Homemade Chicken Mushroom Balls in Carrot, Spinach & Egg Drop Soup

Being inspired by another mummy blogger who has been using her homemade mushroom powder (her recipe can be found here) as a natural seasoning, an idea struck me. Adding freshly diced mushrooms to minced chicken sounds delicious to me too ;) The initial plan was to steam minced chicken mushroom with tofu but as it was quite a chilly day & I had some spinach in the fridge, I changed to cook one of my fave childhood soup, the spinach egg flower soup!

Ingredients (serve 1 toddler & 1 adult):

50g of minced probiotic fed minced chicken

1 big emperor shiitake mushroom (bought directly from Mycofarm), diced finely

1 tsp of Bob's Red Mill All Natural Cornstarch (new addition to my fridge & it's non-GMO)

1 tsp of sesame oil

750ml of water

1 medium sized carrot, sliced thinly

60g of organic baby spinach

1 egg, beaten

Directions:

1. Marinate minced chicken with sesame oil & cornstarch for at least 15 minutes while you prepare the remaining ingredients.

2. Bring water to a boil in a pot, add in the carrots & cook for 15 minutes.

3. Mix the diced mushrooms evenly into the chicken, roll into 12 twenty-cents balls before putting into the pot & cook for 10 minutes.

4. Add in spinach followed by pouring egg in a slow & steady stream. Let it cook a while before stirring slowly to create the ribbon-like egg flower.

5. Once the egg is cooked, can remove from heat (to prevent overcooking the spinach which can actually be eaten raw) & serve warm.

My lil' food critic seemed to like every single ingredient in the soup, even the spinach! He has never voluntarily pointed to any vegetable other than peas & asked for more but yet he did that more than once for the spinach (which is not even new to him). The chicken balls were tasty with the fragrant mushroom bits & even the meat texture is quite smooth, likely due to the addition of the cornstarch.

I also steamed a pomfret with some sesame oil with ginger strips. To be honest, my palate is getting used to appreciating the natural taste of food without any salt added. I've heard people commenting that the food would be tasteless. On the contrary, my taste buds have in fact become more sensitive to the different natural flavours embedded in each food. Sometimes when we dine out, I seem to be the only one who find the dishes too salty. Mummies & Daddies, you'all can try eating the same food as your little one too. Gradually, you'll become healthier with them too!

Beneficial Combinations:

Carrot + Chicken = Promote the absorption & utilisation of protein

Egg + Spinach = Improve the absorption of vitamin B12 as well as help to treat insomnia & upset caused by yin asthenia