, that's perfect.

Let's add the salmon to the brine.

So, this is just regular salmon?

Yeah, any kind of salmon will work.

But for bento, I like using salmon that's well marbled with fats,

so it stays moist and tender at room temperature.

And then just zip this.

Get a little bit of the air out of there.

If you have air in there, sometimes the salmon floats

and it doesn't get soaked.

All right. There it is!

The salmon is nice and soaked in the brine.

All right, let's get that into the fridge.

That's it?

Yup! Because we've dissolved the salt in here already,

it's going to be salted all the way to the core,

so it stays nice and fresh in your bento box.

Amazing.

So Arisa, you want to pop that into the fridge?

Yeah, let's do it!

See you guys later!

Our magical brine transforms the salmon overnight.

So, do you notice the difference?

You know, as I'm picking it up,

I can definitely see the difference than when I first put it in the bag.

It feels firmer.

Yup. That's because some of that salt's migrated from the brine into the salmon,

and rearranged some of the proteins in the salmon.

And it's absorbed some of that liquid too,

so it's going to keep it nice and moist when you cook it.

How cool!

Once you wipe off the excess brine from the salmon,

let's pan-fry it with the skin-side down.

Skin-side down.

Is that like an important factor?

Yeah. The skin's acting as a shield,

and it's protecting the meat of the salmon from the high heat of the pan,

so it doesn't get tough and chewy.

Got you.

Make sure the skin is making good contact with the pan,

but watch out!

If your salmon is extra fatty,

you may want to soak up the excess oil with the paper towel.

Once the skin is brown, flip the salmon over.

- Nice color.
- Good job!

It looks great! And it's nice and toasty.

Wow.

Now, we want to steam this with a bit of water.

Have a lid on stand-by, and shut it as soon as you add the water.

Fry, then steam.

Steam the salmon for a few minutes until most of the water evaporates.

And...

Wow! That looks so good!

Yeah, and the meat's nice and fluffy.

So let's get it out of the pan before it burns.

Okay, wow. That smell! It's so nutty.

Tada!

My very first shiozake salmon!

All right, here we go!

Wow, look at that!

It just falls apart when you put your chopsticks in it.

So go for it!

Itadakimasu!

It's so tender.

It's different than a salmon steak with salt and pepper,

but it's kind of like a harmony altogether.

Because we've brined it, it's seasoned all the way through the core,

so you don't just have a salty crust on the outside.

That's amazing!

Because we only really put in a few steps, right?

Next, we're going to make "gomaae."

It's a super versatile sesame salad.

First, you want to season some boiled vegetables with soy sauce and a bit of sugar.

Then, just coat the veggies with ground toasted sesame seeds.

You can make gomaae from all sorts of cooked veggies.

Today, I packed my shiozake over edamame-rice,

along with a boiled egg, "umeboshi,"

and our gomaae to make a classic Japanese-style bento.

And look how colorful these simple bento items are!

Waves? I don't know.

Arisa packs her own bento using the same items as mine!

Tada!

Oh wow, you turned it into a fish! That's so cool.

I did.

I love that you used the skin as part of the tail.

The green beans sort of reminded me of coral.

I love how we both came up with a different design for our bento.

Today, I made my very first shiozake, or salt-cured salmon bento.

And it's a classic dish that'll add a splash of color

and flavor to any bento.

And it was easy and...

oishii!

Bento Topics.

Today, from Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Island, with its many skyscrapers,

is home to a financial district.

Double decker trams run leisurely throughout the island.

At the foot of the skyscrapers is Dried Seafood Street,

an area that retains an old-fashioned atmosphere.

It began as a small group of stores selling dried fish,

but the size and selection of stores grew along with the economy.

Customers can find typical ingredients like dried shrimp and oysters,

as well as unusual ingredients like pufferfish skin and starfish.

Dried Seafood Street is great for shopping.

It has a variety of ingredients.

Edible bird's nests are considered a delicacy.

Made from the saliva of swallows,

they're rich in protein.

They're great for skin care. That's why they're so popular.

Another popular ingredient is fish maw, rich in collagen.

It's simmered with medicinal herbs to make a healthy soup,

popular with people of all ages.

It's chewy and delicious.

Lin and her family are regulars at Dried Seafood Street.

They stock up on ingredients at this shop.

They've been in business for ages.

They're buying ingredients to make a local sauce.

Dried scallops and shrimp.

We'll use them to make XO sauce.

XO sauce is made from chili peppers

and umami-rich dried seafood.

Lin's original XO sauce recipe went viral on social media,

after her daughter Mei began sharing it with friends.

She now posts recipes featuring her mother's XO sauce.

It's my favorite. It boosts the flavor of everything.

Time to make the sauce!

Dried scallops.

The dried scallops are reconstituted and shredded in a blender.

Then combined with dried shrimp, chopped red chilis and garlic,

the mixture is simmered in oil for half an hour to finish.

Smells good. It brings back fond memories.

The fragrant sauce has a perfect balance of umami from seafood,

and spice from peppers.

Mei and Ki will use this sauce to make a seafood bento for their mother.

First, they stir-fry scallops and broccoli.

All it needs is XO sauce to bring out the flavor of the fresh scallops.

Double scallop!

It's done!

Next, pan-fried mackerel.

The sauce pairs well with the rich flavor of the fish.

A dollop goes on top of the crispy skin.

Okay.

Add some lotus root, and it's done!

A Hong Kong-style bento packed with seafood.

Now for lunch at a nearby park.

Looks so good! Thanks for making this.

Delicious!

I just used your XO sauce.

Really?

XO sauce and dried seafood are the heart of Hong Kong cuisine.

I want more people to learn about this.

Same here.

We love bento!

Bye-bye!

It's bento time!

Yes! I'm so happy with how my little fish bento turned out.

And I'm even more happy that I'm able to make shiozake now.

Shiozake is easy and oishii,

so we hope you'll try it at home.

As always, we're looking forward to seeing your bentos on our website,

so visit the link below and send them in!

We've got another episode of "Bento-Making for Beginners" coming soon,

so we'll see you then.

- All right, shall we dig in?
- Yes, let's do it!

Itadakimasu!