Today, 10-minute bentos.

Marc makes a fluffy and creamy omelet filled with ketchup rice.

Maki makes a quick but delicious Hamburg bento without getting her hands dirty.

And from Italy, an outdoorsy couple shares their bento packed with Italian favorites.

We love bento!

We love bento!

(The Global Lunchbox 8-19)

Welcome to BENTO EXPO where we share bentos from Japan and around the world.

Thank you for joining us.

We always love seeing the delicious looking bentos

you submit through BENTO EXPO's website.

Yes.

So let's start by checking some out.

Okay!

First, from Hong Kong, Lesley makes a bento for her little sister.

Today I'm going to make a bento that combines Hong Kong and Japanese style.

She starts by pan-frying chicken coated with cornstarch

to make her version of "karaage."

Mmm, they look crispy!

Next, she makes a ketchup-based sweet and sour sauce that's popular in Hong Kong.

She uses it to glaze vegetables and pineapples.

Then she adds the karaage into the sauce to make sweet and sour chicken.

It looks delicious!

For her side dish, she dusts "enoki" mushrooms with cornstarch,

and pan-fries them to make a crispy fritter.

What a great idea.

Finally, Lesley makes "onigiri."

She mixes grilled salmon and mayonnaise for the filling.

It's her take on the popular tuna-mayo onigiri, a staple in Japan.

To make it easy to hold, she wraps it in "nori."

She packs it with her Hong Kong-style sweet and sour karaage,

and her bento is done.

Today she shares her bento with her younger sister Eliz.

Yummy!

We love bento!

Next, from Italy, a bento for the first hike of the year.

Today I'm making a bento filled with authentic Italian tastes.

Aya, her husband Fabio, and their dog Sakura love to pack a bento

and go hiking especially on New Year's Day.

First, Aya is going to make frittata, an Italian-style omelet.

She starts by trimming and sauteing artichokes, a symbol of spring in Italy.

Then she adds cheese and the sauteed artichokes to some beaten egg

before transferring the mixture to a parchment-lined pan.

Then she bakes it for about 20 minutes... and look!

Smells fantastic.

Next, she layers chicken, spinach, carrots and cheese. And then...

Maki-maki!

She rolls it up before steaming it.

To finish off her chicken roll, she glazes it with a tangy lemon and herb mixture.

Mmm, smells good.

When she slices it up, you can see all of the beautiful colors in the cross-section.

Now she packs it in a bento box

along with the frittata and some fruit and veggies,

and they're all set for their New Year hike.

Itadakimasu!

And it looks like Sakura joined them as well!

How is it?

It's delicious.

We love bento!

- It's time to get started on our bentos.
- Okay.

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

delicious bentos that can be prepared in about 10 minutes,

thanks to a few simple tricks.

Yes. I'm going to make a satisfying Hamburg

that you can prepare in 10 minutes.

That sounds great.

"Hambagu" is a Japanese abbreviation for Hamburg steak.

It's a meat patty that was popularized around the world by German immigrants.

It's become a popular bento item,

so let's see how Maki prepares hers in about 10 minutes.

So Maki, I see you've got all the usual ingredients for making hambagu patties.

Yes. I'm going to use this to make the patties.

- Well, that should make cleanup easy.
- Um hmm, yes.

First, Maki rehydrates the panko with a beaten egg and milk in her plastic bag.

This helps to make the patty tender.

And then add the ground meat, chopped onion,

mayo, pepper and salt.

Then knead well again.

Ah, this is such a great idea, Maki.

- You don't even need a bowl.
- Yes.

Once the ingredients are mixed,

Maki ties the bag shut and trims off a bottom corner.

Then she pipes the mixture onto a cold frying pan that's been coated with oil.

It's like you're icing a cake.

And the best part is, you don't even have to get your hands dirty.

Yes. They don't have to be shaped perfectly.

Use a spatula to tidy them up.

Make a well in the center to cook through evenly.

Turn on the heat and brown both sides.

Maki turns the heat on to medium heat,

and cooks each side for about 2 to 2 1/2 minutes before flipping them over.

Ooh, looks nice, right?

I'm starving.

Then she adds water, and steams the patties for about a minute

until they're cooked through.

Let's open!

Look how juicy they are.

Now to make the sauce with the meat juice.

Maki adds ketchup and Worcestershire sauce to the meat juices in the pan,

and coats the patties.

This goes well with rice, too.

Okay. My hambagu is done!

Wow. And it only took 10 minutes to make!

Yes.

So, Marc, try my hambagu.

All right, I'm going to take a bite.

Mmm, it's super tender.

And the combination of tastes!

You've got that sweet and tangy sauce on the outside,

but it's really meaty and flavorful on the inside,

- which makes it super satisfying.
- Enjoy!

Next, Maki makes carrots glazed with butter and sugar in the microwave oven.

It's a popular side dish for hambagu.

She packs two patties along with rice and a colorful medley of vegetables.

Some extra sauce goes on top of the hambagu,

and her flavorful and nutritious bento is ready to go.

And the best part is that it only took 10 minutes to make!

So Marc, what's your 10-minute item going to be?

Well, I'm going to be making a popular Western-inspired Japanese dish

called "omurice."

It's an omelet that's stuffed with fried rice,

and it's a super popular comfort food here.

I love omurice. But you can prepare in 10 minutes?

Yup, you'll see!

Omurice is made with fried rice seasoned with ketchup.

And the best part is the fluffy omelet that goes on top.

Today I want to show you a quick trick to make the egg soft and creamy,

yet fully cooked so it's safe to pack into a bento.

But first, let's make the fried rice.

Start by sauteing some sliced sausages with chopped onions and butter.

Okay, the onions are starting to turn translucent,

so I'm going to go ahead and add in our cooked rice here.

Stir-fry this until the rice starts to brown.

Okay, so we're ready to add

- the ketchup!
- Ketchup! Yeah!

I'm also going to add a little bit of soy sauce to flavor this.

And then we just need to mix this all together.

And our ketchup rice is done!

Can't wait to try it.

But we still have to make our fluffy omelet.

So I've got a frying pan off the heat here,

and we're going to go ahead and add some potato starch...

salt and some milk.

And once that's evenly mixed, I'm going to go ahead and turn on our heat.

The potato starch thickens the milk, making a nice creamy sauce.

It's like a fake bechamel sauce.

Bechamel, normally we made with flour, but we're using starch this time.

It's going to create that illusion that our egg is still somewhat rare.

So now we're just going to add our beaten egg to this.

And then we're just going to stir this in.

By mixing these together, you can fully cook the egg

while still retaining a soft and creamy texture.

It's creamy but cooked through.

Exactly. And once the egg has firmed up like this,

- it's ready to go.
- It's so fluffy.

And it stays soft and creamy even after it's cooled to room temperature.

I use a small bowl to shape the ketchup rice into a mound,

and then I'm going to cover this with our fluffy omelet.

Omurice is often garnished with some more ketchup,

and I'm going to customize this one for Maki.

Okay, here you go.

Wow, thank you! "M" for Marc and Maki!

- Exactly!
- Itadakimasu!

The eggs are so fluffy and creamy.

But it's cooked through.

The soy sauce adds a nice flavor to the ketchup rice.

I love the M!

You can also draw other messages or symbols

on top with ketchup like this heart.

Packed with some vegetables and more sausages,

this bento will put a smile on anyone's face.

Today, both Maki and I made 10-minute bentos

using easy tricks to make them fun and delicious.

So we hope you'll give them a try!

Bento Topics.

Today, from Taiwan.

Thanks to the large Buddhist population,

vegetarian dishes are popular here.

Many people have also become vegetarian for health reasons.

This night market is dedicated to vegetarian street food.

And it's a vegetarian heaven!

Here you can find vegetarian omelets,

ginger rice with king oyster mushrooms,

savory dumplings filled with plant-based meat, and more.

It's the best!

"Ji-pai" is a super crunchy fried chicken.

But instead of chicken, this stall makes it with mushroom-soy meat.

- Good?
- Yeah!

This popular burger stand uses soy meat patties

that have a texture and flavor similar to meat.

The burgers are topped with vegan mayonnaise,

perfect for people who don't eat eggs or dairy.

Please come and enjoy our vegetarian food.

Taipei Station, famous for its "ekiben,"

offers a wide selection of vegetarian bentos.

At first glance, this bento looks like it contains meat and seafood.

But the "shrimp" is actually made of "konnyaku."

And the "meat" is sweet and savory layered soymilk skin.

The vegetarian bento is delicious.

I have it for breakfast and lunch.

Welcome!

Cathy became a vegetarian out of compassion for animals.

She makes creative veggie bentos for her son.

Let's start making bento!

They're going to make a veggie bento to celebrate the Year of the Dragon.

The first step is to fry some soy meat steaks.

Good job!

Plant-based meat is very popular. You can get it easily.

She then mixes "doubanjiang," ketchup, ginger,

and other ingredients to make a barbecue sauce.

Good?

Delicious.

- 1, 2, 3. Put them here.
- Okay.

She covers the rice with the steaks, sauce and cheese.

I want the big middle one.

Now for the tricky part using broccolini.

She cuts off the florets, leaving the lower stems and leaves.

These go on top of the cheese, along with decorative parts

made from yellow bell pepper and more cheese.

And presto!

A dragon trio.

They're holding Lunar New Year decorations made from red bell peppers.

The bento is rounded off with more colorful veggies and fruit.

Dad joins them for a picnic.

- Wow, it's beautiful!
- Thank you.

Good?

A vegetarian bento to celebrate the Year of the Dragon.

We love bento!

We wish you all good health and success!

Wow, that vegetarian dragon bento looked so amazing!

Yeah, it did, didn't it? And it was great seeing

so many varieties of vegetarian bentos in Taiwan.

We're looking forward to seeing your bento submissions on our website,

or drop by to check out and 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!

Bye!