Today, Marc fries up some shrimp and veggie fritters

to make a "kakiage" sandwich.

Maki makes a colorful "menchikatsu" bento.

Both deep-fried foods freeze well and are great for bentos.

And an Azerbaijani family in Japan

shares a bento packed with foods from home.

Yummy!

We love bento!

(The Global Lunchbox 7-8)

Welcome to BENTO EXPO

where we share bentos from Japan and around the world.

Thank you for joining BENTO EXPO.

So, Maki, I think we've got some new bentos

to look at submitted through BENTO EXPO's website.

I can't wait to see them.

Yeah, me too.

So let's start by taking a look at how a few of them were made.

OK!

First, a bento capturing the flavors of Azerbaijan,

a nation that straddles Europe and Asia.

I am an Azerbaijani living in Japan.

These are my sons.

When they were going to kindergarten, I used to do bento every day.

We miss obento and today decided to do it again.

In Azerbaijani cuisine,

spices and dairy play an important role

and they are the main ingredient in this turnover.

Dilara uses Japanese potsticker wrappers to make her version.

For the filling, she combines scallions and cottage cheese

and seasons it with a tart citrusy spice called "sumac."

When you want to make some dish sour, you use sumac.

She adds a dollop of filling on to the wrapper, folds them over,

and then she panfries the crescents

until they're golden brown and crisp.

Those look delicious!

Next, Dilara prepares another Azerbaijani favorite

by frying up sliced eggplant,

and using them to sandwich cheese, tomatoes, and garlic.

It's like a mini burger.

This is super yummy.

Time to pack!

Go for it, boys!

They pack the turnovers with the eggplant stacks

and for a finishing touch...

Sumac!

Lemony sumac also makes for a tasty condiment.

Along with some fruit, these Azerbaijani bentos are ready to eat!

This is yummy!

Yummy!

Very nice.

We love obento!

Next, a cute character bento made with Indonesian staples.

Hello guys, I am Rin from Indonesia.

Today, I will make bento with traditional foods of Indonesia.

She's making this bento for Shinka, her young niece.

This is tempeh.

Tempeh is made by fermenting soybeans

and it's a pantry staple in Indonesian cuisine.

Rin batters sticks of tempeh and deep-fries them.

The crispy batter and meaty tempeh make for a delicious contrast

and it's one of Shinka's favorites.

Chili paste, or sambal, is another indispensable ingredient,

and Rin's using one made from chili peppers, shallots, garlic and more.

She adds the sambal to a frying pan with oil

then she uses it to stir-fry some beef.

I bet it's nice and spicy!

Next, she uses some sweet soy sauce

to season and color the rice for her character.

I like cute things and making bento.

Especially making bento characters is fun for me.

It's a teddy bear!

Rin also adds "tamagoyaki" and fishcake

to round out her bento packed with love.

Yummy!

I love bento!

It's time to get started on our bentos!

OK!

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

that you can prep in advance and freeze for later use.

I'm going to make vegetable menchikatsu

which is a great homemade freezer item.

That sounds great!

Menchikatsu is a cutlet made from ground meat,

and it's a popular bento item in Japan.

It does take a bit of time to prepare though

which is why it's so convenient to prep in advance and freeze.

Maki starts by chopping some colorful vegetables

to add to her menchikatsu mixture.

To the ground pork, add chopped onion,

corn, zucchini, green bell pepper,

carrot and flour, salt and pepper.

Then, knead well.

Wow, that's such a colorful combination of vegetables there.

Yes!

Maki shapes the mixture into small patties

so they're easy to freeze and defrost.

Then she breads the patties with flour, beaten egg and panko.

While you're at it, it's a good idea to make a large batch.

You can freeze the patties at this point,

but Maki's going to take it one step further.

OK! Let's fry them.

So you're going to freeze the menchikatsu after you fry it?

Yes!

I'll take care of all of that now.

That's a great idea.

Deep frying reduces the moisture content in food

which makes it better suited for freezing.

Marc, how many do you want to eat?

I think I will have all of them.

OK, five for you.

So my vegetable menchikatsu is done!

Marc, try my vegetable menchikatsu.

Itadakimasu!

The outside is crispy, and the inside is meaty

and you've got that really nice texture of the vegetables in there.

I can eat a ton of these.

Great, I made a lot!

To freeze these,

Maki wraps each of the room temperature menchikatsu

individually in plastic wrap.

Then she puts the wrapped patties in a freezer bag

to protect them from freezer burn.

Now she freezes them until she's ready to use them.

They'll keep in the freezer for about a month.

Nice and frozen.

Pack them frozen and they'll thaw by lunchtime.

Here's one of her menchikatsu after defrosting for three hours.

By keeping these colorful cutlets in the freezer,

Maki's bento comes together in minutes.

For kids, Maki uses ham and nori

to make a cute bunny out of a bed of rice.

With loads of veggies and flavor,

Maki's menchikatsu is the perfect make-ahead item.

Marc, you're also using a lot of veggies.

I'm going to be using these vegetables to make kakiage,

a Japanese fritter,

and then I'm going to cut open a bun and stuff it inside

to make a kakiage sandwich.

Wow!

Kakiage is typically eaten on its own, or with noodles,

but it's also delicious on bread,

and because of its low moisture content,

it's another item that freezes well.

I start by chopping shelled and deveined shrimp into small pieces.

I've also chopped up some colorful veggies,

so we're ready to turn these into kakiage!

Making the batter for kakiage is super simple.

I'm just going to add all the vegetables into the bowl here

with the shrimp.

So beautiful!

Isn't it?

Now we're going to go ahead and add some cake flour to this

and toss it all together to evenly coat

all the pieces of vegetable with a layer of flour.

All right.

Now we're going to add three tablespoons of very cold soda water

into our mixture for the kakiage.

Why soda water?

So the carbonation in the soda water

is going to make the batter light and crispy.

That's a great idea.

Lightly mix this up so the ingredients are evenly wet,

but don't overmix it or you'll end up with chewy kakiage.

Having a few little lumps of flour is OK.

And our kakiage batter is done, so let's fry this up.

To shape the kakiage,

I like to load the mixture on to a flat metal surface like the spatula.

And I'm going to lower it into the oil

and just scoop it right off into there.

And then we're actually going to fry this a little bit longer

than we would normally fry kakiage for,

because when you freeze it,

you want to have as little moisture as possible

so it stays super crispy.

And I think our first one here is done.

Look at that. It's nice and crispy.

Look so good!

After they've cooled to room temperature,

I wrap each kakiage separately

and then pack them into a freezer bag to freeze.

After three to four hours, they should be frozen solid like this.

To get them crisp again,

I put them in a toaster oven set to medium heat for a few minutes.

I smell the kakiage again.

Yes, it smells great, doesn't it?

To season the kakiage,

just boil some 3S sauce (Soy sauce+Sake+Sugar) and drizzle it on top!

It's seeping in!

Then I'm going to sandwich the kakiage

between some buns along with some mayonnaise and lettuce.

And our kakiage sandwiches are done!

Yum!

So, Maki, try out my kakiage sandwich.

The fluffy buns, crisp kakiage, and sauce go so well together.

I had no idea kakiage froze so well!

I'm glad to hear you enjoyed it.

By keeping a few kakiage stashed in the freezer,

you can enjoy this delightful sandwich any day of the week.

Today, both Maki and I made, "make-ahead bento items"

that freeze well and will save you time in the morning,

so we hope you'll...

give them a try.

Bento Topics.

Today, from Kamakura.

Easily accessible from Tokyo,

it's long been a popular summer destination

for people looking to beat the heat.

Surrounded by the sea and mountains,

Kamakura is famous for its vegetables.

Maki visits a farmers' market to find out what makes them special.

Wow! Fresh carrots with leaves!

Yellow, purple, and white. So colorful!

An American squash with a unique shape.

Mediterranean leafy vegetables with colorful stalks.

Thai and Italian eggplant.

Some vegetables sold at this 100-year-old farmers' market

are hard to find elsewhere in Japan.

It's fun talking to the farmers.

They sell vegetables you don't often see in supermarkets.

Farmer Yamamori grows 120 varieties of vegetables each year.

This is a tourist area,

so there are many French and Italian restaurants.

The chefs come to me for vegetables.

So I started growing more and more types.

What does he recommend today?

This one's rare. It's a star okra.

It looks like this.

Cute!

It really is star-shaped.

Very dense. Lovely crunch.

He also recommended this squash.

Crisp and juicy. Subtly sweet.

Delicious!

Maki's search for a bento brings her to chef Mori Yuiko.

Mori runs a delivery service for bentos featuring Kamakura vegetables.

Here's one bento she offers.

It's been carefully packed with colorful Kamakura vegetables.

Mori selects the contents according to

what's in season and available at the market that day.

Today, she's starting off with grilled butternut squash.

She slices it and seasons with salt, pepper, and dill,

then grills to bring out the rich sweetness of the squash.

It's very simple.

Kamakura vegetables are rich in flavor. So, simple is best.

Next, purple carrots.

Cute. The inside is yellow.

She cuts the carrot into strips,

and after blanching, mixes with Swiss chard and sesame oil.

Very colorful.

Only two vegetables were needed to create these vibrant colors.

Next, the colinky squash that Maki tried earlier.

To make the most of the crunchy texture,

Mori slices it thinly and mixes it with kale,

walnuts, and miso dressing.

She also packs a sardine and shiso-wrapped tempura,

star okra marinated in dashi,

and for decoration, cucumber flower tempura.

Gorgeous!

Colorful, isn't it?

It's like a flower garden.

I love wowing my customers when they open my bentos.

Now for the fun part!

Great texture.

Crunchy, isn't it?

This is addictive.

We love bento!

That was a beautiful bento with tons of veggies.

Wasn't it?

Speaking of beautiful bentos,

Maki and I love seeing your bento submissions

through the BENTO EXPO website.

So, head over and share some of your favorite bentos

with bento makers from around the world.

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 soon.

Bye.