The first time I had wonton soup was actually here in Japan. Hubs and I found this great Chinese restaurant (which sadly closed last spring and was replaced with a restaurant called Singapore Magic) with the best Chinese food I have ever eaten. The wonton soup was the stuff of legend…I craved it constantly. Because of this, I was overjoyed to see that Andrea Nguyen included a recipe for wonton soup in her cookbook, Asian Dumplings. For the record, her book is beautifully written and illustrated. Each page is full of information everyone should know about Asian dumplings. While I did not use her recipe, I did follow some of her techniques for assembling the wontons. I will not reveal all of her technique secrets…you should buy the book and learn them for yourself!
When I decided to attempt making my own wonton soup, I basically looked in my fridge and pulled out the ingredients I thought would work as a filling. Fortunately, I had wonton wrappers already. I also had ground pork, fresh garlic, fresh ginger and fresh chives from my herb garden. Perfect!
Using Nguyen’s technique for folding the wrappers, I began composing the great symphony of *deliciousness*…
…dampening the edges of the wrapper…
…and folding the wrappers over the lump of filling and sealing them before dropping them into boiling hot water.
This soup is easy, comforting, and definitely crave-able! I love how the wontons look like whispy clouds floating gracefully in the chicken stock. It is almost whimsical…
Pork Wonton Soup
Makes 4 servings
4-6 cups chicken stock or broth
16-24 wonton wrappers
1/2 lb. ground pork
1 tablespoon grated fresh garlic
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
water
Bring a pot of water to a boil.
Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine the pork, garlic, ginger, chives, salt, white pepper and sesame oil. Stir to thoroughly combine. Spoon approximately 1 teaspoon or so of the mixture and place in the center of each wonton wrapper. Fold the wrappers to form a triangle. Use the water to lightly dampen the edges of the wonton wrappers to help them stick.
Put the chicken stock in a large pot and bring to a slow simmer.
Working with 4 wontons at a time, place them in the boiling water until they float to the surface. Transfer the wontons to the chicken stock and continue cooking the rest of the dumplings.
Spoon the soup along with 4-6 wontons per person into 4 bowls. Garnish with chopped chives, parsley or green onions. Serve immediately.
