Won ton soup

Surprisingly easy to make and so much more tasty than many restaurants and take-aways, won ton soup makes for a delightful supper or soup course in a larger chinese banquet. 

 
 

Won top wrappers or skins are very thinly rolled sheets of dough made from flour and eggs, cut into squares. Ready to use won ton wrappers are readily available in Asian supermarkets, please ensure that you purchase won ton wrappers rather than other dumpling wrappers which will too thick to provide the desired silky, slippery texture of the cooked won ton.

Ingredients

250 g raw prawns, peeled and de-veined

90 g tinned water chestnuts

250 g lean ground (minced) pork

4 tablespoons light soy sauce

4 tablespoons Shaoxing rice wine

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

1 1/2 teaspoons roasted sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh ginger

1 1/2 tablespoons cornflour

30 square won ton wrappers

1.5 litres good quality home-made chicken stock

450 g young spinach leaves

2 spring onions, green part only, finely sliced

Place the prawns in a tea towel or piece of muslin and squeeze out any moisture. Then mince the prawns using a sharp knife or a quick blitz in a food processor. Try and retain a little texture, not too smooth.

Rinse the tinned water chestnuts and blanch in boiling water for 1 minute, immediately refreshing in cold water. Drain the water chestnuts, pat dry and chop roughly.

Now in a large mixing bowl, place the minced prawns, water chestnuts, ground pork, 2 teaspoons of soy sauce, 2 teaspoons of the shaoxing rice wine (or dry sherry, if not available), 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil, black pepper, ginger and cornflour. Mix well, ensuring all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Set aside.

Now take a teaspoon of the filling mixture and place in the centre of the won ton wrapper. Brush the edge of the wrapper with a little water, fold in half (not diagonally), ensuring all the air is pushed out. Now bring the two folded corners together over the top of the filling and press firmly. Place on a cornflour dusted tray. This recipe will make 25 - 30 won tons.

Gently bring the chicken stock up to just below the boil (to a gentle simmer) and add the remaining soy sauce, rice wine, salt and sesame oil.

In a separate saucepan bring some very lightly salted water to the boil, reduce the heat a little and add the won tons. Cook for a minimum of 5 minutes. The won tons are cooked when they rise to the surface. Remove with a wire sieve and place in the bottom of the serving bowls.

Quickly add the spinach to the seasoned chicken stock and cook for perhaps 20 - 30 seconds until wilted. Immediately ladle the hot stock and spinach over the won tons, sprinkle with the sliced green spring onions and get them to the table as quickly as possible.

Enjoy! I swear these will be the best you have ever tasted - the soup will taste wonderful, the fillings delightful and the wrappers, lovely and slippery and smooth!

Comments

[The Grubworm]

As always - an interesting sounding dish. Have you ever tried making the pastry for the wrappers - i'm not sure whether it's worth the effort, or if the shop bought ones are every bit as good.

This sounds delicious and is one of my nostalgic favourites in Chinese restaurants... I always had them as a kid.

[paul]

Thanks GW - The wrappers are relatively easy to make, however getting them to a uniform thickness is more tricky. Frankly it's not worth the effort assuming there's an asian supermarket within reach!

[The Grubworm]

One of the joys of living in NE London, there is always an asian grocer within reach ;-)

[Nike Dunk High Premium]

The opinions you provid are of grat help, I like your blog, thank you.

[Wen]

Cool. Learned how to make 2 styles of wontons -- foochow and cantonese -- on my last trip back to singapore (need to work on the posts!) and now looking forward to add this to repertoire.

Your wonton folding method is EXACTLY as my old nanny instructed! :-)

[paul]

Thanks Wen, hope you enjoy! Glad I got the folding method correct!