Wonderful Won Ton!!

Nothing says love like a huge bowl of won ton soup! In my quest for the perfect won ton soup I've started making it at home and it's been a huge hit with all who have tried it! I thought I would post the recipe as so many people ask for it. I make it so often my hubby is getting sick of it but I could eat it for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day and sometimes do :)

Broth

For the chicken broth I make it just like my normal chicken broth but add some pork too for extra flavor. You can substitute your favorite chicken broth recipe of course...

 I prefer to use pre-roasted chicken from the store to save time and use some of the meat for adding to soup later or sandwiches etc. You can use raw chicken as well but if just gives a more subtle less rich flavor.

1 roasted chicken 1/2 meat removed if desired 

1-2 lbs. pork bones with meat on them

1 onion peeled & quartered

3 carrots peeled and cut in half

2 celery stalks cut in half

2 bay leaves

1 chicken bouillon cube

1 beef bouillon cube

 3 or 4 canned Italian tomatoes (optional but adds nice flavor)

Always use cold water to make soup (and cook with in general) as it's fresh and hasn't been sitting in a water heater. Fill large stock pot with water and add roasting chicken & pork bones. Bring water to simmer as you don't want to boil the soup because it can make it cloudy. Simmer for approximately 1/2 an hour and remove foam as it comes to the top with a spoon. Once foam begins to subside and liquid is clear add vegetables and rest of ingredients. Simmer broth for several hours until desired intensity is achieved. I like making this 1 day ahead and letting sit overnight with meat and veggies and it tends to intensify the flavours as most soups & stews tend to taste better the next day. You can then strain the soup for immediate use or freeze it once it's cool for soup any time of the day or night. I like having frozen broth in my freezer all the time as you never know when you are going to want or need it for a recipe etc.

Wontons (aka pillows of perfection)

1 package of wonton wrappers

1 lb. ground turkey (preferably dark meat)

2 egg yolks

3-4 green onions chopped

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 Tbsp. rice vinegar

salt & pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Take several wonton wrappers and lay them out on your surface. Using two spoons put approximately one level tsp. of meat in the middle of each wrapper. You don't want to put too much as when you are folding them the meat will come to the edge and won't allow for a proper seal. Have a small bowl of water ready and with your finger brush two edges with water. Bring two opposite corners together to make a triangle around the filling. Press the edges firmly together to form a seal and make sure the seal is good otherwise they will open when you are cooking them. Hold with the short side of the triangle facing down, moisten one of the long corners with the water and bring other long corner to meet and press together to make a seal gently pushing down on middle if necessary. There are several ways you can fold wontons and this is just one way. They look like little tortellinis this way. For other ways to fold them and video demonstrations search "folding wontons" on you tube. Continue on with rest of package and this recipe tends to be enough filling to do one whole package of wrappers. It's makes about 70 or so depending on the amount in the package and you can freeze whatever you don't use for future use. I place them in the freezer flat on a cutting board until they are frozen so they don't stick together and then put them in zip lock freezer bag in portions. You can also half the recipe if you like and just freeze whatever wrappers you don't use...

Boil fresh wontons for 4-5 minutes in salted water and frozen 7-8 minutes. You can remove one and cut it in half to make sure they are cooked through and there is no pinkness left. Add wontons to broth and enjoy! You can also add chopped green onions, spinach, broccoli, reserved chicken meat or whatever you desire to the soup. The best thing about this recipe is you can do whatever you want! You can substitute the ground turkey for ground pork if you like and sometimes I add shrimp too but our favorite variation is the turkey.

P.S. I've seen some recipes say to cook the wontons in the broth but the cornstarch from the wontons which keeps them from sticking together makes the broth cloudy so I don't recommend doing it this way...

recipe adapted from www.epicurios.com