How to make nutritious soup for children

1. Low sodium content (no salt for children under 1 year old, daily salt intake of no more than 2g for children under 3 years old, try to put as little or even no salt in the soup); 2. The ingredients are easy to absorb, and there are no unnecessary additions; 3. Match the baby's current physical needs, and there is no need to blindly pursue "big supplements". My baby started drinking soup when he was 6 months old with complementary food. I have encountered pitfalls such as diarrhea due to heavy oil and excessive use of medicinal materials. I also asked a pediatric nutritionist in a public hospital and a best friend in Chaoshan who is good at making soup. The ones I came up with are all practical ones that my baby likes to drink and are nutritious. Just follow them.

When it comes to calcium supplements, many people’s first reaction is bone soup. In fact, the controversy about this has never stopped: Western medicine nutrition clearly states that the free calcium content in bone soup is not as good as half a cup of milk. After simmering for a long time, purine is still high, so it is not recommended for children to drink more. However, the view of traditional Chinese medicine and pediatrics is that bone soup with all the oil removed can replenish body fluids and is suitable for children with spleen deficiency who do not like to drink water. My own experience is that you don’t have to be black and white and cook it at most once a week. After boiling the stick bones, add corn and carrots and stew for 1.5 hours. Skim off all the floating oil before taking it out of the pot. There is no need to add additional salt. The sweetness of the corn and carrots has been soaked in the soup. My child can drink less than half a bowl at a time and has never had indigestion. If you find it troublesome and want to directly supplement high-efficiency calcium, you can just make shrimp skin tofu and mushroom soup. Soak the shrimp skin for 20 minutes in advance to remove excess salt. Choose soft tofu and add a few crab-flavored mushrooms cut into small pieces and stew for 20 minutes. Take it out of the pot and sprinkle a little chopped green onion. It is very fresh. My best friend’s baby is allergic to milk. I drink this soup three times a week, and my child’s height has always exceeded the median.

In autumn recently, many children have dry coughs and lack of appetite. Soup that strengthens the spleen and moisturizes the lungs is always available at home. Children over 3 years old can try the Pseudostellariae and Ophiopogon japonicus lean meat soup. Don’t add too much Pseudostellariae and Ophiopogon japonicus, 3 grams is enough. Add 2 grams of Ophiopogon japonicus, 2 slices of sulfur-free yam, and stew for 1.5 hours with a small piece of minced pork tenderloin. I occasionally throw in 1 pitted Ruoqiang gray date for sweetness, and there is no need to add salt at all. The baby can eat even half of the lean meat residue. If the baby is less than 2 years old, do not add any Chinese medicinal materials. Just cut the yam into small cubes, add minced lean meat, and millet and simmer for 40 minutes until the rice is rotten and the soup is thick. The spleen-strengthening effect is just as good, but also milder. For children with cold cough, don’t drink pear soup blindly. The more you drink, the worse the cough will be. Change to radish, ginger and jujube soup. Only add 1 thin slice of ginger and it will not be spicy at all. Add half a white radish and 2 jujubes and simmer for 20 minutes. After drinking it twice, the phlegm in the throat will disappear a lot; if it is dry cough or runny nose, If you have yellow runny nose, stew Tremella fungus, snow pear and lily soup. Soak the Tremella fungus for 2 hours in advance and simmer until the glue is released. Cut the Qiuyue pear into small pieces with the skin on. Add 3 slices of fresh lily and stew for 30 minutes. Add a piece of yellow rock sugar at most as big as a little fingernail. When the child comes back from school, he will drink a bowl with sweat on his head and his throat will be very moist.

For iron supplementation, spinach and pork liver soup is the most cost-effective option. Many people don’t like to drink it after making it fishy. A little trick I have tried a dozen times myself is: cut the pork liver into thin slices and soak it with corn starch for 10 minutes. When blanching, add 2 drops of cooking wine, take it out and rinse away the blood foam, and cook it with spinach that has been blanched in oxalic acid for 1 minute. It is so tender that it bursts with juice without any fishy smell. Children under 1 year old can break up the pork liver and spinach and add it to the soup, and eat it with rotten noodles. My child used to have mild anemia, and after taking it for half a month, the index was normal after a recheck. It is much more acceptable than taking iron supplements.

Oh, by the way, I followed the trend of Guangdong Laohuo Jingtang and simmered it for three or four hours. Later, after being scolded by a nutritionist, I realized that children’s kidney metabolism is weak, and the purine content of the soup will double if it is simmered for more than 2 hours. There is no need to pursue "the longer it is, the fresher it will be", 1-1.5 hours is enough to bring out the umami flavor of the ingredients. Many people also ask whether they should eat soup dregs. In fact, more than 70% of the protein is still in meat and vegetables. If your baby is willing to chew it, just take a few bites. If you don’t like it, don’t force it. Just drinking soup can replenish water and dissolved vitamins and minerals. Don’t compete with your baby over this.

Many mothers around me always want to buy expensive ingredients such as sea cucumbers and cordyceps to make soup for their children. Later, they find that the soups made from the most common lean meat, tofu, and vegetables are the most popular soups for their children, and they never lack nutrition. In fact, cooking for your baby really doesn’t have to be that complicated. When buying groceries, take a look at your baby’s recent status: If he doesn’t like to eat recently, bring a piece of yam. If he rubs his nose and coughs, bring a pear. You can make it casually. If your baby loves to drink it and doesn’t feel uncomfortable after drinking it, it is the best nutritious soup.