Although I like to concentrate on frugal issues which affect a larger segment of the population, I felt it time to introduce one of what I consider to be one of Japan's greatest cheap secrets: homemade baby food. Wait a minute, you say, generations of mothers in my family were a whiz at the mortar and- pestle! It's true: homemade baby food used to be the norm around the world, and in many cultures still is. However, for those (and I date myself) born and raised in the 60s and 70s, I think the trend was more towards formula feeding and prepared jars of baby food.
However, in Japan this does not appear to be the case. Legions of young mothers still turn their nose up at "BF" (beebi fuudo in katakana) to prepare homemade concoctions artfully arranged in lovely cermaic dishes. (At least, that's what the pictures in the Japanese parenting magazines I read tell me!) Truthfully, Japanese baby food ("rinyushoku," or weaning foods) appears as varied and palate-tempting as a kaiseki meal.
Initially, I was very turned off by what I though was an excessive attention to detail and preparation. Japanese parenting websites, books, and magazines feature elaborate menus and recipes for dishes your little darling will probably only consume a teaspoon-full of. However, after scouring my English sources for concrete advice, I was discouraged by the lack of the detailed instructions. As my son approached the age of starting solids, I thought: why not give this Japanese method a whirl. Here's what I learned:
Japanese weaning foods are divided into five basic stages: the early (5-6 months), middle (7-8 months), and late stage (9-11 months), the "finishing" stage (12-15 months), and toddler stage (16 months and on). It is an earlier start than recommended by many Western books, but as with anything, your child's development should be your guide, not his/her age. The Japanese also recommend "practicing" feeding your baby with a spoon (either watered-down fruit juice or vegetable broth) from about four months on - the goal not being to feed your child, but get them used to tastes other than breastmilk or formula and used to a spoon.
So, what do you feed your baby, and how? Well, the basic staple is rice - in the form of okayu, or rice cereal (some translate it as gruel). You can of course buy prepackaged packs at drugstores, but it's also very easy to make. They recommend starting out with 10X diluted rice cereal, and then moving down to 7X, 5X, and 3X. I use a special "baby rice cooker" that fits inside our regular rice cooker: the Dream Collection "Okayu Cup" for Y839 from BabiesRUs online (http://tinyurl.com/evn79). Very handy, and cooks while your family rice is cooking.
Once your baby gets used to eating about 1-2 teaspoons of okayu, then you can move on the vegetables and protien sources. For vegetables, carrots, kabocha (pumpkin), spinach, and others are good starters. For protien sources, either tofu (mashed) or very finely mashed white fish is recommended. Worried about assembling all the right tools (strainers, mortar/pestle, juicers, slicers)? Then I heartily recommend this set of rinyushoku cooking implements from Pigeon: it's reasonable priced, compact, and just the right size for baby food. The Pigeon "Chori Set" is Y2099 at BabysRUs online: http://tinyurl.com/zjkyq. It has everything you need!
The above advice is suitable for a baby just getting started on solids, but what about older babies? In these cases, I recommend looking either online or in books for ideas and recipes. The basic book I use is "Hajimete no Rinyushoku" (First Baby Foods) by Shufu no Tomo. The full-color pictures and great descriptions make it easy to understand even with limited Japanese skills. The step-by-step instructions are also very helpful, and there are hundreds of recipes. You can buy it here (http://tinyurl.com/l4gbx) from Amazon.co.jp for about Y1400. Another great, and free, resource is the Wakodo Rinyushoku homepage: http://www.wakodo.co.jp/world/babyfood/ Tons of recipes here as well, all divided by age group and ingredient with photos (note: these recipes include promotions for Wakodo baby food products, but you can easily substitute with homemade).
So, finally... is it worth the time and effort? Well, after only two months of practice, I can say it has been fun, and we've made good progress. It takes about 20 minutes a day (usually less) to prepare two meals. Instead of cooking completely seperate menus, we simply use ingredients from our family dinners for our son's meals. Judicious use of the freezer (freezing individual okayu servings in ice cube trays, portion-size servings of fish or bananas) also helps cut down on the time. And it is cheap: other than the initial outlay for the items mentioned above, it's practically free. And the food tastes pretty good too (I definitely sample!).
So, if you've got a young baby, or are expecting one soon - why not give homemade baby food (Japanese style) a try? You mind find it (like I did) both frugal and fun.
By Wendy J. Imura. Copyright 2006.