Wonton Soup

My family loves wontons and whenever I make a batch it becomes a family event where everyone pitches in to help with the folding.  After taking a count as to how many wontons each person wants for our meal, I‘ll freeze the rest for a later date.

I discovered that if you have the freezer space, the best way to store the wontons is in an egg carton or egg crate lined with plastic wrap, then wrapped again over the top.  So save your egg cartons.

The egg cartons will keep the wontons from losing their shape and from sticking together.  When you want to cook them, you simply drop the frozen wontons in the boiling water and simmer until they float.  Homemade wontons without the work, at least until the next folding session.

12/29/20 - I made the full recipe today and it made exactly 72 won tons which was the prefect amount to fit in 4 - 18 count egg cartons, which made them easy to store and give away.

 

I have made these wontons for years making minor adjustment along the way to create the ultimate wonton filling.  Besides all the other ingredients that flavor the wontons, an important step is to cut the shrimp chunky so that each wonton will have noticeable pieces of shrimp when you bite into them.

PORK and SHRIMP WONTONS 

1          pound              ground pork

1          pound              shrimp, cut into small chunky pieces

4          dried                shitake mushrooms, soaked and chopped small

4          Tbsp.               green onions, chopped small

1          tsp.                  kosher salt

1          tsp.                  brown sugar

1          Tbsp.               soy sauce

1          Tbsp.               oyster sauce

2          tsp.                  dry sherry

1          tsp.                  cornstarch

2          packs              won ton wrappers

see below for 1/2 recipe...

Place pork in a large bowl.  Peel and clean shrimp.  

Cut shrimp into small chunks and add to pork.

Add all ingredients except the wonton wrappers and mix well to blend.

Place 1 tsp. of filling in the middle of a wonton wrapper.

Lightly moisten the edges with water.

Fold in half to form an uneven triangle that looks like two separate triangle points at the top.

Flip wonton over so the triangle points are facing down.

Moisten the top of the left corner; wrap around your finger and press the right corner on top of it.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and place wontons in one at a time.  Don't over crowd the pot.  Place only enough wontons in the pot so when they float to the top they will have a little room to move around.  Cook wontons until they float (about 3 - 5 minutes).  Serve with wonton soup and green onions.

9/25/2019
As my family shrinks, so do my recipes. This is the original recipe cut in half.

PORK and SHRIMP WONTONS - half recipe

1/2          pound              ground pork

1/2          pound              shrimp

2-3          dried                shitake mushrooms, soaked and chopped small

2-3          Tbsp.               green onions, chopped small

1/2          tsp.                  kosher salt

1/2          tsp.                  brown sugar

1 1/2       tsp.                  soy sauce (I use kikkoman)

1 1/2       tsp.                  oyster sauce

1             tsp.                  dry sherry

1/2          tsp.                  cornstarch

1             pack                won ton wrappers

Wonton Soup Broth

After cleaning the shrimps for the wonton filling start your soup broth.  It pretty much cooks itself.

I always use the shrimp shells to flavor the broth but if you prefer or don't have shrimp shells you can sub. dried shrimp which will give your soup a shrimpier flavor.  I also save the water that I soak my shitake mushrooms in and add it to the broth but if you tossed it out, just place a couple of dried shitakes into the broth (no need to soak).  The combination of shrimp and chicken along with shitake and a punch of ginger makes for a wonderful light broth to compliment your wontons. 

I freeze the leftover broth in single serving portions along with the wontons so I can have a hot bowl anytime or until the wontons get eaten up.

WON TON SOUP BROTH

Shells from 1 pound of shrimp or 2-3 Tbsp. dried shrimp

8          cups                water

** use shitake mushroom water (the water you soaked the mushrooms in for the wontons) as part of the water.

1          14 oz. can       chicken broth

 ** stems from the shitake mushrooms

1          large thumb     fresh ginger, smashed

3          sprigs               green onion, whole

1          tsp.                   kosher salt

Stir fry shrimp shells or dried shrimp in 1-2 tsp. oil until fragrant (about 1 min.) 

Add water, chicken broth, shitake stems, ginger and green onions and salt. Bring to a boil and cook at a gentle boil for 10 - 15 min.

Strain soup and serve over boiled won tons or on the side with a sprinkling of green onions.