Wonton Soup

Wonton filling is essentially stir-fry, but with smaller particles and less cooking. It goes hot into a wonton wrapper (equal to 1/4 of an egg roll wrapper), which is then cooked in a hot broth.

Note that these wontons do not contain cabbage and carrots, which are used by commercial wonton producers to cheapen the filling. The filling in these wontons is superior.

Ingredients

• wonton wrappers, or egg roll wrappers cut into quarters
• chicken broth, dashi, or plain miso soup broth
• meat or poultry (suggested: chicken or pork)
• bok choy, or celery and perhaps spinach
• broccoli
• bean sprouts
• powdered ginger
• soy sauce
• bamboo shoots
• oil to fry the filling, possibly including sesame oil

Procedure : Filling

1. Cut the meat into tiny pieces. This is much easier to do if the meat is cooked, but the result will be better if you cut the meat raw, then cook it.
2. Cut the bamboo shoots into matchsticks.
3. Chop the broccoli head into little pieces, perhaps 3/8-inch diameter. Cut the stalk into matchsticks.
4. If using celery, cut the stalks lengthwise into 3/4-inch wide pieces and then crosswise into 1/8-inch slices.
5. If using bok choy, cut the leaves away from the stalk. Treat the stalks as celery. Cut the leaves crosswise in 1/2-inch strips, then break the strips into 1.5-inch pieces.
6. If using spinach, treat it much like the bok choy leaves.
7. Wash the bean sprouts, discarding any that are not white and crisp.
8. Place oil in a wok and turn on the heat. High temperatures can produce a better result, but require rapid stirring to prevent burning. Beginners should use lower temperatures. Split the cooking into batches as needed to ensure that your wok is not too full; there should be plenty of room to stir and toss the food. You may prefer to cook each ingredient separately, then mix them at the end.
9. Add the meat. If it is uncooked, lightly stir-fry it now. Drain juices and add more oil as needed.
10. You may add a small amount of sesame seed oil and/or sesame seeds for flavor.
11. Add soy sauce. For a typical wok full of food, add a tablespoon.
12. Add ginger. About 1/2 teaspoon of ginger should be right, depending on taste. Ginger is somewhat hot.
13. Add the broccoli, and the celery and/or bok choy stalks. When done, they should be just slightly softened. Broccoli should end up being very bright green, losing its bluish cast but not gaining any hint of a yellow-brown cast.
14. Add bok choy leaves and/or spinach. When done, they should be just barely wilted.
15. Add the bamboo shoots and bean sprouts, and turn off the heat. Do not overcook the bean sprouts.

Construction and boiling

1. Begin heating water or chicken broth to cook the wontons. You will need this pot to be at a high simmer or low boil to cook the wontons, though such temperatures can damage the taste of dashi and miso soup. Thus, if using dashi or miso soup, you must do the initial cooking in water.
2. Place a small amount of filling onto a wonton wrapper. Pull the corners of the wrapper up, so that all four corners touch each other. Pinch and/or fold the edges to seal the wonton. Repeat as needed.
3. Gently lower some wontons into the pot. Do not overfill the pot. Initially, wontons are easy to unseal by accident. While these cook, you can make more wontons.
4. Cook the wontons for 3 minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon and place them aside. Keep adding and removing wontons until all are cooked.
5. To serve, place some wontons in a bowl and pour your choice of liquid over them.

Variation: You can use tamale filling.