This is my kids-approved miso soup with spinach recipe demonstrated by 24-months-old chef Ethan Gia-Bao. Cooking direction is written in first person narrative.

Ingredients:

• 1 block SOFT tofu
• 1/2 cup miso paste
• 1 bunch spinach
• 6 cups water

Direction:

1. Hi! I’m going to first help mama by cutting the SOFT block of tofu with my knife. I tried my best. Mama had to help make it look more presentable. Presentable is just another fancy word to make it look better.

2. Mama helped me gather and measure out the ingredients.

3. Now I can start putting stuff into the pot, but in the order mama tells me to.

4. First, I pour in the 5 cups of water. It’s heavy so I just pour in one cup of water at a time.

5. Next, I try my best to scoop the miso paste off the spoon. Mama had to help me a little bit. Then I stir the water until the miso clump disappears.

6. Then I dump the diced soft tofu into the pot.

7. I get to sit on my VIP spot to watch mama cook. Mama puts the pot on the stove on high heat. While we wait for the soup to boil, she decided to chop the spinach leaves into smaller pieces for me. I put the leaves on the cutting board for her.

8. When the soup is boiling, mama puts the spinach leaves into the pot and cook the leaves for one minute.

9. I know mama is done cooking because she turned off the stove; so I went to get my bowl from my snack station. That is a shelf mom sets up for me to get my own utensils, fruits, and snacks.

10. Mama puts some crushed ice into my bowl because I do not like hot soup. It burns my tongue.

11. My sister likes this soup too. She must have rice in her miso soup. She loves the miso broth. I do not care about the rice. I just want my soft tofu and broth. I like spinach too. Maybe I will give seaweed a chance another day, but not today.

Thanks for checking out our pictorial recipe! Hope your little foodie chef enjoys reading, cooking, and eating too!