First up, edamame. If you aren't familiar with edamame, it is soybeans that have been boiled in heavily salted water. You pick up the pod, stick it in your mouth, and with your teeth scrape out the beans and toss the pod. We used to shell the beans for Reagan and she would gobble them up faster than we could shell them. Now she can pop those beans out of the shell with her teeth just as fast as you or I could. She pounded almost an entire order of them tonight. Here she is working the edamame.
Warning: These photos were taken on a camera phone so the quality is pretty craptastic
Next is the sushi. In the US we tend to be incredibly overly cautious about consumption of fish in pregnant women and children. Yes, there are fish that should be avoided, but health benefit to the consumption of safely handled, low mercury level fish greatly outweighs the risks in my book. As in anything moderation is key. Tonight Reagan only had smoked salmon as her fish in her sushi. Contrary to popular belief, sushi doesn't mean "raw" it just means "with rice." Frankly, I have no problem giving her salmon even raw now that she is two. However, going the smoked salmon or selecting a fully cooked fish may be a better choice for some a little anxious to give raw fish.
If you are still thinking "Eeewww! No way would I eat sushi or give it to my kid", let's dissect further. Reagan had a "bagel roll." A bagel roll uses a filling of smoked salmon, avocado, and cream cheese. It is wrapped in seaweed (which is really an algae, but whatever) and then rice stuck around the outside of the seaweed. Other than the seaweed, is there really anything there you haven't eaten? And if you haven't tried the seaweed wrap, I promise it's not offensive. But most restaurants will let you substitute the seaweed for rice paper if you are a little gun shy. The rice paper is actually easier for kids to eat too since admittedly the seaweed wrap can get a little chewy.
There are other sushi roll options that actually use fully cooked fish that even the most timid (read: my mom) would enjoy. How about trying a super crunch roll that uses tempura shrimp and a yummy spicy mayo? (We won't give Reagan shellfish until three so this is off limits for her, but I'm certain any shrimp lover would enjoy it!) Just look for "maki rolls" on the menu and they will indicate which ones are cooked rolls.
Here is Reagan cramming a bagel roll in her mouth.
And I ask you, what sushi experience is complete without chopsticks? Reagan gets the "trainer" version that make it pretty simple to use. It is two chopsticks rubber banded together so she just has to pinch them to pick up food. I think she's mastered them pretty well. Here she is popping another bagel roll in her mouth.
For those of you who are already sushi lovers, I'm sure my sushi knowledge bored you to tears. But hopefully you enjoyed the pictures of Reagan anyway. For those of you who don't eat sushi, my sushi knowledge probably still bored you to tears. But I hope maybe I inspired you to at least give it a thought for you and your children. My goal is to never resort to the "kid chicken nugget" meal option because they won't eat anything else on the menu. I want the girls to have exposure to lots of different foods and cultures. Maybe one day they'll get the opportunity to visit Japan or another country and they'll be ready to experience all that the culture has to offer. Until then, I want them to appreciate the variety and difference in foods and cultures as something to be enjoyed and respected even while we are here in the good old US of A.
Mmmmm.....sushi.
