Baby’s Chicken Soup (but the soup is good for adults, too!)
Food for babies is food for small people with no, or with only a few, teeth. It must be soft and it should contain no large chunks on which a baby can choke. And further, there are some things we are advised not to feed to babies at all, such as honey (or any sweetener) or salt. And if you’re worried that your baby will find foods bland, judging by my Baobao’s enthusiasm for most (though not all — *cough* liver! *cough*) of the foods Mama Raven has made for her, there’s no need to worry about enhancing the flavour!
So, without further ado, a chicken soup that was a hit with our baby!
Ingredients:
- Chicken soup, 15 tbsp (see below)
- Chicken meat, 30 g (from the soup)
- Carrot, 20 g
- Nagaimo, 20 g
- Dry wakame seaweed, 1 g (pre-soaking is optional)
- Bok choy or flat cabbage 20 g
- Cooked rice, 2 tbsp
Dice the carrot and the nagaimo, cut the bok choy or the flat cabbage into pieces, shred the chicken meat, add the chicken soup and the rice to a pot, bring the mixture to boil then simmer it away for 20 minutes. Add the wakame seaweed to the soup 5 minutes before it is served. ET voila. Puree it or not, it depends on the baby’s taste. 🙂
Chicken soup:
- Chicken, 700 g, including bones
- Dried red dates, 8 pieces (available at Chinese grocery stores)
- White fungus, 35 g (available at Chinese grocery stores)
- Coconut, 200 g
- Water, 1500 ml
- Coconut water, 500 ml (note: not coconut milk!)
- Salt, only if you’re making a portion for the grownups, too!
Method
Soak the dates and the fungus in water until the fungus becomes soft and translucent. Rinse the dates, put asides. Rinse the fungus and remove the hard-ish yellow bottom part. Tear the fungus into small pieces (about 2 cm in diameter). Set them aside.
I bought a box of coconut that have already been cleaned and cut into pieces in the grocery store. No preparation needed.
Clean the chicken, put it in a pot with cold water (enough to cover the whole chicken), blanch it to get rid of the impurities. Bring to a boil, then keep it boiling for 5 minutes, until you see a film of froth appear on the surface of the water. Take the chicken out of the pot and rinse it well to ensure no froth is left on the skin.
Put the chicken, the dates, the white fungus, the coconut pieces, and the water into a big pot. Bring the water to boil then simmer for 2 hours. Add the coconut water to the soup and cook it at low heat during the last 20 minutes. Do not cook the coconut water for too long, or the subtle flavour of the coconut will evaporate!
Add salt if preferred. As I made this soup to feed the baby, I did not add any.
Et voilà! Puree and let baby enjoy!
