I can barely remember what movie theatre popcorn even tastes like, it’s been so long, so family movie nights at home it is! Again! One way I’ve been making ours a little more special is to go all-out with fun themed dinners that relate to the film we’re watching.
When we watched Black Panther, we cooked up this Wakandan-inspired Berbere-braised Lamb and Jeweled Pilau that has since become a family favorite. And this weekend, I’m planning to cook Raddish’s delicious Asian-inspired dinner with my kids for Friday night’s premiere of Disney’s new Raya and the Last Dragon on Disney Plus.
(Yes, a new movie family movie is out, whoo! It’s the little things, right?)
Related: DIY movie theater candy recipes, to make family movie night more delicious
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The great news is, Raddish, one of our favorite cooking-kit subscriptions for kids, has made this so easy for us! They’ve put together a free download with three recipes inspired by Raya and the Last Dragon that your kids can make with you (or hey, maybe even for you) to munch on while you watch Raya and the Last Dragon together. So smart!
The kit includes a recipe for shrimp noodles, pork lettuce wraps, and mango sticky rice for dessert. So be sure to add a few extra goodies to your shopping list this weekend as you’re meal planning.
Related: Taste the Nation teaches kids about real American food. Hint: it’s not hot dogs.
Raddish’s simple ingredients and step-by-step visual instructions make these dishes so easy to cook together, and I think they’ll enhance your movie experience when you can taste and smell the Southeast of Asia while you watch Kelly Marie Tran and Awkwafina (um, I mean Raya and the dragon Sisu) save the world.
I’m excited about this for a few reasons. First,, my kids will be getting out of their rooms and into the kitchen with me. Yay! Plus, this movie gives us a great opportunity to talk about Asian cultures in our home. Since my youngest daughter is Korean, this is really important to my whole family, and we regularly look for ways to bring Asian traditions and foods into our home.
But even if you don’t have a personal tie to Asia I still think it’s really important to explore this culture with your kids.
Aren’t these kids’ training chopsticks we found super cute?
I get that this movie is set in Kumandra, a mythical, magical Asian world, but you can still talk about the wonder of Asian folklore, the diversity of cultures and countries across the continent, and the beauty of its geography with your kids. And I firmly believe that eating foods from other cultures one of the most effective gateways to helping kids celebrate other cultures.
Seriously, once you’ve had a bowl of to-die for japchae or tteokbokki, you just can’t help but have a deeper love for Korea. The same goes for any other culture around the world.
I love these colorful Japanese rice bowls, which are perfect for poke bowls, a favorite in our house, or even breakfast cereal.
More importantly, exploring other cultures with your kids with open-minded curiosity and appreciation — tasting the food, listening to the music, being captivated by the folklore — is one of the best things we can do as parents to ensure that racism and hatred, like the horrific increase in violence against Asian-Americans recently, doesn’t take root.
I think it’s on us as parents to find lots of ways to open that door to understanding and appreciation of people who might be different from us, especially if live in a more homogenous community.
So grab your kids and head to the grocery (or order ingredients online) early, so you can make this weekends’ family movie night truly epic. Chopsticks are a bonus….but always fun!
