Wor Wonton Soup

Credit: Gerilee McBride

A bowl of hot Wor Wonton soup is a great addition to your meal

Packed with protein and veggies, homemade Wor Wonton soup will satisfy your craving for authentic Chinese food

I’ve often found that the true test of a good Chinese restaurant lies in the tastiness of its Wonton soup, and there’s nothing worse than ordering a big bowl of Wor (everything but the kitchen sink) Wonton soup only to discover soggy wontons in watery broth accompanied by a limp piece of broccoli.

So when a cold and rainy day comes along and there’s no satisfying restaurant nearby to sooth my craving for something hot and delectable, I do the next best thing and make my own. Here’s a recipe I’ve adapted from the Soup & Stew book in the Williams-Sonoma cookbook collection.

This is also a great recipe to make with friends since you can double the recipe but halve the time it takes to wrap the wontons.

Ingredients

Filling

• 1/2 lb prawns (thawed if frozen), shelled, deveined and coarsely chopped
• 1/4 lb lean ground pork or turkey
• 3 green onions, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. grated ginger root (I usually add a little less than 1/2 tsp. so it doesn’t overpower the other flavours)
• 1 tsp. soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• pinch of salt and pepper

Wonton wrappers usually come in a double package that could easily wrap enough wontons for four times this recipe.

Soup

• 6 cups chicken broth (use a good quality bouillon that isn’t too salty)
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• 1 crown broccoli, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1 floret cauliflower, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 1/2 each red and green peppers, cut into 1/4″ pieces
• 1/2 red onion, roughly chopped
• 4 baby Bok Choy or other Chinese greens, chopped into bite-sized pieced
• 8 slices of BBQ pork
• 1-2 ounces of chicken breast, sliced into 1/4″ ribbons
• 6 prawns

Instructions

Wonton construction:

1. Combine filling ingredients in a bowl and mix until fully combined.
2. Fill a small cup with water for wetting the wonton wrappers and grab a plate to make the wontons on.
3. Put 1 tsp. of filling in the middle of the wonton skin, wet a finger and moisten two perpendicular edges of the wonton skin, fold into a triangle and seal the edges by lightly pinching.
4. Leave them as triangles or wet the two opposite points and fold one over the other to make a little package. (Sometimes I make wonton “bombs” by wetting all sides and pinching all sides together).
5. Place finished wontons on a baking sheet.
6. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Working in small batches, add wontons to the water (each time returning to a boil) for 3-4 minutes or until al dente. Remove wontons with a slotted spoon and place in a bowl.

Soup:

1. Bring chicken broth to a boil and let simmer.
2. Add vegetables, prawns and chicken and simmer for 5-10 minutes until vegetables are tender.
3. Add BBQ pork near the end to let heat through for 2-3 minutes.
4. Place wontons in a bowl and ladle soup over wontons.
5. Garnish with a few extra chopped green onions and a dash of soy sauce.

Serves 4