LI: We are learning about traditional Japanese foods.

SC: I can discuss the different foods that Japanese people eat

I can listen to and follow instructions on how to make sushi

Today Japan came to P7/6 and so did the smell of tuna!!! We are loving our new topic on Japan. We have already learned about the Japanese flag, Mount Fuji and cherry blossoms. We have researched the natural disasters that are common to Japan and have created an informative poster detailing facts, causes and ways to keep safe. It was now time to learn more about the traditional foods that Japanese people eat and to make some sushi for ourselves!

Our class were set off on a food challenge to find more information about sushi using the netbooks and Mrs Murray called out small groups to the class ‘kitchen’. First, we boiled the sushi rice. It was so stodgy and sticky. We used bamboo sushi mats to place our nori (seaweed sheets) on. We then had to place the rice on 2 thirds of the nori sheet. Our top tip when touching the rice is to always have wet hands, because we found that if our hands were too dry, the rice stuck to them. Next we used our finger to create a thin dent across the middle of the rice, this is where our filling went. We chose tuna and cucumber. Then came the tricky bit……rolling the sushi! We had to be very gentle and delicate with our hands. Once we had our long cylinder shaped sushi roll we moved over to the chopping board and cut it in to smaller pieces. We then added some soy sauce and ate it! Most of us were quite surprised at how much we enjoyed the taste. Some of us didn’t like it at all!

This was an exciting lesson where we had to use lots of different life skills. We had to listen, follow instructions, have the confidence to taste new foods, follow safety rules when using sharp knives,  sharing space and utensils and of course we then had to clean up afterwards! A fantastic day, full of lots of fun and learning.