Discovering Sushi -- Global Learning for Kids: Japan

Disclosure: I was sent this playset to review free of charge from Melissa & Doug. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them. They also sent one to me for the Asian Pacific American Blog Series and Giveaway!!
 
On Monday I shared that I am teaming up with Multicultural Kid Blogs to begin a new series called Global Learning for Kids. This month our focus is Japan. You can find my introduction to Japan on Multicultural Kid Blogs as well as the amazing Asian Pacific American Heritage Giveaway!! Our focus this week has been on sushi. Now I have only had sushi a couple of times in my life and as a non-fish eater, it has only been vegetarian. However we got this great Wooden Sushi Slicing Playset from Melissa & Doug, so I thought I should teach Hazel a bit about it. 

 First we opened it and explored. We looked on the back to see what things were. We discovered the chopsticks have Velcro on them and so do the sushi pieces so you can actually pick them up with the chopsticks (as long as the right sides are meeting). Whenever Hazel couldn't get them to work, I told her to switch the chopsticks around and it worked. It came with a knife to actually chop the rolls and a bowl of soy sauce and a side of wasabi and felt ginger slices. Hazel loved it and decided to open a sushi cafe with it. 

She used her doll bunkbeds to store the food and as a work surface. I am not sure why she needs oven gloves, but she used them. The top bunk is her place to prepare the orders.

Her rocking horse has her homemade sign, computer as a register and a tip cup (like Starbucks I was told). She has been having so much fun with her sushi cafe so I figured it was time to teach her about sushi. Whenever we need to learn about something we go to the library. Here are the books we found (plus many recipe books with how to make your own sushi).

•  The first book is Hiromi's Hands by Lynne Barasch and published by Lee & Low. This book is tells the story of Hiromi Suzuki and her father. Lynne Barasch's daughter has been friends with Hiromi since kindergarten. This is a true story on how Hiromi became a sushi chef (a female sushi chef is unheard of in Japan). It also shares much about sushi and the types.
• The second book is Sushi for Kids: A Children's Introduction to Japan's Favorite Food by Kaoru Ono and is published by Tuttle Publishing in Tokoyo.  This book is extremely informative about sushi and the various kinds. It tells the story of a young Japanese boy finding out more about sushi from his father's friend who owns a sushi cafe. It includes details like pictures of the types of fish, where they are cut and how to make sushi as well some history of sushi.
• The third book is a magazine. It is the April 2013 edition of Odyssey Magazine, titled Sushi Science. It is the perfect read for older kids with many science lessons about sushi.
• The last book is a board book. It is First book of Sushi by Amy Wilson Sanger. It has clear pictures of the various types of sushi and the names of them. 

Did you know that sushi was actually originally a method of preserving the fish? It originated over 2000 years ago in the regions of Southeast Asia. Originally the rice was discarded when the fish was eaten. This method was changed to not be wasteful of the rice and shortened so it could be eaten the same day. After learning a bit about sushi, it was time to try it. Instead of trying to find all the ingredients and then seeing if Hazel even liked sushi, I decided to go the method of buying it premade. I picked up a package at Whole Foods Market.

It came with soy sauce, wasabi and ginger slices. I pulled out my Japanese chopsticks and Hazel pulled out the ones we just bought for her. The other week we were at a mall that had an Asian store in it and I let her pick one thing in it. She picked out a set of two Japanese chopsticks with pandas on them and duck chopstick rests. Not sure why Japanese chopsticks have Chinese pandas on them, but they do.

 We discovered the vegetarian rolls were not easy to eat with our chopsticks as they were falling apart.  Neither of us tried the wasabi since we do not like spicy. I liked the ginger on them. Hazel first liked them, but then said she didn't. She didn't finish one, so I am guessing she didn't like them too much. 

I finished the sushi for lunch and Hazel had something else for lunch. That is our experience with sushi. Hazel is discussing being daring enough to try the raw fish sushi. She does like fish even though Steve and I do not eat it. Now I have to find someone to take her to get sushi so she will know what is what. No one in my family is a sushi eater.

 Now it is time for the Global Learning for Kids link party. This party is on Japan. Please link up any Japanese crafts, lessons, music, recipes, etc. We will be adding more as the month goes on!!