Korean Food for Children

Korean children grow up sharing the family table, and many of its dishes suit small eaters well: soft rice, steamed egg, tofu, gently seasoned vegetables and clear soups. Other parts of the table, especially kimchi, chili-heavy stews and salty preserved banchan, need some adjusting. This page gathers general guidance from pediatric and public-health sources. Every child is different, and questions about allergies, growth or feeding problems belong with a pediatrician.

Starting solid foods

The World Health Organization recommends introducing complementary foods at about six months, when breast milk alone no longer covers an infant's needs, while continuing breastfeeding to two years or beyond. Korean weaning food, iyusik (이유식), commonly begins with smooth rice porridge, a natural fit with Korean juk. From there, many Korean foods can be adapted by cooking them soft and leaving out the seasoning:

• Grains: Soft rice and porridges, including pumpkin porridge (hobak-juk) made without sugar.
• Eggs and tofu: Plain gyeran-jjim and soft dubu, once eggs and soy have been introduced as your pediatrician advises.
• Vegetables: Blanched spinach, soybean sprouts, zucchini and radish, chopped finely and served before the garlic, salt and sesame are added. See blanching and seasoning namul.
• Soups: Unseasoned broth from miyeok-guk or mu-guk, served with soft rice.

Salt and the family table

Korean cooking is often salty: kimchi, jang-based soups, jorim and jeotgal all carry a lot of sodium (see sodium in Korean food). The American Academy of Pediatrics' HealthyChildren.org explains that children need only small amounts of sodium and that taste preferences form early, so heavy salting should be discouraged. It also points out that most sodium in the diet comes from packaged and prepared foods rather than the salt shaker.

In practice, that means setting aside a child's portion of namul or soup before seasoning, diluting soup with extra water or unsalted broth, and treating salty banchan such as jangjorim, myeolchi-bokkeum and seasoned gim as small accents rather than main dishes.

Easing in spice

There is no medical schedule for introducing chili. It is mostly a matter of taste and tolerance, and Korean families have long kept mild dishes on the table for children. Useful starting points are white, chili-free kimchi such as baek-kimchi, nabak-kimchi or dongchimi; soy-sauce versions of dishes usually made red, such as ganjang tteokbokki; and stews from which a child's portion is taken before the gochugaru goes in. Rinsing a piece of ordinary kimchi in water also takes off some of the chili and salt. For more on heat, see capsaicin and spicy food.

Choking hazards

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists whole or chopped nuts and seeds, spoonfuls of nut butter, whole grapes, hard raw vegetables, and sticky or hard foods among choking risks for young children, and recommends cutting and cooking food to suit a child's stage, keeping children seated and supervising meals. Several Korean foods deserve particular care:

• Rice cakes: Dense, chewy and sticky, tteok is hard for young children to chew. Korea's Fair Trade Commission and Korea Consumer Agency identify sticky foods such as rice cakes as the main food-choking risk for older adults, and the same texture is a concern for small children. Cut rice cakes into thin pieces, or wait until a child chews well.
• Whole nuts and seeds: Pine nuts, walnuts, peanuts and chestnuts appear in porridges, braises and sweets. A Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs food-information site advises against giving peanuts and other whole nuts until about age three; grind them instead.
• Beans and small round foods: Braised black beans (kongjaban), whole grapes and cherry tomatoes can be mashed or cut.
• Chewy or tough textures: Dried squid, chewy rice-cake sweets and tough meat should wait until a child can chew them safely.

Learning infant and child first aid is worthwhile for anyone who feeds young children.

Allergens

Korean cooking relies on soy, wheat, sesame, eggs and seafood, all common allergens. Talk with your pediatrician about when and how to introduce them, and see allergens in Korean food.

Lunch at school

For much of the twentieth century, Korean children carried a homemade dosirak to school. Today, school meals have largely replaced it. The Encyclopedia of Korean Culture describes how the School Meals Act of 1981 set the framework and meals reached elementary, middle and high schools nationwide by 2003, with nutrition teachers on staff. Lunches follow the shape of a home meal, with rice, soup, kimchi and side dishes, and the program explicitly aims to build healthy habits and correct picky eating. For many children, the school cafeteria is where they first learn to eat a wide range of banchan. See the balanced Korean meal.