Where do I begin with this soup? I think I made it for the first time about five years ago. I fell in love with the wonton soup from a local Chinese restaurant out in Mesa, and eventually I decided that I wanted to figure out how to make it at home. So, one day I went out and bought a whole bunch of random (to an extent) ingredients to see if I could come up with anything relatively close to the soup that I had come to know and love. I still remember the phone conversation I had with my mom when I told her that I was going to attempt wonton soup without a recipe. She sounded unsure at first, even offering to research a recipe online for me. I quickly shot down that idea and insisted on doing it myself. See, I'm stubborn like that. I did have a question though: "Does the filling need to be cooked before I put it into the wrappers?" With a click of the mouse, my mom found the answer to that question for me. YES. So, here I am in my mom's kitchen surrounded by hoisin sauce, serrano chiles, garlic, and a whole bunch of other "stuff." Alright, I reassured myself that this was going to be the best soup ever, and I quickly got to work, acting like I knew what I was doing. About an hour later, I found myself face-to-face with a steaming bowl of something that looked, smelled, and hopefully tasted like soup. It was the moment of truth. Was this about to be a moment of genius or an epic fail? Why don't you copy down the recipe and find out for yourself? ;)
WONTON SOUP
Broth
-
2 (48 oz.) boxes of chicken broth (fat free)
-
3- inch piece of ginger, cut into three large
chunks- 1 Serrano chili, cut in half (seeds and veins NOT removed)
-
3 cloves garlic (peeled and lightly crushed)
- scallions (roughly chopped)
Filling
-
1 pound ground turkey breast (extra lean)
-
½ cup hoisin sauce
-
2 tablespoons of freshly grated ginger (peeling
is optional, fibers will break down)
-
3 cloves garlic, minced
-
2 tablespoons of soy sauce
-
3 scallions, finely chopped
-
1 Serrano chili, minced (may also substitute
jalapenos for a milder version)
-
¼ cup chopped water chestnuts (from a can)
-
1 teaspoon chili flakes
-
1 pack of wonton wrappers (about
50 wrappers)
*Any leftover filling may also be
used to make delicious lettuce wraps!
Put wonton wrappers in freezer 15 minutes prior to cooking; prevents
them from being sticky during the stuffing process.
Chop garlic, scallions, ginger, water chestnuts, and chili
pepper for the filling. Sauté in one tablespoon
of olive oil for a few minutes, until the ingredients start to become translucent.
Add turkey breast; cook until browned/done. Add hoisin, chili flakes, and soy
sauce. Remove from heat and set aside.
Broth: Put chicken stock, ginger, chili, garlic into a pot.
Simmer for at least half an hour. This allows the flavors from the aromatics to
infuse the broth.
Once stuffing is cool, put a small spoonful of stuffing into
wonton wrapper. Do not over stuff or the wonton will explode during the cooking
process. Wet all four edges of the wrapper.
Bring the four corners to a point in the center. Pinch the moist wrapper together in order to
seal in the filling.
Bring the broth to a low boil. Add in one bag of baby spinach and ¾ c.
canned, sliced water chestnuts. Next,
add in wontons. Cook until the dumplings
are translucent, about two or three minutes.
Immediately remove the pot from the heat to avoid over-cooking. Some
dumplings may break during the cooking process; it’s inevitable. Fear not.
The “broken” wontons add even more flavor to the broth.
*Only cook as many wontons as you are going to eat in one
sitting. Otherwise, they will get soggy and fall apart like crazy after they’ve
been sitting in the broth. Extra wontons may be stored in a Ziploc bag; they
will last about four or five days in the fridge.
Serve and enjoy.
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