Year of the Soup: Week 17

Nothing makes a new apartment feel like home quite like the smell of fresh boiling soup.  In this case, it was our new apartment in Uptown (which we moved into this past Wednesday), and a boiling pot of Wonton Soup.  Fragrant ginger, soy and chili sauces finally overpowered the less pleasant aromas of still drying floor varnish and fresh paint.  I feel more settled now knowing that I’ve cooked something delicious in our new kitchen.

The wonton filling for this recipe seemed a bit odd, and in fact I thought it tasted odd by itself.  Something about the texture of seitan mixed with dijon mustard conjured up thoughts of baloney sandwiches for me, which didn’t seem promising for an Asian soup.  But don’t be fooled.  Once the filling mixes with the lovely light broth, it’s a truly delicious combination.  Not the flavors you might expect from a classic wonton soup, but delicious nonetheless.

Now if only I could figure out how to get the sofa through the living room door, I’d really feel at home…

Wonton Soup

Ingredients

Wontons

• 16 Wonton Skins
• 1 Tbs Oil
• 1-2 tsp Fresh Ginger, minced
• 1 Cup Chinese Broccoli, thinly sliced
• 3/4 Cup Seitan, chopped fine
• 1/2 tsp Hot Chili Sauce, more if desired (like Sriracha)
• 1 tsp Dijon Mustard
• 1 tsp Tamari or Soy Sauce

Ginger-Soy Broth

• 4 Cups Water
• 5-6 Fresh Ginger Slices
• 2 Tbs Tamari (or soy sauce)
• 1 1/2 tsp Sugar
• 2 tsp Rice Vinegar
• 1/2 tsp Salt, plus more to taste
• 1/4 Cup Chinese Broccoli Leaves, packed (sub: spinach or collards)

Directions

1. Filling: Begin by chopping the Chinese broccoli very thinly with a sharp knife, from the base of the stem up towards the leaves (just like chopping scallions). Heat a large pan with oil and add the ginger. Once the ginger becomes fragrant, add the broccoli and seitan, stirring well and cooking until the broccoli is bright green and tender-crisp.  Transfer the broccoli-seitan mixture to a small bowl and toss with the remaining ingredients. Taste and adjust to your liking. Set aside while you make the broth.
2. Broth: Heat all of the broth ingredients together except the greens in a small sauce pan, until sugar and salt is dissolved and the ginger has had time to infuse into the broth. Taste and add more salt if desired, but remember this is a mild broth that is only meant to be a complement to the wontons. Once the broth has begin to simmer, turn off heat and toss in greens. Cover and set aside
3. Fill the wontons: Place 1-2 tsp of filling in the center of the wonton. Wet the edges of the wrapper with water (a finger dipped in water works great) and seal into a trianlge, removing as much air as possible from the dumpling. Make sure edges are secured.  Set the triangle in front of you, pointing up. Wet one of the bottom corners. Hold the corners, one between each thumb and forefinger. Begin to bend the wrapper, as if you were forcing it into a horseshoe shape. Don’t change your grip, and resist the urge to fold the corners over. Bring the two ends together, crossing them slightly, and press to seal. Going from the triangle shape to a completed wonton is one fluid motion.
4. To prepare the soup: Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Re-heat your broth to steaming, if necessary. Gently lower the wontons into the boiling water and cook until they become translucent, about 2-3 minutes if the wontons aren’t frozen, longer if they are. Remove them from the water with a spider (or other slotted spoon device) and place them into the hot broth.  Ladle 3-4 wontons into a bowl and add a small amount of broth, enough to half-way cover the wontons. Serve immediately.