wonton soup

Wonton soup was always my favorite at chinese restaurants growing up. And because my dad and his parents were obsessed with chinese food, we spent a lot of time on convoy, and I ate a lot of soup.

Yes making wontons is time consuming and tedious, but it’s so worth it.

I always make more filling than necessary. Enough for one night of soup; enough to freeze for another night of soup, and even some extra for asian meatballs if I don’t feel like making a third batch of the wontons.

If you only want to make enough for one batch, you can totally halve the recipe for the filling no problem. You’ll still end up with prolly 30ish wontons.

Couple of notes. Don’t overfill your wontons. And make sure to cook them separate from the broth itself. That way you can pop them out when they are done, and you won’t worry about them falling apart.

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp sesame oil

whites from one bunch of green onions

1 inch knob of ginger, rough chopped

2 cloves of garlic, smashed

1/2 cup sake

2 Tbsp coconut aminos

1/2 tsp fish sauce

12 cups chicken stock

2 lbs ground pork

1 clove minced garlic

1 inch knob ginger, grated

2 Tbsp sliced dark green part of green onions

handful of cilantro leaves, diced

2 Tbsp minced water chestnuts

1/4 tsp white pepper

1/2 Tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp eel sauce

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp sake

wonton wrappers

warm water

1 pint crimini mushrooms, sliced

4 heads baby bok choy, sliced

1/3 cup sliced light green part of green onions

Directions:

In a large dutch oven, heat 2 Tbsp sesame oil over medium heat.

After a few minutes, add in the aromatics - 2 garlic cloves, whites of green onions, and rough chopped ginger.

Sauté for about 10 minutes, until veggies start to brown, and soften.

Add in 1 cup sake. You want to use a sake that will not change flavor when it is heated, verses one that is typically served cold. I use tippsy sake’s suigei "tokubetsu junmai." I find its flavor has a natural depth that lends itself well to hot preparations, such as soup, and in the wontons themselves.

Stir to combine. Let cook for about 3 minutes.

Add in coconut aminos and fish sauce. Let cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add in chicken broth, and bring to a boil.

Once soup is boiling, turn down to low, and let the flavors develop.

While soup is developing, make your wontons.

In a large bowl, combine ground pork, minced garlic, grated ginger, 2 Tbsp sliced green onions, water chestnuts, cilantro, soy, eel sauce, white pepper, 1/2 T sesame oil, and 1 Tbsp sake.

Add a small amount of filling to the center of a wanton wrapper, dip finger in warm water, and wipe around edge of wrapper to help stick.

Fold into a triangle, and bring the two bottom sides together to form a point. Continue until all wontons are formed.

Bring a large bowl of water to a boil. Working in batches, boil wontons until they float to the surface, and for 1 more additional minute, then remove from water and set aside.

Use a slotted spoon to remove aromatics from the soup broth, and discard.

Add sliced mushrooms and bok choy to broth. Cook until softened. About 5 minutes.

Add cooked wontons to bowl. Top with broth and veggies.

Serve.