Japanese Cooking with Kids: 50 Kid-Tested Recipes to Make Together!

Gr 3-7–Samuels and Uejima-Carr are the chef founders of “Wa-Sho: Learn, Cook, Eat Japanese,” a cooking program inspired by the Japanese word for cuisine and meal education, and it sums up the authors’ socially conscious philosophy around healthy nutrition and respect for resources (mottainai). This cookbook uses photos and illustrations to encourage variety and balance in meals, placing consideration on presentation, expression of gratitude (Itadakimasu), and avoiding overstuffing. Young chefs are encouraged to contemplate the benefits of communal eating, using seasonal foods, and eating five colored foods at each meal. Samuels and Uejima-Carr explain portion control, define carbs/proteins, and provide examples with pie charts highlighting foods that make eaters “go (energy), grow (growth), and glow (fight disease).” Sections are organized around Japanese Rice, Flavors of the Sea, Food from Soy, Fruits/Vegetables, Japanese Favorites, School Lunches, Bento Boxes, and Desserts/Drinks. Kids of all ages will enjoy deceptively easy recipes like matcha tea cake with chocolate swirls. Health and safety practices incorporate text features such as bullet points to scaffold children who need help identifying important concepts. Health and mathematics educators will appreciate instruction on nutrition label reading and counting in Japanese.