A Kid’s Guide to Asian Food
The world is full of amazing food! Explore Asian cuisine with your family with these tips for picky eaters, easy weeknight recipes, and everything you need to know to enjoy new foods at home and around the world!
Why should kids eat Asian food?
Asian food is way more than what you find on a takeout menu!
With tons of fresh produce, an emphasis on flavor, and fun textures, Asian cuisine is a great kid friendly culinary adventure.
Asian food as a group makes up a lot of different culture’s foods. This is a really big group that includes food from Mongolia, China, Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Vietnam. Each of these regions includes their own unique take on food and offers a great variety in delicious dishes to try.
If your kids are new to learning about the world of food, I suggest checking out my guides on raising adventurous eaters, helping kids try new foods, and tips to help kids love international foods.
Tips to Make Asian Food Kid Friendly:
- Include Known Favorites. Asian cuisine is so handy because you can add in pretty much any vegetable you have on hand! I always try to add in a few that are different colors or sizes to add some visual variety. Make sure that at least one is something that your kid already loves, and try one that they might not be so familiar with.
- RICE! Rice is a great fall back because kids love it! Its easy to make, its helps dilute new flavors and sauces, and its a basic staple for Asian cuisine. There are a bajillion varieties, but you can stick what you like on hand, whether its jasmine or brown, but either way – a bowl of plain rice is where its at.
- Noodles are included in a good majority of majority of Asian dishes, and can easily be swapped out for rice. Don’t get too hung up on the kind of noodle – they are easy to swap out! Check out my post on different kinds of Asian noodles for more information.
I always love including non-food explorations and play into our lives as easy and low-stress ways to encourage new food explorations.
One of my favorite ways to do this is to add in books and movies that showcase food. Check out my guide on kids picture books about Asian food.
For younger kids, check out our dramatic play restaurants!
What tools do we need?
You don’t really need any special tools to make Asian meals at home, but there are things that are great to have on hand!
- A rice maker
- Kids chopsticks are so fun to use, and help add a new challenge to eating. Kids LOVE learning to use chopsticks!
- A great way to get kids involved is to use my World Food Tracker worksheets.
Recipes to try:
Try these recipes at home! These easy, weeknight friendly recipes are some of the most popular reader favorites here! And be sure to check out our Foodie family Passport Activity that focuses on Malaysian food experiences for the whole family.
Chinese Inspired Recipes:
Korean Inspired Recipes:
Japanese Inspired Recipes:
Thai inspired recipes:
For more inspiration, check out these posts:
