Table for Two USA, a nonprofit organization that aims to promote healthy eating, has released its cookbook with Tuttle Publishing titled “Japanese Cooking with Kids: 50 Kid-Tested Recipes to Make Together!”
The book features recipes and concepts from TFT’s flagship food education program, Wa-Sho — Learn, Cook, Eat Japanese!, which is offered to schools across the U.S. It is co-authored by Debra Samuels and Mayumi Uejima-Carr with food photography and styling by Yumi Komatsudaira, and can be purchased from online retailers including Tuttle, Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Books-a-Million.
Some of the recipes included in “Japanese Cooking with Kids.”
“Japanese Cooking with Kids” is the perfect way for you and your kids to learn about Japanese cuisine and culture while having fun in the kitchen and eating healthfully. Some of these dishes may even become their new favorites.
These 50 kid-tested recipes for ages 8 to 14 get “two thumbs up” and empty plates every time. They include:
Ever-popular rice dishes like Onigiri Rice Balls, Sushi Rice in Tofu Pockets, and Chicken and Egg Rice Bowls
Flavors from the sea including Japanese Seaweed Sprinkles on Popcorn and Tuna Salad Sushi Rolls
Classic Japanese favorites like Gyoza Potstickers and Miso Ramen Noodle Soup
Cute bento lunch boxes with Octopus-shaped Hot Dogs and Japanese-style Fried Chicken
Delicious desserts and drinks like Strawberry Soy Milk, Glazed Mochi Balls and Matcha Tea Cakes
Each chapter contains a fun, hands-on activity like counting to ten in Japanese while washing your hands, growing your own green onions, or making your own chopstick rests. In addition to preparing delicious Japanese recipes, kids will learn the basic principles of Japanese cuisine — eating foods that are in season and only eating until you feel 80% full — to help you live a healthier life.
About the Contributors
Debra Samuels is the curriculum and content developer for Table for Two USA. She lived in Japan for a total of 12 years. She developed the popular “Kids Are Cooking” series on food, culture and nutrition at Boston Children’s Museum and worked for many years as a food writer and food stylist for The Boston Globe. She received the John Thayer Award from The Japan Society of Boston in recognition of her contributions to friendship between the U.S. and Japan. She is the author of Tuttle Publishing’s “My Japanese Table” and co-author of “The Korean Table.”
Mayumi Uejima-Carr
Mayumi Uejima-Carr, a Tokyo native now based in California, is the president of Table for Two USA. She worked with Accenture and the Eli Lilly pharmaceutical company and earned an MBA from Thunderbird. At TFT, she leads the award-winning programs “Onigiri Action” and “Wa-Sho — Learn. Cook. Eat Japanese!” These programs feature Japanese food culture and address critical health issues. She was awarded fellowships by the U.S.-Japan Leadership Program and Harvard’s Kennedy School.
Yumi Komatsudaira, a talented photographer, is also a culinary instructor for Table for Two USA and the president of K-Seaweed, a leading ocean greens provider since the 1960s. She is the author, recipe developer, food stylist and photographer for her latest cookbook, “Japanese Superfoods.” She grew up outside Tokyo, playing — and snacking — in her family’s seaweed factory. Now based in New York, she travels to Japan often, promoting sea vegetables and their health benefits.
Wa-Sho — Learn, Cook, Eat Japanese!, TFT’s flagship program, launched in 2017, has reached over 23,000 participants. Modeled after Japan’s government-mandated school nutrition curriculum — renowned for promoting healthy eating — Wa-Sho immerses participants in Japanese culture through food. Blending the concepts of washoku (Japanese cuisine) with shokuiku (food education), it is the first structured program of its kind in the U.S. Through hands-on cooking, students explore Japanese meals while building lifelong skills to prepare nutritious and delicious foods.
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