Today, we feature bentos

that make use of vacuum flasks, or soup jars.

Soup creator Ariga Kaoru shows Marc

how to make a hearty pork miso soup.

And that gives Marc a great idea.

We're making miso ramen.

I love miso ramen!

A bento version of a favorite dish, miso ramen.

And from the US...

Maki maki (Roll and roll)!

A bento with two varieties of rolls,

packed with memories of Japan.

We love bento!

We love bento!

(The Global Lunchbox 8-15)

Welcome to BENTO EXPO.

I've come back to visit Ariga Kaoru,

who specializes in making soup bento in vacuum flasks like this.

But first, let's take a look at some of the delicious looking bentos

submitted through BENTO EXPO's website.

First from Indonesia,

a bento packed with a beautiful and creative "tamagoyaki."

I really wanted to make a healthy food for my husband

during covid when he is at office.

To make the tamagoyaki,

Rizky separates eggs, and mixes chopped broccoli, carrots,

and mushroom powder into the egg whites.

She also mixes mushroom powder into egg yolks.

Now she's going to cook and roll the egg whites.

You can see the roll get thicker as she adds layers,

and then she finishes it off with a final layer of vibrant yellow egg yolks.

Once her roll is done,

she slices it up to reveal a beautiful rainbow of veggies.

For the side, she boils sausages

that have been sliced lengthwise and then rolls them up.

A cute pick secures her spiral flowers

and she's ready to pack her bento.

With an "onigiri" on one side,

she packs her tamagoyaki and sausages on a bed of lettuce.

Some more veggies and a flower-shaped carrot

round out her colorful bento.

Hope you like it.

- I do. Thank you so much.
- OK.

We love bento!

Next, from the US, a bento packed with memories of living in Japan.

I'm going to be making a bento full of the spring flavors

that remind me of the time I used to live in Tokyo

and enjoy "hanami" with friends.

This is a mixture of spring mountain vegetables called "sansai."

Rose cooks these with rice, fried tofu,

konbu, and seasonings to make a flavorful "takikomigohan."

Next, she places green "shiso" leaves and "umeboshi"

on the thin sheets of chicken.

The pinkish red color of the umeboshi and the green of the shiso

remind me of the colors of the cherry blossoms.

Maki maki (Roll and roll)!

Then she breads her rolls with panko

and deep fries them until they're golden brown.

Just look at how beautiful they look!

Rose also made another roll using pork.

Let's see what's inside.

Wow, a sunny egg!

It's so colorful!

Rose packs her bento with an "ichigodaifuku,"

or strawberry mochi for dessert.

Together with a vibrant medley of vegetables,

and some pickled sakura blossoms on her rice,

her bento is an ode to spring.

Today, she's sharing her bento with a friend.

The rice is done nicely. It's tasty.

We love bento!

Today, I've come back to visit

soup bento expert Ariga Kaoru in her kitchen.

Nice to see you again.

It's great to see you again, are you ready to make some more soup bento?

Yes, let's do it!

Kaoru uses the heat retention of vacuum flasks

to slow-cook her soups,

so they only take about ten minutes to prepare.

By the time you eat it for lunch,

the ingredients end up melt in your mouth tender

and the soup is full of flavor.

Last time, Kaoru showed us how to make an easy pot-au-feu,

a tomato soup with pork and veggies,

and a creamy kabocha soup with chicken and barley.

So, Kaoru, what are you going to be making for us today?

I'm going to use miso

to make two hearty soups packed with ingredients.

Sounds good!

The first one is called "tonjiru," which means pork soup.

It's a miso-based soup

packed with pork and all sorts of veggies.

I love tonjiru. Let's get started.

OK!

Miso is a fermented soybean paste

that's packed with vitamins and amino acids,

which gives it a ton of umami.

It's often used as a seasoning for soup,

and miso soup is a classic.

Tonjiru means "pork soup" in Japanese,

and it's a hearty comfort food that's popular in winter.

Kaoru starts by preheating the soup jar with boiling water

which ensures that it starts off as hot as possible.

Look, Marc.

I've cut the daikon, carrot and Japanese leek into chunks.

They are all about the same size.

Yes, and I'm going to cut the "konnyaku" the same way.

I love the texture of konnyaku.

It's wobbly like jelly.

And I guess if you don't have konnyaku, you could use "shirataki"?

Shirataki is fine, too.

That's a great substitute.

Then Kaoru cuts the pork into similar-sized cubes.

I recommend using pork with a good amount of fat like this.

The synergy of the sweet fat and the miso makes the soup taste great.

Yep, they say fat equals flavor.

Right!

Here are all the ingredients for one portion of tonjiru.

Kaoru puts all of these into a pot along with the water

and brings the mixture to a boil.

So, you're just using water?

That's right.

The pork and veggies will make a great soup,

so we don't have to use dashi.

Also, by starting with the pork in cool water before boiling,

more flavor will come through.

Ah, it's good to know.

To ensure the meat is cooked,

she cooks the soup for three minutes after it reaches a full boil.

So, now let's add the miso.

Today, I'm using rice miso.

Rice miso is made from soybeans, salt and koji,

a type of mold that's propagated on rice.

It's a popular style of mild miso.

By loosening up the miso with a little bit of soup on a ladle,

you can dissolve it quite easily.

That's going to add so much flavor to the soup.

Then, to finish, I like adding a little bit of sesame oil.

And then we just pour this soup into a soup jar.

That's it?

Yep! Try a spoonful.

Oh, great. Itadakimasu.

It's like a thin miso soup,

but I can see how it's going to benefit

from being in the soup jar for a few hours.

Right, the vegetables are still hard,

but everything will transform in the soup jar.

After draining the hot water from the jar,

Kaoru pours the soup into it and quickly seals the lid.

And it's done!

That was easy, I can't wait to try this.

Let's try one she's prepared in advance.

Itadakimasu.

OK, I'm going to try the soup out first.

It smells so good.

It's so comforting and rich.

It's changed since you tasted it earlier, right?

Yeah, that rich flavor of that pork and the vegetables has come out in the soup.

All right, I've got some pork here, and some carrots, and daikon...

The color of the daikon has changed.

It's completely cooked through, look at that.

The vegetables are tender and flavorful.

And that pork has become super soft.

And it's got a great balance of protein and fiber from the veggies.

Yes, lots of veggies so it's quite healthy!

It's such a simple soup

and yet the ingredients and time give it a rich meaty flavor.

Together with a few onigiri,

Kaoru's tonjiru makes for a delightfully comforting bento on a chilly day.

Marc, take a look at this.

Okay.

Wow!

This is my miso palette.

I use this to make my own blend of miso.

It's just like an artist's palette,

so you can mix the different colors together and make your own flavor of miso.

Exactly.

For example, these light and dark-colored ones are both rice miso.

The difference comes from the aging time.

And this one is made from soybeans.

I tend to reach for this one when I want a stronger flavor in my dish.

There's a whole world of miso flavors.

So you make your own custom flavor.

Exactly!

Let's see what Kaoru's going to show us next.

Now, I'm going to use sweet potatoes and chicken

to make a really comforting soup.

"Satsumajiru" is a popular comfort food in Kagoshima.

It's a major producer of both sweet potatoes and chicken.

Satsumajiru is seasoned with barley miso,

which is made from koji propagated on barley instead of rice.

Wow, that's a lot of chicken and vegetables.

The process to make this soup is the same as Kaoru's tonjiru.

Just add the ingredients, bring them to a boil,

and cook for three minutes before adding the miso to season it.

You can still see the grains.

This miso goes great with the mild flavor of sweet potatoes.

It's a nice sweet and nutty miso.

So fragrant!

As you can see, the sweet potatoes are still hard,

but the magic of the soup jar will ensure that

they're super soft by the time we eat this.

Now, it's my turn, and I'm going to start by preheating my soup jar.

So Marc, what are you going to make with those noodles?

I'm going to be turning one of my favorite foods

into a soup bento, and we're making miso ramen.

I love miso ramen!

I love having a steaming bowl of noodle soup.

And with a soup jar, you can enjoy ramen for lunch on the go.

To make the soup, we'll start by caramelizing

grated garlic and ginger.

The ginger and garlic are key here, right?

Yeah, I think it's the base, that flavor of the aromatics.

Once they're nice and brown...

Add the ground pork and miso.

You fry the miso?

These are going to go in together.

We want to brown the miso as well.

The reason why we're using ground pork here is

because it's got a lot more surface area,

so we're going to get a ton of browning and fond on the pan.

Smells so good.

Browning the miso gives it a nutty aroma.

Exactly.

The pork should be just shy of burnt.

OK, so this is looking nice and brown,

so let's go ahead and add the stock.

That's it for the soup?

Yep, we just need to cook this for a few minutes

to get the flavors to come out of the pork.

So fast!

Then pass the soup through a strainer to separate out the meat.

Next I'm going to upcycle the pork into a flavorful topping

by cooking it together with more miso, mirin and "doubanjiang."

So it's going to be spicy!

Exactly! And then you can mix it into the soup

or have it with the noodles.

And when it's nice and crumbly like this, our pork topping is done.

Done already? It looks so good!

Next, I'm going to boil ramen noodles in a large pot of water.

Drain them and toss them with butter

to keep them from sticking and add flavor to the soup.

Pack the noodles into a separate bento box with the meat,

corn, boiled eggs, and some chopped scallions,

and our miso ramen bento is done.

Kaoru and I brought our soup bentos to the park on a crisp autumn day.

Perfect for a warm lunch.

I'm going to try Kaoru's satsumajiru with chicken and sweet potatoes.

Look at that.

It looked so good, I want to see how it's changed.

The sweet potatoes are nice and creamy,

and the chicken is so tender.

The soup has taken the flavor from the chicken,

but the chicken has also taken the flavor from the soup.

The flavors have merged nicely.

Marc, try to put the onigiri in.

In the soup?

Yes, it becomes like a risotto. Super filling.

Ah, that's so satisfying.

Great!

Next, let's see what Kaoru thinks of my miso ramen.

So beautiful!

She's going to shake the soup vigorously to emulsify the fat.

This is the secret to creamy ramen broth.

Then, she pours the soup over the noodles.

It smells like ramen soup.

Wow, the miso ramen is ready to eat!

And it's still warm.

So good. Like a genuine ramen. I'm going to try the soup.

Wow, it's so good.

I can't believe it was made so easily.

And the meat topping adds a great touch.

With this method, you can take any noodle soup for lunch.

Soup bento has so much potential.

You inspired me.

It opens up a whole new world of bento.

We love soup bento!

I hope you enjoyed the miso-based soup bentos

we shared with you today.

We're looking forward to seeing your picnic bentos,

so send in your photos to BENTO EXPO's website.

And we hope you'll join us again here soon on BENTO EXPO.