*sigh*…….Well, it’s snowing again in Spokane because of course it is…..you know, because it’s February and all. I say that with a shitload of sarcasm, and as someone who REALLY does love the snow, albeit I prefer to watch it come down from inside with a hot cup of tea or good glass of red wine. In December. Around Christmas. It seems WAAAAY less fair when just yesterday I could see grass in my yard and it felt like spring was within our grasp. Lies. All lies. ANYWAY, its chilly outside and snowing, so I decided what sounded great for dinner was a big bowl of loaded wonton soup. Rich and complex ginger, garlic and lemongrass infused chicken stock…..umami packed shiitake mushrooms….tender AND crisp baby bok choy….and super delicious, packed to the gills, gingery and tasty pork wontons. I can almost taste them now…bobbing around all yummy and shit in that RIDICULOUSLY bomb chicken soup stock. YUM.
One of my favorite things about this particular soup recipe (which I’ve included below), is the fact that I can put it into the crockpot and let it simmer away all day. I’m busy and usually have a million things ( mostly food ideas haha!) running through my mind, so it’s nice to be able to still make a beautiful soup stock while I take care of business. I’ve made this basic soup for the past few years, as I find it to be absolutely delicious….HOWEVER, I like to fancy my food up and nowadays I add the aforementioned Shiitakes, Baby Bok Choy, and crisp Water Chestnuts to add a bit more nutrition to the bowl and they’re DELICIOUS. Hell, sometimes I will even toss in paper-thin sliced shallot and Sambal. I’m a pretty wild and crazy chick like that. Straight wildin’ out.
My First Bowl of Homemade Wonton Soup……simple, but really damn tasty.
Ingredients:
*Will make 3 servings….sometimes 2. Depends on how hungry we are….plus we just really like wonton soup.*
Soup Stock:
3 Qt. good quality chicken stock
2-2” pieces of ginger root, peeled and sliced in half lengthwise
3 cloves garlic, rough smashed and peeled
3 scallions, ends trimmed and sliced in half, lengthwise
1 medium stalk lemongrass, bruised well
1/4 C. Tamari or good quality soy sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste
Step 1—Put all above ingredients into your trusty crockpot. Set to low. Allow to cook away and make your house smell amazing for AT LEAST 4-6 hours. Think of it like a tea….it takes time to steep those flavors into the soup, and it only gets more scrumdiddle the longer it goes.
Step 2—Strain stock into large-ish pot to remove all the herbs/aromatics prior to adding in wontons. Allow to come to a slow simmer on your favorite burner (because we all have one…real talk) while you fold the wontons.
Wonton Filling:
1 package wonton wrappers
1 lb. ground pork
2 TBSP each, minced finely:
fresh ginger root
scallion
garlic
lemongrass
1.5 TBSP Tamari
2 tsp. Fish sauce
1.5 tbsp. Gochujang
1 tsp. salt and pepper
Step 1—Mix all filling ingredients together in medium bowl, until incorporated well.
Step 2—Lay out wonton wrappers in batches of 4, and make sure to keep them covered with a damp pair towel so they don’t dry out. Place 1 TBSP of pork mixture into center of each wonton wrapper.
Step 3—Wet two sides of wonton wrapper with water with fingertips, and fold across on the diagonal. Seal edges. Should vaguely resemble photo below:
Step 4—Fold 2 bottom corners across, like you would fold your arms….one under the other. Continue until filling is gone.
Step 5—Add wontons into stock on stovetop, and allow to gently simmer to cook the pork filling through-usually for about 15-20 minutes.
As I mentioned above, I add whatever I like into it, but generally it’s scallion, Sriracha or Sambal, and water chestnuts, unless I want to be pinky out bougie—like tonight. I guess this will make up for the dregs of winter here in Spokane Valley!
