We’ve challenged your children to become global citizens without leaving Lake County by grabbing a Passport to Flavor and taking our Global Dine Around Challenge for Kids. Find all the whole series:
- Passport to Flavor: Cuba
- Passport to Flavor: Italy
- Passport to Flavor: France
- Passport to Flavor: Japan
- Passport to Flavor: The Middle East
- Passport to Flavor: South Korea
- Passport to Flavor: India and Nepal
Today we’re kicking the challenge up a notch. We’ve eased you into it with familiar favorites, now we’re taking you somewhere new, somewhere far from the kid’s menu: Japan.
Japanese Dining in Lake County
Try Kawa Japanese Restaurant & Mongolian Grill, 100 South Atkinson Rd. in Grayslake. A large selection of Japanese and Asian menu items means there’s something for everyone. The Mongolian Grill, a large, round, solid iron griddle where chefs cook your selection of meats, veggies, and sauces, makes for an entertaining sight for the kids.
Take the Challenge:
Sushi is an ideal food for kids! Parents concerned about raw fish needn’t worry. Sushi does not necessarily mean raw fish but refers to the vinegared rice that is integral to the dish. Many sushi dishes do not make use of raw fish at all but make use of avocado, cooked eggs, barbecued eel, or cooked shrimp, to name a few.
An easy introduction is a favorite for my kids, the California Roll or “maki.” It consists of rice, cucumber, cooked crab meat, avocado, and rolled in seaweed. Sometimes it will also contain fish roe or “tobiko,” but you can ask for it to be left out. Kids love to try their hand at chopsticks, but they can just as easily be eaten with little fingers. Kids will enjoy choosing their stir-fry items for a hot meal and watching them cooked on the Mongolian Grill.
Recommended Reading: about Japan
First Book of Sushi by Amy Wilson Sanger
Miso in my sippy cup, tofu in my bowl! From tekka maki to wasabi, tasty treats await young readers in this colorful, rhyming ode to Japanese cuisine. With pages full of tummy-tempting foods, the books in the World Snacks series are a delicious way to introduce even the littlest eaters to cuisines from all around the globe. {from Amazon}
Before you go print out this coloring sheet to take with you and your children can learn about Japan while they wait for their food!
By Loralie
Hainesville
When Loralie isn’t out exploring with her two pint-sized adventurers you’ll often find her in front of her computer plotting to take over the world (or at least Lake County.) She appreciates good friends, good food, expensive shoes and parents who make two lanes in the drop-off/pick-up line at school. Her spirit animal is The Hobbit. She invites you to join her on her quest for unique distractions, diversions and deliciousness in this county we call home.
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