Wonton Soup
Wontons are a form of Chinese dumpling, but the key difference between them and normal Jaozi is in the dough and wrapper shape. Wontons are yellow in colour with the addition of egg yolk and the wrapper itself is a square shape versus being round. The wrapper is also thinner and turns transparent once cooked. Traditionally served in a soup, the filling meat is normally a mixture of pork and prawn, the original and (in my opinion) best form of ‘Surf and Turf’ out there.I love eating wontons in a soup, and this is how I like to prepare mine. You can grab the following ingredients, but ideally just use whatever you have on hand at home.ÂThere are many different ways that you can prepare, fold and cook wontons, you can check out my Wonton's Your Way recipe where I show you 5 different folding techniques, and 3 different ways to cook them.
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Ingredients
Wontons
- 500g Pork mince
- 200g (10-12) Prawns, de-shelled and de-veined, finely chopped
- 2 Eggs
- 1 large carrot (or 2 small carrots), grated
- 2-3 stalks of spring onion, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon of sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon of soy sauce
- 1 packet of wonton wrappers
Soup
- Chicken Stock
- Fish sauce
- Carrot
- Greens (Broccolini, Bok Choy etc)
- Spring onions
Method
Making the wontons
- Finely chop your prawns. I prefer doing this by hand because I like to have different sized chunks in my dumplings and see the prawns, but if you prefer to blitz them in a blender to get more of a smooth mousse texture go for it! The easiest way to do this is to hold the corner of your knife with one hand in a fanning, continuously chopping motion. Chop through the prawns and continue to do so until you get the consistency you want.Â
- In a bowl, add the chopped prawns and the pork mince and mix well.
- Â Then add in the sesame oil and soy sauce.
- Grate the carrot and add it to the mixture. I use a micro plane because I like the carrot to be super fine, but you can use a normal grater too. This will make the carrot slightly bigger, but you can also run a knife through them after grating to make them super fine.
- Add in your chopped spring onion and mix everything together.
- Then add in your eggs, and mix to bind all the ingredients together. At this point, if your mixture isn't smooth and coming together well, I recommend adding in some cornflour or plain flour (approx. 1 tablespoon) to achieve the right consistency.
- Gently peel your wonton wrappers from the pack and get ready to roll! I peel about 10-15 at a time and leave the rest in the pack or covered with a tea towel so the dough doesn't dry out.
- Place a small spoonful of the dumpling mixture into the centre of the wrapper.
- Then fold in half into a triangle, making two pleats on each side and pinch together to the pleats stick.
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Making the soup
- Clean and cut your vegetables ready to go into the soup. I like to cut my carrots into thin strips, the spring onions and broccolini are cut into 5-10cm batons, and the dark green part of the spring onion is finely chopped.
- Bring your chicken stock to a boil.Â
- In a separate pot, boil your wontons for 5 minutes until cooked. You need to boil your wonton's separately because the starch in the wontons will change the texture of the broth.
- Add in your hardest green vegetables that will take the longest to cook, in this case the broccolini. Cook until just tender and ready to eat - approximately 5 minutes.
- Once your wontons are nearly cooked, throw in the spring onions and carrot to cook for 30 seconds.
- Scoop out your wontons using a slotted spoon into your serving bowl. Then ladle the soup on top.
- Add in the broccolini, carrot and spring onion from the soup and top with finely chopped spring onions, a dash of fish sauce, some chilli and cracked pepper.
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Watch the process
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If you've mastered this recipe you can always check out my Wonton's Your Way recipe, where I show you how 5 different ways to fold your wontons, and three different ways to cook them:
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