Wonton Soup

On occasion (ok fairly often) I get an "out of the blue" food craving. This week it was wonton soup. When I was a kiddo growing up in Newark, Delaware we would regularly get Chinese take-out from this place next to the Acme. (Do they even have Acme's anymore?? Do you know that's a grocery store??). Anyway one of my favorite things to get was wonton soup. However, I remember that there never seemed to be enough wontons in the soup... ever. But, if you made your own soup then you could make your own wonton to broth ratio. Bingo. Epiphany 20 years later.

So, I've never made wontons before. It's sort of like sealing an envelope. An envelope with deliciousness inside: ground pork, shitake mushrooms, cabbage, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, green onions, and ginger. 

My wontons looked challenged before a chicken broth bath, but they tasted great

Now check out this ratio...

This picture is a bit deceiving because the wontons float to the top when they're finished cooking. There is quite a bit of broth under there.

Serve it up with some chopped green onions and you have a meal.

Recipe adapted from Userealbutter. Check out her website for more on the wonton folding technique, etc. 

Wonton Soup

1 pkg wonton skins
1 lb. of dumpling filling
little bowl of water
4 quarts chicken broth
scallions, sliced thin (for garnish)

Plop a teaspoon of filling in the middle of a wonton wrapper. Using your finger, wet the edges of half of the wonton skin. Fold the wrapper in half on the diagonal and press the edges together. Push any air pockets out when you seal it. Wet one of the bottom corners and fold the wings in front of the wonton so that they cross at the corners. Press the corners together. Heat 2 or 4 quarts of the chicken broth in a pot until boiling (depending on the size of your pot). Add the wontons to the broth and let it return to a boil. Make sure not to crowd the wontons. If it’s a medium saucepan, then cook a dozen or so at a time. If it’s a large pot, cook 2 dozen or more. When the wontons float to the top, they are done. Sprinkle scallions in each bowl and ladle soup and wontons over the scallions. Serve immediately. Makes ~ 40 wontons. To freeze: place wontons on a baking sheet (make sure they aren’t touching) and set in freezer for 20 minutes or until the wonton wrappers are no longer soft. Put the wontons in a ziploc bag and freeze for up to a month. To cook, place frozen wontons in boiling broth (or water) and cook until the filling is done – should take several minutes longer than when you boil fresh wontons.

pork filling
1 lb ground pork
4 large napa cabbage leaves, minced
3 stalks green onions, minced
7 shitake mushrooms, minced (if dried – rehydrated and rinsed carefully)
1/2 cup bamboo shoots, minced

1/2 cup water chestnuts, minced
2 tbsp ginger root, minced
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp corn starch