Today, bentos to cheer on students studying for entrance exams.

From Maki, a good luck chicken "katsu."

From Marc, a vitamin-rich salmon pita

for eating with one hand while studying.

From the west coast of the US,

a bento maker shares a character bento for her son.

Look at those adorable ghosts!

We love bento!

We love bento!

(The Global Lunchbox 8-17)

Welcome to BENTO EXPO,

where we share bentos from Japan and around the world.

Thank you for joining us!

We always enjoy seeing your bentos

that you submit through BENTO EXPO's website.

Yes!

So let's start by checking some out.

Okay!

First from Indonesia,

a nutritious bento featuring a cute animal character.

Today, I'm going to make bento for my daughter with Indonesian cuisine.

Gwenny is making a chicken stew with quail eggs and tomatoes.

The addition of nutmeg and cloves will give the stew

a warm, spicy fragrance.

Next, she seasons the stew with palm sugar

and Indonesian sweet soy sauce.

This stew is her daughter Candice's favorite dish,

so today, Gwenny is also making her favorite animal with rice.

It has a bushy striped tail,

some white spots on its cheeks,

and a mischievous grin on its face.

Ah, it's a red panda climbing a tree.

She packs the bento with the sweet and fragrant chicken stew,

quail eggs, and lots of veggies.

I think the red panda's looking even happier now!

Speaking of happy...

Wow!

Yummy!

We love bento!

Next from the US, a bento packed with friendly ghosts.

We're Taiwanese Americans living in California.

I started making bento for my son when he started preschool.

Wow!

Today, I-Ching has sketched out a bento with friendly ghosts!

She starts by shaping rice into the tear-dropped shapes of her ghosts.

Then, she uses nori to draw a face.

Finally, she finishes it off with a dab of ketchup for the cheeks.

Next, she glazes chicken meatballs with teriyaki sauce,

and turns them into one-eyed ghouls using cheese and nori.

Finally, I-Ching makes scrambled eggs with tomatoes.

It's a Taiwanese comfort food that adds color and nutrients,

while filling out her bento box.

It looks like these ghosts are having a party in the bento box!

What do you think, Ze-Sheon?

Excellent!

We love bento!

It's time to get started on our bentos!

Okay.

In Japan, January through March is exam season here,

and parents all over Japan make bentos to cheer on their kids.

Yes, I remember making some for my sons.

- I bet that helped.
- I hope so.

Today, we're both making bentos

that will cheer on anyone that's up against the challenge.

I'm going to make a delicious bento with good-fortune message that I call,

"good luck chicken katsu bento."

Ah, because "katsu" means "to win."

Katsu, or cutlet, is a popular bento item

when someone is up against a challenge,

because the name is a homophone for the Japanese word for "winning."

Maki's chicken katsu's crispy and packed with protein.

She's going to be using chicken breast,

and she's got a few tricks to make her cutlet tender and flavorful.

Let's cut this into bite-size pieces.

Okay, great!

Muscle fibers run along the grain.

- Can you see that?
- Yup!

Cut against that grain.

The fibers shrink when heated and make the meat tough.

Cutting against the grain is a great way to make any meat tender.

Yeah!

Maki seasons the pieces with salt and pepper,

and puts them in a zipper bag.

And, add some mayo in it.

Oh, that's new.

Massage like this.

So, what's the mayo for?

First, for seasoning.

Second, the vinegar in the mayo tenderizes the chicken.

And third, it's a shortcut for the breading.

I'm so curious what the shortcut is.

- You'll see.
- Okay.

Maki lets the chicken marinate in the fridge, and preps her special breading

by combining panko, chopped parsley,

and grated cheese powder.

Smells so good.

Now, she's going to use this to bread the chicken.

Bread the chicken with panko, like this.

So that's the shortcut!

Yeah, right.

She's using the mayonnaise as a glue

so she doesn't have to coat it with flour and egg

before dipping it into the panko.

And it's sticking really well.

Now, Maki shallow-fries the katsu over medium-low heat,

until both sides are golden brown.

It smells so good.

Right. So, let's flip them over!

So crispy.

That cheese has crisped up, the panko has crisped up.

And I love the green color in there.

It makes it so festive.

Okay. My good luck chicken katsu is done!

It looks so good.

So Marc, try my good luck chicken katsu!

Itadakimasu!

The outside is crispy.

And the chicken breast is usually pretty lean,

but because you marinated it with the mayonnaise,

it's added some richness to it that keeps it moist and tender.

I feel like I could win any challenge.

Good luck!

Maki uses a cherry blossom-shaped cutter

to make sakura flowers from bologna, and packs them in her bento.

Blossoming sakura is another symbol of passing exams,

so this bento is brimming with positive energy.

Wow, Marc! You have a lot of colorful ingredients here!

What are you going to make for your bento today?

Well, I wanted to make a bento that's nutritious and delicious,

but that you could eat with one hand while you're studying.

So, I'm going to be making a pita bento,

stuffed with smoked salmon, kale, and a tangy yogurt spread.

Sounds wonderful.

Yup!

When you're cramming for exams, it can be tough to take time out to eat,

but your brain still needs food.

So, I came up with this delicious yet nutritious, pita sandwich

to quickly charge you up while you're studying.

Pita is a type of flatbread that's common around the Mediterranean.

And it makes for a convenient wrapper for any food.

And I'll just go ahead and cut it in half.

And this is going to allow us to open up a pocket to stuff it, just like that.

So you can pack everything inside.

Exactly. And we're going to be stuffing these today with some smoked salmon.

So let's go ahead and make a few other things to go with these.

Great.

Smoked salmon goes great with lemons,

so I'm using some Meyer lemon zest

along with chopped dill, to make a tangy yogurt spread.

I'm going to go ahead and add some strained yogurt,

so this is like a Greek-style yogurt.

And then, we're going to go ahead and add some cream cheese to this.

Whisk these together until smooth.

I love this combination. Rich and creamy.

Yeah. So the benefit of using a strained yogurt, it's got a lot less moisture.

So, it's going to keep our pita from getting soggy.

It smells so nice.

Okay, and once it's nice and creamy like this,

we're going to go ahead and add in our Meyer lemon zest.

And we've got our chopped dill.

And then, we can just whisk this together.

Wow, so beautiful!

It's a little bit tangy too, right?

Okay, and our fragrant yogurt spread is done.

Beautiful.

This spread is full of proteins and vitamins.

Next, I'm going to bump the nutrient density up a notch

with a slaw made from kale.

I'm going to start with some Meyer lemon juice,

and add it to some olive oil along with salt and pepper.

Massage the shredded kale into the dressing, and our kale slaw is done!

Now, it's time to stuff the pita.

Open this up a little bit here, and then get some yogurt.

This is what makes it so creamy and fragrant,

so go ahead and get a lot in there.

And then we're going to add some smoked salmon.

That's my favorite.

Well then, I'll put some extra smoked salmon in here, too.

Thank you.

And then, we're going to add our kale slaw here

that's going to add a nice tangy contrast to our savory smoked salmon.

All right. And our pita is done.

Looks delicious.

Itadakimasu.

The yogurt with dill and lemon is so refreshing.

It goes well with the rich salmon and cheese as well as the bitter kale.

And you can eat it while studying.

Exactly. So are you ready to take on a challenge?

Yes!

My salmon pita doesn't require any cooking,

making it super simple to prepare.

And yet, it's as flavorful as it is nutritious.

Just what's needed to power anyone through exam season.

Making a bento is a great way to support loved ones that are taking on a challenge.

So we hope you'll...

give them a try!

Bento Topics.

Today, from the city of Kitakyushu in Fukuoka Prefecture.

Orio Station is the site of a rare performance that takes place daily.

Bento, "kashiwameshi" bento.

On the platform, a vendor sings and flaps his arms like a bird

as he sells the station's chicken rice bento.

Here's your change. Thank you!

Rice cooked in chicken soup is topped with savory chicken,

shredded egg omelet, and nori.

Kashiwameshi is a specialty of Fukuoka,

which is one of Japan's major chicken producers.

Back when Fukuoka was a major coal mining center,

Orio boasted a lot of traffic.

This led to the birth of the kashiwameshi "ekiben" over a century ago.

At first, the wrapping paper featured a chicken design.

Over the years, different editions have been released.

Train enthusiasts love collecting these ekiben wrappers.

Bento, kashiwameshi bento.

This ekiben has always been sold by roaming vendors.

Kominami-san attracts customers with his chicken dance.

It's good. Simple and tasty.

I eat it often.

Ever since I was this tall.

The bento has a devoted local fan base.

So good!

This has always been the only ekiben for me.

It's simple and tasty, so you never get tired of it.

That's why it's so popular.

Let's see how it's made.

The secret lies in the way the chicken is cooked.

We use egg-laying chickens. The meat has a chewy texture.

After simmering for two days until tender,

the meat is shredded by hand.

It's then seasoned and allowed to cool in the sweet and savory sauce.

Now, for the rice.

The boiled chicken stock is seasoned

with soy sauce, mirin and some secret ingredients

before being used to cook the rice.

The result is a fragrant and flavorful rice full of chicken umami.

The chicken rice is placed into a bento box.

It's then topped with nori, sweet and savory chicken "soboro,"

and shredded egg omelet.

It's a taste of home that remains unchanged.

De-li-cious! Packed with chicken flavor.

Kashiwameshi bento!

We love bento!

That kashiwameshi bento looked so delicious,

packed with rich flavor of the chicken.

Yeah, it did, didn't it?

And I love how he's keeping that tradition alive.

Yeah!

Kashiwameshi!

We're looking forward to seeing your bento submissions,

or just drop by the BENTO EXPO website to vote on your favorite bento.

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!