Getting kids to try new foods often seems difficult, but chef and mom Karin Endy had a class full of eager third-graders at PS 230 who developed a great interest in new things. A story in Brooklyn Based tells how over the course of a year, she taught them about food in conjunction with their other studies. So when they learned about Japan, they also learned about tofu, which student Fiamma said was her favorite lesson:
“You mash up beans with some other things and then it’s called okara and you shape it into tofu and then you can put soy sauce over it and do whatever you want with it,” she says.
Endy says discovering okara was one of the more surprising moments for her in the class as well. Once the soybeans are cooked in water, a byproduct is pulpy leftover bits called okara, which amounts to a high protein lunch that you can season with a little ginger, garlic, or soy sauce.
“They came back for second or third helping of okara. Who knew?” she says.
Guia Moisan, 8, a vegetarian in the class, had eaten tofu before. But, she says, “I didn’t know that it was made of soybeans. I wasn’t sure what it was made of.”
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