Last Updated on November 13, 2020
These days, we need to cultivate all the comfort we can at home. Spending time in the kitchen helps—especially when making nourishing and satiating soups. And while I love a good afternoon in the kitchen, sometimes I don’t feel like simmering soup on the stove for hours.
That’s where wonton soup comes in. Years ago, I learned how to make homemade wontons—Chinese dumplings—which can be eaten on their own or transformed into a soup by using the boiling liquid and a handful of special seasonings and condiments.
This recipe calls for making your own wontons using ButcherBox ground pork. These do take some time to shape and fold, but are a fun kitchen project that can be frozen for later use, cooked and eaten with a dipping sauce, or, as here – used in soup.
Wonton soup may be an age-old Chinese (and later, Chinese-American) dish, but it’s well-suited to our times: It’s ultra-flavorful, easy to put together, and a great way get that sense of comfort we’re all looking for—quickly.
Pork Wonton Soup
Ingredients
- 1 pound Butcher Box ground pork
- 1 ten-ounce package frozen spinach thawed, drained, and finely chopped
- 3 scallions chopped
- 2 teaspoons chopped fresh ginger
- 1 egg lightly beaten
- 2 teaspoons sesame oil
- 2 teaspoons sherry cooking wine
- salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- package wonton wrappers Dynasty or Twin Marquis Shanghai Style
Instructions
- Place the pork, spinach, scallions, and ginger together in a medium mixing bowl and stir to combine. Add the egg, sesame oil, sherry, and salt and pepper and mix thoroughly using clean hands or a wooden spoon.
- Add a scant tablespoon of filling to the middle of the wonton wrapper. Fill a small dish with water and set that beside you. Dip your finger into the water and wet the top edge of the wonton wrapper.
- Fold the bottom edge of the wrapper up to meet the wet top edge. Press down to create a seal. Take the now sealed top edge and make a small fold towards you. The fold should hit the top of the meat filling. This ensures a tight seal.
- Now, grab the left and right side of the wonton wrapper and fold it down so that the two ends meet in the middle. The motion is curved so that by the time your two hands meet, your hands have moved in a half circle meeting at the bottom-most point. The wonton should look like a tortellini.
- To create the seal, dip your finger into the water bowl and wet the bottom left inner edge of the wonton. Take the right side and bring it over to the left, creating a seal with the wet left edge. The two ends will not completely overlap, just those inner edges. Don’t worry if it takes a few tries to get the perfect fold. As long as you have a good seal, your filling won’t come out.
- Bring a salted pot of water to a boil. When it reaches a boil, put as many wontons as you would like into the pot to cook. You can refrigerate any leftover wontons for a day or so, or you can freeze them to use again later. Once the wontons begin to float, let them cook for another minute, then scoop out with a spider or slotted spoon.
- While the wontons are boiling, grab clean soup bowls and add your fixings to the bottom of the bowls. Some ideas: chopped fresh scallion, a small amount of minced fresh ginger, a drizzle of sesame oil, squirt of sriracha, and a little soy sauce or salt.
- When the wontons are done, remove from pot with a slotted spoon and add to each bowl. Then, ladle some of the wonton water into the bowl. Stir together and serve.
Kristina DeMichele is the Digital Content Strategist at Harvard Magazine. She is also a freelance copyeditor who has worked for America's Test Kitchen as the Senior Content Editor of Cook's Illustrated Magazine.
