Soup recipes for babies

Two healthy and easy to cook soup recipes for babies:

1. Chinese chicken soup

This is a common delicious Chinese soup that can be enjoyed by the whole family. Your baby can drink the soup and eat the fully cooked vegetables. Your child can also eat the meat if you cut it into small pieces after the chicken is ready. This soup is healthy and can help you to recover quicker when you get a cold. The soup itself can also be used as an ingredient for other baby/toddler recipes.

age: above 8 months

Ingredients:

- one corn-fed chicken or guinea fowl

- 4-5 slices ginger

Goji Berries

- 20 pieces of Goji berries


- 6-8 pieces of red Chinese Red Dates

- 15 pieces of Shiitake Mushrooms (can use fresh ones or dried ones, if you are using dried ones, wash them and soak them in water overnight)

- Optional: carrots, potatoes, sweet corn, yam

How to cook:

1. Put the washed chicken in a pot, then fill with cold water, the water level should be just above the chicken so that the whole chicken is soaked in water

2. Use strong heat until the water starts to boil, then use a spoon to get rid of the foam on the surface of the soup, then put in ginger, Goji berries, mushrooms, dates

3. Use low heat to cook for one hour, if you are using guinea fowl, then it will take probably 1.5 to 2 hours

4. Optional: you can also put in sweet corn, carrots, potatoes or yam. Carrots can be put in together with the ingredients in step 2, potatoes and yams need to be put in when the soup is about to be ready as they do not need to be cooked for very long time before they get soft.

Young babies cannot eat salty food, so take some soup out for your little one. For other family members, you can add a little salt and pepper and spring onion pieces in the soup.


2. Pork rib soup

age: above 8 months

Pork ribs can be combined with a lot of different ingredients to make delicious soup, but they are all easy to cook, and it is a nice addition to a meal for the whole family. Here are some examples for different kinds of rib soup:

Rib and sweet corn soup (carrots and/or potatoes can be an optional ingredient)

Rib and yam soup (carrots can be an optional ingredients)

Rib and lotus root soup (which is ideal for summer/autumn)

 Rib and white turnip soup (which is ideal for winter)

Rib and Seaweed soup (use dried kelp or kombu seaweed, they need to be washed and soaked in water for a night before use)

Rib soup with tomato and potato

Rib and mung bean soup (seaweed can be added as an optional ingredient, you should soak the mung beans for a night so that they will be easier to cook)

Ingredients:

The main ingredients for this soup are pork ribs. The ribs should be cut into small pieces. The quantity varies as it depends on how many people are going to eat the soup. The quantity of the secondary ingredient should be 1/3 to ½ of the ribs you want to use. Below I list some common ingredients which are needed for all the soups:

- pork ribs

- ginger 3-5 slices

- Goji Berries about 15 pieces (for the first five soups only)

- Chinese Red Dates about 6 pieces (for the first five soups only)

- optional: potatoes, yams, carrots, etc. (see examples above)

All the mentioned soup variations are easy to cook and have similar cooking procedures:

How to cook:

1. Put the rib pieces in a pot and add water, the amount of water should cover the ribs and other ingredients. Use strong heat to cook until the water starts to boil. Then use a spoon to get rid of the foam on the surface of the water.

2. Cut secondary ingredient into cubes (seaweed into pieces), and add into the pot (if your chosen soup contains white turnip or potato or yam, then they should be added when the soup is about to be ready), as well as ginger, goji berries and dates. Use low heat to cook for 1 hour to 1.5 hour

3. Take some soup and yam/carrots/turnip for your little one, the rest for the family can be salted and garnish with spring onion pieces.

Tipp: if you are cooking rib and tomato and potato soup, it is better to stir fry the tomato pieces in a pan with some cooking oil until the juice is out, then put it together with the ribs, the flavor will be better.

Read more »

Toddler meal ideas

Some toddler meal ideas that can be enjoyed by the whole family.

1. Steamed pork with soup

This is a healthy and delicious dish. Because it is steamed it is not oily and only slightly flavoured. It is a popular food for people of all ages especially and originates from Hubei province in China.

age: above 12 months

Ingredients:

- minced pork 7 ounces / 200g

- half teaspoon of Ginger Juice

- Corn Starch 1 ½ teaspoons

- some Soy Sauce

- salt

- some Sesame Oil

- chives/spring onion cut into small pieces

How to cook:

Mix minced pork with corn starch, ginger juice and soy sauce

1. Mix the minced pork, corn starch and the ginger juice with one teaspoon of soy sauce and 2 teaspoons water. Make sure all ingredients are well mixed.

Form a layer of meat inside the bowl

2. Put the mixture in a bowl (which you will be using in the steamer), and use a tablespoon to press the mixture along the bowl's side so that it forms a layer that sticks to the bowl from inside, leave about a half inch / 1cm empty space to the rim of the bowl and make a hole in the middle at the bottom (like in the  picture above)

Add water

3. Add water to a level until the meat is covered

4. Steam for 15-20 minutes using a Steamer until it is fully cooked (if your rice cooker has a steam tray, then you can steam it while you cook rice)

5. Add a few drops of sesame oil, another teaspoon of soy sauce and some chives 

2. Assorted Tofu

This is a perfect dish to eat with some rice. Your child will benefit from both plant and animal protein, as well as vegetable fibers.

age: above 12 motnhs

Ingredients:

- Tofu 3-4 ounces / 100g cut into small cubes

- minced pork/beef/or a mixture of both 1 ounce / 30g

- 1 carrot cut into small cubes

- 3 leafs Chinese cabbage cut into small pieces

- 2 cups of Clear Soup

- Corn Starch

- half a teaspoon of Ginger Juice

- salt

How to cook:

1. Mix the minced meat with ginger juice, salt and half of a teaspoon corn starch, leave for 15 minutes.

2. Put the soup in a pot, then add carrots, boil until carrots are soft, then put Chinese leaf and Tofu inside, cook until Chinese leaf is soft, sprinkle some salt

3. If you want to thicken the soup, put 1/3 of a teaspoon corn starch into 3-4 tablespoon water, mix well, then put into the boiling soup, continue to cook and stir for one minute.

3. Rice

Rice is a good source of carbohydrates, Vitamin B3, B5, B6, Manganese, Phosphorus and Zinc. These are vital nutrition for our daily life.


I normally cook white rice (fragrant jasmine rice) together with millet and polenta (corn grits). This makes the cooked rice a nice mixture of white and yellow color, which is more appealing to children. On the nutrition side, millet and polenta are both rich in B vitamins, millet is also rich in iron. They can compensate the nutrition of rice and make it more nutrition-balanced.

Read more »

Meal ideas for toddlers and family

Delicious meal ideas for toddlers and family!

1. Tofu on shiitake mushrooms

This healthy mushroom dish from China will be interesting for picky-eaters because of its unique form and shape. It provides your child with a good amount of dietary fibre, proteins, Riboflavin, Niacin, Pantothenic Acid, Copper and Selenium. Research has shown that shiitake mushrooms are particularly important for a healthy cardiovascular system.

age: above 18 months

Ingredients:

- Firm Tofu 3.5 ounces / 100g

- Shiitake Mushrooms 6 pcs (You can use fresh ones or dried ones. If you are using dried shiitake mushrooms you need to soak them in water overnight)


- carrot 0.3 ounces / 10g chopped into small pieces

- celery 0.3 ounces / 10g chopped into small pieces

- salt

- Corn Starch

- White Pepper

- sugar

- Sesame Oil

- raw egg white

How to cook:

Prepared Shiitake mushrooms

1. Clean and rinse the shiitake mushrooms and dry them off, cut off the stems. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper inside.

Mashed Tofu

2. Use a Garlic Press to mash the Tofu, get rid of excess water, mix it well with the egg white, a little salt, sugar, corn starch and a few drops of sesame oil

Carrot and Celery cut into small pieces

3. Cut the carrot and celery into small pieces

Tofu on shiitake mushrooms

4. Divide the Tofu into 6 portions and put each portion inside a shiitake mushroom as shown in the picture

Decorated with carrots and celery pieces

5. Decorate each mushroon-Tofu portion with chopped carrot and celery

Preperations for the steaming process

6. Steam for about 15 minutes using a Steamer until everything is cooked

7. Take out and enjoy!

2. Chicken meat ball soup

This is a soup that can be enjoyed by the whole family. Chicken soup is promoting a healthy digestion and reduces inflamation. It also promotes strong and healtyh bones.

age: above 1 year

Ingredients:

- minced chicken breast meat 7 ounces / 200g

- half of an egg white

- 1 1/2 tea spoons of Corn Starch

Sesame Oil

- sesame oil

- salt

- chicken soup 1.5 cups / 400ml

- some pak choi leafes


- some chopped spring onion

How to cook:

1. Mix the minced chicken meat, egg white, corn starch, one teaspoon of water, a few drops of sesame oil and a little bit salt

2. Use a spoon or just use your fingers to shape the above mixture into balls

3. Boil chicken soup and put the chicken meat balls inside, continue to boil the soup for 5-7 minutes until the meat balls are fully cooked

4. Add pak choi leafes and continue to cook for about 3 minutes, then add the copped spring onions

Read more »