Last week my family and I went to celebrate at our favourite Chinese restaurant, Mr Kong’s in London’s Chinatown. There are a few staples we always order: crabmeat and sweetcorn soup, crab in black bean sauce, pork in the bag and Singapore noodles but on this occasion my brother and sister had wonton soup. The broth was so flavourful that it made me think if I had made the right choice in crabmeat and sweetcorn soup.
I find dumplings in general very interesting because everyone seems to have their own type and although they are all described as dumplings they are all so different. In this case wontons are Chinese dumplings that can be boiled or deep fried, but the list of dumplings could go on and on, from Italian gnocchi, to Jamaican Johnny Cake to Austrian Knödel. Sweet or savoury dumplings seem to have a place in most cultures.
Wonton Soup
The good thing is that making wonton soup is quite easy nowadays with wonton skins being readily available in supermarkets. This recipe calls for prawns and pork but you can easily adjust it to suit your individual dietary requirements. I have been trying to eat more soup this year and not ones that require the addition of cream as that unfortunately is counterproductive for reducing my caloric intake. The cooking time is just 1o minutes, so give this recipe a try!
Mix the ingredients for your wonton filling.
Take your wonton skins and dab the edges with water and then add a teaspoon-sized portion of your pork/prawn mixture to the middle.
Draw up the two opposite corners and squeeze firmly but gently to seal.
Then repeat with the remaining two corners and ensure that your wonton parcel is well sealed and there’s no holes anywhere.
Keep going until your meat and wrappers are finished.
Wonton Soup
Live, Love, Eat!
April x
- 300 grams minced pork
- 8 large raw prawns, roughly chopped
- 1 teaspoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ tablespoon sesame seed oil
- 1 teaspoon minced ginger
- 16 wonton skins
- 2 spring onions, finely chopped
- 1.5 litres chicken stock
- salt and pepper
- Add pork, prawns, sugar, ginger, soy, sesame oil, salt and pepper and one of the spring onions to a bowl and mix well until everything is combined. Place in fridge for 30 mins.
- Take your wonton skins and dab the edges with water and then add a teaspoon-sized portion of your pork/prawn mixture to the middle.
- Draw up the two opposite corners and squeeze firmly but carefully to seal. Then repeat with the remaining two corners to ensure that your wonton parcel is well sealed and there are no holes anywhere.
- Meanwhile, bring your stock to the boil and then add your wontons, boil for 5 minutes.
- Ladle into a bowl, garnish with the remaining spring onion and serve immediately.
