In a nod to the Lunar New Year, Chef Ricky hands the mic over to our Community Educator, Juan Juan who creates a delightful Wonton Soup typically served in East Asia. This soup is light and silky in texture, with a very simple broth, but very filling.
This recipe makes 50 hefty wontons using one pack of store-bought wrappers and typically services about four people.
For the filling:
1 lb ground pork (or ground turkey, or 80% lean ground beef)
2 bunches green onion, finely chopped, set aside a handful for garnish later
1 TBP or more finely minced fresh ginger
1-2 eggs (optional if using ground pork. Highly recommended if using ground beef or turkey)
A handful finely minced shrimps (optional but highly recommended in any ground meat. This adds sweetness to the filling)
1 tsp salt (adjust to taste)
1 tsp Chinese Five Spice (Optional. Available in most grocery stores.)
Wrappers:
1 pack of Wonton/Ravioli wrappers available at produce section in most grocery stores. (50 wrappers)
Broth:
3 cups chicken broth and 3 cups of water
Instructions:
- Mix all ingredients for the fillings very well. It should be the consistency of a nice dough. If flaky, especially if you are using leaner meat like ground turkey, add 1 or 2 TBSP olive oil and/or soy sauce to the mix.
- Place a tsp of filling in the center of wrapper, wet all edges of wrapper, press edges together, then pull the bottom edge up and underneath the other pressed edge. Give all edges a firm squeeze to seal (see video for folding technique).
- Alternate way of folding: wet all edges, bring one corner of wrapper to meet opposite corner to create a triangle, then press gently but firmly around where the filling is to make sure it is sealed. This creates a flat triangle simple wonton.
- Bring 3 cups of chicken broth and 3 cups of water to a boil, gently drop the wontons into broth, give it a good firm stir to make sure none of them stick to the pan.
- I do not season my broth as I season it lightly with just soy sauce at the end. Since the flavor is in the sealed little purses, I do not want the broth to compete with the wonton. This creates a seemingly light but deceptively filling soup. But feel free to season yours however you like.
- Bring the soup to a gentle boil for 3 min or until the wontons float to top.
- Optional: add your desired vegetables for a balanced meal. Good choices are spinach, beansprouts or napa cabbage.
- Garnish with green onion and a dash of sesame oil.
