Wonton Soup

Prepared By Kelly

Here is a very good "how to" video on Videojug for preparing Wontons. . Her recipe is very different from mine, but she fills & shapes her wontons very much like mine..I use my cookie scoop for the filling.

Recipe for my Wonton filling:

1 lb. ground pork
1 tsp. of ground fresh ginger
2 Tsp. of minced water chestnuts
1/2 cup of chopped finely spinach (blanch)
1 Tbsp. of soy sauce
1 small egg
Salt & Pepper

(she used water & cornstarch to seal her wontons, I used one egg beat well & a pastry brush.)

Make extras!! Wontons can be filled & frozen up to 3 months. Also, you can fill wontons with anything you like. Take frozen wontons out of bag and gently toss into simmering broth. Simmer for about 10 to 15 minutes. Test one before serving.

For the broth I use my own chicken stock with about 1 tsp. of soy sauce. Topped with chives or scallions. See Chicken Stock recipe below:

Recipe for chicken stock:

(neatness doesn't count for this recipe)

1 whole chicken (smaller size - not a roaster) remove as much skin as possible & clean thoroughly
1 onion
2 med. carrots peeled & quartered
2 tomatoes quartered
2 celery stocks chopped in large sections
a clomp of fresh parsley (to clean run under cold tap water)
1 green pepper cut in large sections
1 bay leaf
1 Tbsp. of peppercorns

Fill a large pot almost to the top with cold water. Do NOT add salt to the water at this time. Bring to boil while adding all the above vegetables & herbs into the pot. Once at a boil, continue to simmer for about 15 minutes. At this time carefully add the skinned chicken to the pot w/ the vegetables. When the chicken is comfortably in the pot with the vegetables bring the water up to a slow simmer. Foam will start to collect at the top of the water, take your skimmer or a paper towel and skim off the fat (foam). Only have to do this one time during the cooking process. Set burner between low & medium (more on the lower side) and stew for at least 2 hours. Warning the house will smell unbelievably great. If you like you can simmer for as many hours as you like. The longer the better, I have found.

Turn burner off. In your sink have a separate large pot with a strainer inside the pot. The large pot is there to collect all the stock. You want to pick out all the carrots and as much meat from the chicken as possible. The carrots you can mash up with a fork and add to your soups. The chicken meat you can use for chicken salad, hot chicken sandwiches, hot chicken wing dip, add it to your chicken soup...etc. Put chicken stock back on the stove & use a finer strainer to strain the stock (hopefully picking up tomato seeds & unwanted fat). Everything else goes into the garbage.

Chicken Soup:

Bring chicken stock up to a boil & add chicken flavored bunion cubes for taste. I add one at a time until I get the flavor I like for the soup. Also, you can add chopped parsley, salt and pepper to the soup. Choose your pasta for the soup at this time along with the mashed carrots and add it to the boiling stock. I prefer orzo pasta for my chicken soup. You can also choose to add some the chicken you picked from the stock. It's up to you...make it your own. There is nothing like it when you are not feeling well. I also top it with a little Parmesan cheese just before serving.

Enjoy!