Can Babies Eat Sushi?

Sushi is a traditional Japanese dish made of rice seasoned with vinegar and combined with seafood, mostly raw, and vegetables. Sushi is traditionally prepared with medium-grain white rice, but there are many variations in which brown rice or short-grain rice might be used. The most common seafood used for sushi is squid, salmon and tuna. The vegetarian sushi is made with vegetables and often served with wasabi, soy sauce or pickled ginger.

The nutritional value of sushi depends mostly on the ingredients used to make it. The main traditional ingredients, rice and raw fish are low in fat, but high in protein, omega-3 fatty acids, carbs, vitamins and minerals, as well as in sodium. Due to the fact, that fish used in sushi might contain high levels of mercury, food poisoning is a risk that is present, when eating this dish. Bacteria and harmful parasites are other aspect of this dish, and of all the ones made from raw fish. Pregnant women, nursing mothers and young children should avoid sushi.

Will Eating Sushi Hurt My Baby?

Sushi is usually given to children, when they reach the age of 5 years old, but in some places, like Japan, sushi playing a main role in their diet, parents often introduce sushi into their children’s diet earlier, at the ages between 2 to 3 years old. Sushi made with raw fish or with undercooked seafood should not be given to babies. Vegetable sushi is on the other hand a great way to offer your baby a variety of vitamins and minerals.

Vegetable Sushi For Children

Ingredients: 6 nori seaweed warps, 2 cups of sushi rice, 1 thinly sliced yellow, orange and red bell pepper, 1 peeled and julienned carrot, 1 mango, 1 avocado and 1 cucumber, all sliced into thin strips, ½ cup of shredded purple cabbage, ½ cup of cooked beetroots sliced into thin strips, vinegar, soy sauce.

Mix the 2 cups of uncooked sushi rice with 4 cups of water in a pot. Cover it with a tight fitting lid and bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and let it simmer for about 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes, then stir in the rice vinegar and transfer the rice into a bowl.  Put the nori sheet on to a bamboo rolling mat, wet your hands in a bowl with warm water and put a small amount of rice on the nori and pat it into a thin layer, in order to cover the nori. Add your fillings in a line avoiding the bottom of the nori roll. Start to roll the nori up, squeezing and pressing the bamboo mat to compress and tighten the roll. Remove the bamboo mat, slice into coins, sprinkle with soy sauce and serve immediately.