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Hayashi rice for toddlers
Beef and onion sauce on rice
12m+ · Tender beef and onion in a mild, from-scratch tomato sauce over rice, Japan's school-lunch favourite
Hayashi rice, thin slices of beef and sweet onion in a glossy tomato and brown-roux sauce over rice, is a Japanese home and school-lunch favourite that children often love even more than curry. Shop roux blocks are salty, so this version builds the sauce from scratch with butter, flour, tomato and no-salt stock, mild enough for toddlers from a year old, with no wine. It contains milk (butter) and gluten (wheat flour). Chef's tip: cook the onions slowly until deep golden; their sweetness replaces the sugar and salt of a packet roux.
- Total time
- 50 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Baby & toddler safety
- Age: from 12 months+.
- Allergens: contains milk, gluten (wheat, barley, rye or oats). Offer one new allergen at a time, in the morning, so you can watch for a reaction.
- Texture and choking: purée or mash smoothly for 6–9 months, then soft, finger-sized pieces that squash between your fingers. Cut round foods such as grapes and cherry tomatoes into quarters lengthways, never give whole nuts, and always stay with your child while they eat.
- Under 1: no honey, no added salt or stock cubes, and no added sugar.
Every child is different. If you are unsure, especially about allergies, check with your health visitor or paediatrician.
Ingredients
- ⅞ oz unsalted buttersplit
- 2 onionsthinly sliced
- 9 oz thinly sliced beefsuch as sirloin or shabu-shabu beef, cut into 2 cm pieces
- 3 ½ oz mushroomssliced
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- ¾ cup tomato passata
- 1 ¼ cups no-salt beef or vegetable stock
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp tomato ketchup
To serve
- 1 ⅛ lb cooked short-grain rice
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Method
0/7 doneStep 1: Melt ½ oz unsalted butter in a wide pan over a medium-low heat. Add 2 onions and cook for 15 minutes, stirring often, until soft and deep golden.
15 minStep 2: Push the onions to one side, turn up the heat to medium-high, add 9 oz thinly sliced beef and cook for 2–3 minutes until browned all over. Add 3 ½ oz mushrooms and cook for 2 minutes more.
5 minStep 3: Add the rest of ⅓ oz unsalted butter, sprinkle over 2 tbsp plain flour and stir for 2 minutes, until the flour smells toasty and turns light brown.
2 minStep 4: Stir in 1 tbsp tomato purée, then gradually add ¾ cup tomato passata and 1 ¼ cups no-salt beef or vegetable stock, stirring to stop lumps forming. Add 1 bay leaf and 1 tbsp tomato ketchup.
2 minStep 5: Simmer gently for 15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the sauce coats the back of a spoon and the beef is tender and cooked through (at least 160°F). The common mistake is boiling it hard: the thin beef toughens.
15 minStep 6: Remove the bay leaf. Spoon the sauce over 1 ⅛ lb cooked short-grain rice. For a toddler, cut the beef into small pieces and cool until warm. Adults can season their own plates.
Step 7: Cool leftovers quickly, cover and keep in the fridge for up to 2 days, or freeze the sauce for up to a month. Reheat until piping hot, then cool before serving.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 380 kcal
- Protein
- 17 g
- Carbs
- 50 g
- Fat
- 12 g
- Fibre
- 3 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does hayashi rice for toddlers take?
- About 50 minutes in total: 10 minutes to prepare and 40 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- Can I make it ahead?
- Yes. It keeps well, so you can cook it earlier in the day or the day before and reheat it.
- What can I use instead of unsalted butter?
- The same weight of ghee or coconut oil (for frying and most baking).
- What can I use instead of onions?
- 2 shallots per onion.
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