Wonton Soup
My husband makes three types of Chinese soup when any of us are sick. One of them is Chinese Winter Melon Soup or tung qwa soup, which I’ve shared in the past, the second is Moqua Soup or Fuzzy Melon Soup (post forthcoming), and the third, which is my absolute favorite, is Wonton Soup.
While it seems seasonally inappropriate to share a hot soup recipe amidst our warmer and sunny Southern California weather, last week when I was feeling quite awful from bronchitis, my husband asked if I would like some soup. I only thought about this for a second before I immediately replied in my hoarse, weak voice, “YES! Please make me wonton soup.” I followed this with my sad face and pleading puppy-dog eyes, “if it’s not too much work…”
When I met my husband, I could tell that his cooking repertoire was somewhat limited and differed from my own. We shall refer to this repertoire as “one or two steps above bachelor dining”. While there is nothing wrong with the following repertoire, this included spaghetti, ground beef burritos, frozen fish sticks, frozen pot pie, frozen french fries, steak, ham, and a very small handful of nearby take-out specialties.
However, my husband surprised me with a few dishes which included (click for recipes) hoisin baby back ribs, sautéed baby bok choy, sautéed gai-lan (Chinese broccoli), wontons, and his three Chinese soups. He is also very good with BBQ. Not surprisingly, he learned these dishes from his parents, namely my mother-in-law. Thank you Yin-Yin for teaching your son these dishes!
Even though you don’t read my blog, thanks hun for making me my favorite wonton soup, in addition to your two other Chinese soups, taking care of the girls, packing lunch, doing laundry, buying groceries, running out late at night to get me Sucrets and cough syrup, picking up my antibiotics, entertaining Bebe E so I can get some rest, picking up the toys strewn all over the house, making Bebe E breakfast, doing the dishes, cleaning the kitchen and picking up take-out dinner. I understand why, every day, you kept begging me to “PLEASE get better soon”. Love, your wife, aka recovering bronchitis patient.
Have a great Memorial Day weekend!
Judy
- for wontons:
- See recipe post for Chinese Wontons. Instead of frying the wontons, they will be boiled and added to the soup recipe that follows.
- for soup:
- 4 - 6 baby bok choy
- 1 cup reserved shiitake mushroom liquid (from Chinese Wonton
- recipe)
- 8 cups chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- Salt, to taste (optional)
- Sliced green onions for garnish (optional)
- Make wontons according to Chinese wonton recipe. We usually allot 6 to 8 wontons per one soup serving. The remaining wontons are usually fried, or the wonton meat (with no wrappers) is frozen.
- In a large stock pot, combine 1 cup reserved shiitake liquid, 8 cups of chicken broth. If you prefer, beef broth may be substituted. Add tablespoon of soy sauce and dash of salt as needed. Bring to a boil.
- Slice baby bok choy lengthwise in half, and then into large bite-sized pieces, if necessary. Add baby bok choy to the broth and cook until tender.
- In a separate medium-sized pot, and this MUST be done in a separate pot and not the same pot as the broth, bring water to a boil. Add a handful of wontons and allow these to cook for about 8 to 10 minutes until the pork is cooked through. Because these are bite-sized portions of meat, they cook relatively quickly. NOTE: The wontons must be cooked in a separate pot from the soup broth because the wonton wrappers are quite starchy and causes the water to become a thick, starchy, icky mess.
- In a large soup bowl, add 6 to 8 boiled wontons then ladle the soup with baby bok choy over the wontons. Garnish with chopped green onions (optional).
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