Kids Chicken Urumaki

So pretty. I love japanese food, but my kids don't. I used to look longingly at children in malls munching on sushi cones while mine dragged me towards the chicken nuggets. All that lovely flavour, nutrients like iodine omega 3 and zinc that their diets are so deficient in. Eventually I just stopped looking and longing and accepted my fate - I am a mother of fast food junkies.

Not any more.

This is the first step in getting my kids to eat sushi. They love it. Not only that, they love making it - ahh, my dreams of being mother to a great chef are not shattered after all. Thanks for the inspiration Movenpick (post here about kids menus)

Ingredients:

• 200g boneless chicken thighs, trimmed of fat then pan-fried and sliced into 1cm ribbons
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 100g lean lardons (bacon cubes), panfried
• 1 cucumber, sliced lengthwise
• 3 cups cooked sumeshi rice (preparation guide here)
• nori sheets
• mango pulp (puree or push through a seive) and blanched edamame beans for garnish

Instructions:

1. lay sushi rolling mat, then cling film, then nori, then 3/4 cup rice in that order - then spread rice, flattening with wet hands and flip nori and rice over (the sushi master has step-by-step instructions here)
2. line each of the chicken, cucumber, avocado and lardons along one end (not too much- kids need to be able to fit this in their mouth.)
3. roll like a sushi ninja, slice into 1.5-2cm wheels, and throw a splash of mango and a couple of edamame beans on top.

This should make about 4 sheets worth. You many need more than one avocado and cucumber if they are small. Remember to keep the ingredients in each roll to a minimum, and to be firm when flattening the rice and rolling - otherwise they will fall apart once you cut them, and if they are too big to eat in one mouthful they will also explode between bites. Use a very sharp knife to cut - this will give you a better appearance. 

If this looks too hard, you can always roll a standard maki, spreading the mango coulis inside - but beware - if kids can see the seaweed, they may not want to eat it. If your kids are very scared of green, you could omit the cucumber and spread the avocado like butter on the nori - they won't even see it.


PS - I told my kids that edamame beans are what is used to make white chocolate and they believe me. I'm treating it like a tooth fairy white lie...