Graduation and Wonton Soup

The past two weeks have been extremely busy here in Auburn.  Most of you who read this blog know this, but I'm graduating with my Master in Public Administration degree this Friday and I'll be heading to Washington, D.C. in June for an internship.  I work two jobs in Auburn in addition to being a full time student, so there has been quite of bit of work to wrap up in the last few weeks before I graduate and leave town.  


This wonton soup was a little different than wonton soup I have had in the past.  I think I would probably call this dumpling soup rather than wonton soup.  Regardless of what you think it should be called, it was delicious.  Assembling the dumplings was a little time consuming, but I had some fantastic help from a dear friend.  We did about 1/4 veggie dumplings and 3/4 meat dumplings and just folded them differently.  All in all, this is a meal that I can definitely see myself making again.

 My blue haired wonton assembler

Wonton Soup

adapted from My Kitchen Escapades

Wontons

1/2 pound lean ground pork*

1/4 cup finely minced onion

1/4 cup finely minced celery**

1/4 cup finely minced mushrooms

1 Tb soy sauce

1 egg

1/2 tsp cornstarch

24 wonton wrappers

Soup

6 cup chicken stock

1 Tb soy sauce

1/2 tsp pepper

1 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms***

1/2 pound baby spinach (I used frozen)

1/2 cup chopped scallions

Directions

1.  In a large pot, combine the chicken stock, soy sauce, pepper, and mushrooms.  Bring to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes.  Add the spinach and simmer for 5 minute minutes.  Add the scallions, put a lid on the pot, and turn the heat off.

2.  Combine the wonton filling - pork, onion, celery, mushrooms, soy sauce, egg, and cornstarch - in a bowl.  Make sure you mix well as the meat will be raw and may be difficult to incorporate.  Since you are working with raw meat, be very careful about cross contamination.

3.  Assemble the wontons by placing a teaspoon of filling in the center of the wrapper, dipping your finger in a small bowl of water and dampening two adjoining sides of the wrapper, along the edge.  Fold the two wet edges over to meet the other side to form a triangle.  Make sure to push as much air as possible out of the wrapper as you seal it.  Use your finger to dampen the very center of the triangle and fold the two sides of the triangles in.  Use my pictures as a guide as explaining this via text is a bit complicated.

4.  In a second large pot, bring salted water to a boil.  Cook the wontons in the water for about 6 minutes.  Transfer the wontons to your pot of broth.

*I used ground turkey because it was what I had on hand and it worked pretty well.  However, I do think pork would give a lot more flavor to the wontons and I'll planning to use it next time I make this.

**Another thing I'm going to try next time is replacing the celery with minced water chestnuts to fit with the Asian theme a bit better.  That and I think water chestnuts make everything better.

***Even if you don't like mushrooms, PLEASE at least use them in the broth.  Just pick them out before you serve.  I promise the broth won't taste like mushrooms but they add a depth of flavor that you can't really get elsewhere.