Hi,

Funny story (not so much)...this fellow Derek was new to our company, and the first week he was there, we had a luncheon...I brought the paninis, and he brought the wontons. Unfortunately, that week was our last week, as our company collapsed (you might have heard about the rise and fall of American Home Mortgage) and we were all displaced (that's the 'not funny' part). However, we have a tight network and I just sent him a threatening (not really) email for the recipe he promised me; they were delicious. I will share it as soon as I get it.

In the meantime, I do have a very authentic book of dumplings that is in English and Cantonese, which I can't find at the moment, but will shoot of the recipe as soon as I find it.

Sue

wonton soup

18 - 24 won ton wrappers
Filling:
1/2 pound boneless lean ground pork
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
a few drops sesame oil
1 teaspoon sherry
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 green onion, finely minced
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 dashes of white pepper
Other:
Water for boiling won tons
4 1/2 - 5 cups chicken stock
green onion, thinly sliced, as desired
a few drops sesame oil

Combine all the filling ingredients in a bowl, mixing well. Lay one won ton skin in front of you. Cover the remaining won ton skins with a damp towel to keep them from drying out.
Filling the won tons: Moisten all the edges of the won ton wrapper with water. Place a heaping teaspoon of won ton filling in the center.
Fold the won ton wrapper in half lengthwise, making sure the ends meet. Press down firmly on the ends to seal. Use thumbs to push down on the edges of the filling to center it. Keeping thumbs in place, fold over the won ton wrapper one more time. Push the corners up and hold in place between your thumb and index finger. Wet the corners with your fingers. Bring the two ends together so that they overlap. Press to seal. The finished product should resemble a nurse's cap. Repeat with remaining won tons.

Alternate method: Place the teaspoon of filling in the middle of the wrapper and twist to seal. The final result should resemble a money bag or drawstring purse.

Boiling the won tons: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the won tons, making sure there is enough room for them to move about freely. Let the won tons boil for 5 - 8 minutes, until they rise to the top and the filling is cooked through. Remove from the pot with a slotted spoon.

To make the soup: bring the chicken stock to a boil. Add the won tons and bring the soup back to a boil. Add the green onion, remove the pot from the heat and add the sesame oil, stirring. Ladle into soup bowls, allowing 6 won tons per person.

Hi Sue, great to see you back posting. Sorry about that bummer news.....

Here is the recipe I use.

Won Tons

1 pound boneless pork, finely ground or 1/2 pound ground pork and 1/2 pound finely chopped raw shrimp
1/2 cup finely chopped water chestnuts
2 whole green onions, finely chopped
1 TBSP soy sauce (low sodium)
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp minced fresh ginger
2 tsp dry sherry
1 egg
1 package won ton wrappers

Combine all but the egg an wrappers until well mixed.

Beat the egg in a bowl.

Place a wrapper on the counter with a point facing you(cover the rest). Mound 1 tsp of the filling in the corner facing you. Fold that corner over filling and roll up to just below the two side corners. Moisten the two side corners with egg. Bring side corners together below filling, overlapping slightly and pinch to seal.

Place on a baking sheet and cover while you do the remaining skins.

AT this point you can use, refrigerate for 8 hours or freeze.

For the soup.

Won Ton Soup

For each serving:

1 cup chicken broth
1 green onion sliced on the angle
1/4 cup coarsely chopped Napa cabbage or bok choy
4-6 won tons

Heat the broth in a large pan. When simmering add green onion and cabbage and cook 3 minutes (don't boil)

Meanwhile drop won tons into large bowl of boiling water. Allow to float to the surface and then boil for 4-6 minutes until meat is cooked through. Remove with a slotted spoon and drop into hot broth.

Garnish each bowl with 1 or 2 BBQ pork slices and season with a few drops of soy sauce or sesame oil.

BBQ Pork (Char Siu)

1/4 cup soy sauce
2 TBSP each honey , sugar and dry sherry
1 tsp each salt and Chinese 5 spice
3 quarter size slices of fresh ginger crushed with the side of a cleaver
3 pound pork tenderloin

Combine soy sauce , honey, sugar, five spice sherry, salt and ginger. Heat for 1 minute to disolve sugar.

Cut meat into 1 " slices and place in plastic bag. Pour cooled marinade over meat and marinate for 4 hours or until next day. Turn bag occasionally to distribute marinade.

Remove meat and place on a rack set over a foil lined baking pan. Reserve marinade. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Tuem pieces over and cook another 30 minutes brushing occasionally with the reserved marinade. When cooked let rest a few minutes and then slice each piece into thin slices.

Thank you everyone for your help! Chase, have you ever tried the BBQ Pork (Char Siu) recipe with other cuts of pork? Just wondering.

oh and one more thing, do any of you fry or bake your own wonton wrappers (cut into strips, presumably) to serve with the soup? I was hoping to do that myself, after catching a glance of the nutrition information of the crunchy strips they serve with the soup in the Asian restaurants!

jacki, the original recipe calls for "boneless lean pork" cut in 1 inch slices. I find tenderloin to be the easiest to work with but any lean cut of pork roast will work.

Also not sure what soup you, may be thinking of but won ton soup does not have fried won ton strips in it...however I have seen other soups that do...but not won ton.

I do have a recipe for homemade won ton skins but like phylo and puff pastry....I find it not to be worth the effort given the quality of the store bought product. If you wish I will post it for you.

Well, the wonton soup you described is exactly like what the Chinese restaurants we've eaten at serve, and they always give us a little package of fried won ton strips. But now that I think on it, I'll just go buy some. It's not like we use the whole box at once!

You get fried wonton strips here also.

Oh now I understand, the fried strips are served along side the soup and used as a garnish/topping. I was thinking you meant the fried won tons were part of the soup.

I've never had fried won tons strips with soup but now that I think of it we do get a bag of fried chow mein noodles when we order Chinese Food...never knew what they were for! LOL

The recipes here sound good to me. But I want to note that I have found the wontons taste best if boiled in plain water or broth first then served in NEW broth. If you cook them right in the broth then serve them, the wontons are still delicious but the broth gets starchy and has a funny sweet taste.

You place some sliced green onions and bok choy in a dish, add two or three cooked wontons, and ladle your hot broth over to serve.

Chicken broth is good, and I always simmer it with ginger and green onion (strain it out before ladling over the wontons). But the BEST broth for wonton soup is made from scratch using chicken bones, a whole chicken, some pork bones, green onions, cooking wine, and ginger. A small amount of dried scallops is delicious as well, but they are hard to find here.

Make a broth with the bones (and sometimes I add wing tips that I have saved and such). Strain, chill, and defat. Heat just until liquid. Bring to a gentle simmer with the rest of the ingredients. Be sure never to boil it and skim off any foam that appears for the best tasting and clear broth. Strain (and reserve any meat for other purposes - you can chop it to put into the wontons!), chill, and defat if you wish.

The elixir of life, to be sure!

I agree Dances , that is why my recipe calls for the wont tons to be cooked in water not in the chicken broth.

Cooking the won tons in the broth really gums up the broth. I like my broth almost crystal clear.

jacki,

Here's the recipe from my colleague. While they make great wontons for soup, he sauteed them like pot stickers and they were great.

If you do make them like pot stickers, you can serve an easy dipping sauce made of equal parts seasoned rice vinegar, water, and lite soy sauce, with a little chopped scallions and some minced garlic, and ginger.

His MIL used ground chicken, but I believe pork is the norm.

Sue
Grinded meat: 20 oz
- Salt: 1 teaspoon
- Soy source: 3 tablespoon
- Water: 4 tablespoon
- Chinese cooking wine (AKA "yellow wine"): 1 tablespoon
- Sugar: 1/2 teaspoon
- White pepper powder: 1/4 teaspoon
- Starch: 1 tablespoon
- Sesame oil: 6 tablespoon
- Chopped scallion, or as needed
- Chopped ginger, or as needed

place a small amount on a wonton skin, fold diagonally and seal with a bit of water. Then bring the ends together and seal.

Here we only get the fried won-tons with Hot and Sour Soup. I fried some won-tons at home and they didn't come close to being as good as the Chinese Restaurant here. I wonder if restaurants get a better quality won-ton than we can get in the grocery stores. Here's the Won-ton soup recipe I've used.

Ginger Won-ton Soup

4 oz lean ground pork
1/2 cup reduced fat ricotta cheese
1/2 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon Chinese 5-spice powder
20 Wonton wrappers
1 tsp oil
2/3 cup chopped red bell pepper
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
4 cans chicken broth (homemade stock is better)
4 tsp soy sauce
4 oz fresh sugar snap peas
1 or 2 cans baby corn on cob, rinsed and drained
4 green onions sliced.

Cook pork over medium high heat until no longer pink, cool slightly; stir in ricotta, cilantro, black pepper and 5 spice powder. Please 1 teaspoon in center of each wonton. Fold and seal edges with water. Cook in boiling water until they come to the top. Remove and set aside.

Heat oil in large saucepan. Add bell pepper and ginger, cook 1 minute. Add chicken broth and soy sauce. Bring to a boil and add peas, corn and wontons. Simmer5 minutes.

Pour into soup bowls over wontons and sprinkle with onions.

Serves 4