Better than take-out Wonton Soup

It is inevitable.  

The day is crazy, the day gets late...much too late for a big supper.  (And while we're at it, let's just assume it's cold, probably rainy and it's probably a Monday - oh, and you've overslept fighting a cold).  After school, you try to help your child finish their math homework; which means you've been racking your brain for all the rules of fifth grade geometry (that you nearly failed back in the day).   You panic...you're the english parent, not the math parent.  Time to throw down the gloves and suck it up.

You're spent and just don't feel like cooking.  What to do?  

Geometry-friendly wonton soup! (of course!)

Well, if an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure....you may have the answer already in your freezer.  A couple of times a year I will spend an hour making up wontons.  It's super easy and once frozen, you can keep them in a zipbag to have on hand whenever you feel like soup, or chinese, or just don't have the time or notion to fan the flames on the woodstove.

I nearly forgot to document this meal because I thought, who'd want to make this at home.  Uh...me, for one, and I'm sure once you see how easy it is, you'll be the second!

 I'm going to give you the "official" recipe at the end of this post.  But just so you know, it's a pretty forgiving thing.  If you don't have one of the ingredients (as you'll find here), it's no big deal.  This soup is "soup-er" easy.  You'll need some soy sauce, sesame oil, fresh ginger....

Bok choy, green onion....

















Won Ton Wraps...

(yep, you can find these even at Piggly Wiggly.  No specialty store needed. 




















....and the humble (but oh-so-versatile) pot of chicken broth.

Of course you're going to need some ground pork.  Crumble up the pork, add the sesame oil, ginger, and soy sauce.  This recipe calls for water chestnuts which  I didn't have.  

No problem...it was still delicious!  

But if you must have your crunch....don't forget the water chestnuts.  

You can also add cooked shrimp if you fancy that!

First some prep work...

Heat the chicken broth to near boiling.

 Rough chop the bok choy and slice the green onions.

 Lightly beat one egg. This will be the glue that binds the wonton together.

Time for the geometry lesson.  If only it was this easy!

Lay about rounded teaspoon of pork filling.  

Lightly "paint" on the egg so that the wonton will stick to itself.  

Fold the wonton corner to corner to make a triangle....

With the big point pointed at you, dab a little more egg on a smaller point and pinch the smaller points together.  If you can't figure out the folding thing...just make sure that in some way the wonton is closed and it'll be just fine.  You shouldn't  have to be an origami master to enjoy wonton soup, right?

You'll make about a hundred of these things.  Just check the count on your wonton wrapper to make sure you'll have enough.  You may want to buy them and keep them on hand in the freezer just in case.

Keep the wontons in a single layer on a baking sheet so you can freeze them.  That way you won't end up with one massive mound of sticky wontons.  Then throw them in zip bags for when you're in the mood for soup.

Take out just what you want, when you want it.  Who doesn't like that???

 Toss in your green onions....

Toss in your desired amount of wontons and put a lid on it.  Let it gently simmer for about 10 minutes.  There's such a small amount of pork filling...it doesn't take long.   

Don't let this come to a rolling boil because it'll tear the little frail wontons to pieces.  

Then you'll end up with more of a pork/noodle soup.

 Add the bok choy  and cook till it turns a bright green.  Isn't it nice that it has an automatic timer?

 Looking good so far...

A healthy sprinkle of pepper and your ounce of prevention is about to cure all that ails you...

...at least for tonight.

 

Wonton Soup

1 pound of ground pork

1/3 cup water chestnuts, finely chopped

2 green onions (including tops), finely chopped

1 T soy sauce

2 t sesame oil

½ t salt

1/8 t pepper

½ T minced or grated fresh ginger

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 package wonton wrappers

4 cups (or more depending on how much your cooking) chicken broth

1 small head bok choy

Combine pork, water chestnuts, onions, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, pepper, ginger.  In a small bowl, lightly beat the egg.

Place wonton wrapper on a countertop.  Place a rounded teaspoon of filling in center of wrap.  Paint on a little egg around wrap and fold corner to corner.  Try to fold tightly to keep air from getting in.  Then lightly paint one of the smaller corners and pinch those together. 

Continue wrapping.  To freeze – place in a single layer in the freezer and then place in zip bags.

To cook:  Bring chicken broth to near boiling.  Place in desired amount of wontons.   Place lid (turn down heat if necessary, don’t let it come to a boil).  Cook 10 minutes.  Add in bok choy and cook till bright green. 

Enjoy!

Tip:  I added my green onions to the broth rather than including it into the wonton itself.  You can do whichever you choose.  Remember, that if you don't have bok choy on hand on the day you want your wonton soup...it's no big deal.  The flavor is already there in the wontons.