Sushi Sous Chef

As we continue our series on chefing with kids, I want to share another great way to get your little helpers involved in the process of making dinner (and get yourself a sous chef or two in the kitchen). Sushi.  That’s right, Sushi.  Earlier this week Finn was lucky enough to eat dinner at a friend’s house where sushi is a regular meal.  Convinced that we could do the same, he suggested we become an all sushi all the time house, and while that wasn’t going to fly for me, I did agree – on his suggestion – that we make our own sushi for dinner last night.  It was fun, it was easy, and the kids did most of the work.  Just perfect!  Come and cook with us!

At the age of seven, raw sushi is an acquired taste.  Finn and Bode started their love affair with sushi young, so raw fish is not a scary prospect for them; for my first sushi attempt it was definitely a scary prospect for me.  To keep me sane, we agreed to try out chicken teriyaki rolls and as we made them I realized that sushi could be made with just about any cooked and cooled meat, vegetable, or even fruit.

In preparing for our adventure I completely defied sushi etiquette and used regular short-grain brown rice for our sushi rolls. It was a dinner for the kids so I made a bet they wouldn’t notice.  We stuck to homemade by making the chicken ourselves, as well as an easy from-scratch sauce. We invited some neighborhood friends to join, and had everyone make their own rolls. I prepped lots of vegetables, and allowed the kids to dress their rolls as they saw fit.  We had lots of bright colors from our carrots, cucumbers, avocado, peppers, and, of course, the chicken. We used regular dinner napkins to roll the rolls so that each of the kids could try their hands at this at the same time.

The kids loved their homemade sushi dinner so much that we’re already talking about what type of sushi we’ll make next. At this rate, I might just end up buying the proper equipment and sushi rice for our next foray into the world of homemade sushi.  Or maybe I’ll just patent the dinner napkin sushi method! Come and cook with us!

Teriyaki Sauce
Teriyaki Chicken Home Sushi