ABC Soup (Elementary School Portion)
【小学校】ABCスープ
By Aoi, licensed nutritionist · From a Japanese elementary school lunch menu
ABC soup is a school lunch favorite in Japan: a light, clear consommé soup filled with alphabet-shaped pasta, bacon and plenty of vegetables. Children love fishing out the letters and spelling their names, which makes it an easy way to get onion, carrot, potato and cabbage into picky eaters. The key is to sauté the vegetables gently over low heat without browning them, so the finished soup stays clear and clean-tasting.
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Ingredients
Amounts for 1 child (1 serving). An adult counts as 2 servings.
One serving here is 1.5× the portion served to a child in a Japanese elementary school, sized for Western appetites. An adult counts as two servings. Tap an ingredient to check it off.
Ingredients
- 10.2 galphabet pasta
- 29.9 gonion
- 14.4 gcarrot
- 36.6 gpotato
- 29.9 gcabbage
- 9.9 gbacon
- 222 gwater
Seasonings
- 2.8 gvegetable oil
- 1.7 gconsommé bouillon (granules or cube)Japanese-style Western soup stock powder or cubes, similar to chicken or vegetable bouillon. Substitute: Chicken or vegetable bouillon granules or a bouillon cube.
- 0.3 gsalt
- to tastepepper
About the Japanese ingredients in this recipe
- consommé bouillon (granules or cube) (コンソメ)
- Japanese-style Western soup stock powder or cubes, similar to chicken or vegetable bouillon. Substitute: Chicken or vegetable bouillon granules or a bouillon cube.
Directions
- 1
Thinly slice the onion, cut the carrot into quarter-rounds, cut the potato into 2 cm cubes, and cut the cabbage into 2 cm squares.
- 2
Cut the bacon into 1 cm strips.
- 3
Heat the oil in a pot, add the onion, carrot and bacon, and sauté over low heat for about 3 minutes. Add the potato and cabbage and sauté over low heat for about 2 minutes more.
- 4
Add the water and consommé and simmer over low heat for about 5 minutes. Add the alphabet pasta and simmer for about 10 minutes.
- 5
Finish by adding the salt and pepper and adjusting the seasoning to taste.
Take care not to let anything scorch while sautéing - that way the finished soup stays beautifully clear.
Nutrition
| Per | 1 serving | 1 adult serving | Your total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Energy | 134.3 kcal | 268.5 kcal | 134.3 kcal |
| Protein | 4.4 g | 8.7 g | 4.4 g |
| Fat | 5.1 g | 10.2 g | 5.1 g |
| Carbohydrates | 20.4 g | 40.8 g | 20.4 g |
| Fiber | 5.1 g | 10.2 g | 5.1 g |
| Salt equivalent | 1.4 g | 2.7 g | 1.4 g |
| Calcium | 25.5 mg | 51 mg | 25.5 mg |
| Iron | 0.3 mg | 0.6 mg | 0.3 mg |
| Potassium | 342.9 mg | 685.8 mg | 342.9 mg |
| Energy | Protein | Fat | Carbs | Fiber | Salt equiv. | Calcium | Iron | Potassium | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 serving | 134.3 kcal | 4.4 g | 5.1 g | 20.4 g | 5.1 g | 1.4 g | 25.5 mg | 0.3 mg | 342.9 mg |
| 1 adult serving | 268.5 kcal | 8.7 g | 10.2 g | 40.8 g | 10.2 g | 2.7 g | 51 mg | 0.6 mg | 685.8 mg |
Values are per serving (1.5× the Japanese elementary-school portion); an adult serving is double. They were calculated by a licensed Japanese nutritionist using the Standard Tables of Food Composition in Japan. "Salt equivalent" is sodium × 2.54, the standard Japanese measure. Allergen flags cover egg, milk and wheat only and come from the nutritionist's records. Soy sauce and miso are made with wheat but are usually allowed on Japanese wheat-free school menus, so check with your doctor.
This is the elementary-school portion of ABC Soup (Alphabet Pasta Soup) (larger quantities, same method).





