Chinese New Year is almost here. For those who celebrate it, it’s a time to eat many “good luck” foods, including dumplings.
According to a few sources, Chinese legend suggests that the more dumplings you eat during the New Year celebrations, the more money you’ll make in the new year.
I’ve never needed an added incentive to eat tasty Chinese-style dumplings, but if I did, that’s a pretty good one.
There are many types of those dumplings and various ways to eat them. But one of my preferred methods is to make wontons and serve them swimming in a comforting soup. On a wet and dreary West Coast day, nothing really tastes much better and you definitely feel lucky.
Wontons are, of course, small dumplings filled with such things as seasoned, minced shrimp, ground pork, or a mix of the two.
In my recipe today I went with a shrimp filling, made by finely chopping some small, cooked B.C. shrimp.
Sold at many grocery stores, they’re called pink shrimp, but are most often labelled hand-peeled shrimp or machine-peeled shrimp, depending on how they were processed after cooking.
The wrappers I used to make the wontons are sold fresh at many supermarkets and at Asian food stores, such as those in Victoria’s Chinatown. In my recipe, you’ll only need 24, but the unused wrappers can be frozen for use at another time.
I wanted my recipe to be a main course, so to make it more filling — not to mention even more delicious — I added thin slices of Chinese-style barbecued pork, sui choy (Chinese cabbage) and bits of green onion to the bowl with the wontons.
There are a few stores in Victoria’s Chinatown that sell cooked and ready-to-eat barbecue pork. If you buy more than you need for the recipe, you’ll have some extra to snack on.
My recipe yields four servings. If that’s too many for you, this soup freezes fairly well.
To do so, when the recipe asks you to divide the wontons among serving bowls, do that for the portions of soup you’ll eat now, and then place the wontons you won’t eat now in single-serving freezer containers.
When the recipe asks you to top the wontons with the chicken stock mixture, do that and top the wontons in the freezer containers with the portions of the stock you won’t eat now.
Once the soup in the containers has cooled to room temperature, seal, label, date and freeze for up to three months, at the ready to thaw and enjoy at another time.
Shrimp Wonton Soup with Barbecue Pork and Cabbage
This main-course soup sees shrimp-filled wontons enhanced in the bowl with bits of pork, cabbage and green onions.
Preparation time: 35 minutes
Cooking time: About five minutes
Makes: four main-course servings
For the wontons:
180 grams small cooked shrimp
1 large egg white
1 tsp finely chopped fresh ginger
1 tsp cornstarch
1/2 tsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp hot Asian-style chili sauce, such as Sriracha, or to taste (optional)
2 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
24 wonton wrappers
For the soup and to finish:
6 1/2 cups chicken stock or broth
1 1/2 cups sui choy (Chinese cabbage), chopped
200 grams Chinese-style barbecue pork, cut, widthwise, into thin slices
2 green onions, thinly sliced
1 tsp sesame oil
• hot Asian-style chili sauce, such as Sriracha, to taste (optional)
Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper or plastic wrap. Thoroughly pat the shrimp dry, then set on a cutting board. Finely chop the shrimp and set them in a small- to medium-sized bowl. Add the remaining wonton ingredients, except wrappers, and mix to combine.
Set a wonton wrapper flat on a work surface. Lightly brush, or use the tip of a finger, to moisten the edges of the wrapper with cold water. Place a generous teaspoon of the shrimp mixture in the centre of the wrapper.
Fold the wonton wrapper in half lengthwise, pressing firmly on the edges to seal. Pull the two bottom corners together so they overlap, and then press firmly on the place they overlap. Set the finished wonton on the baking sheet, then fill and fold the remaining wrappers. When setting the wontons on the baking sheet, ensure they do not touch, or they will stick together (see Eric’s options).
To cook the wontons and make the soup, bring a wide, deep pot of water to a simmer. Place the stock in another pot and bring it to a simmer.
Add the wontons to the water and simmer three minutes, or until they rise to the surface of the water and the wrapper looks somewhat translucent where the filling is.
While the wontons cook, add the cabbage, pork and 1 tsp of sesame oil to the chicken stock.
When they’re cooked, lift the wontons out of the water and divide them among four bowls. Divide and ladle some the chicken stock mixture into each bowl. Sprinkle with green onions and serve. If desired, serve the soup with a small bowl of chili sauce for diners to spice up their soup or wontons.
Eric’s options: If you’re serving the soup to guests and you don’t want to be fussing too much just before you serve it, you could fill and shape the wontons ahead of time and freeze them. To do so, make the wontons as described in the recipe. Now freeze solid on the baking sheet and keep frozen until ready to cook. When needed for the soup, cook from frozen, adding a minute or so to the cooking time. Do not thaw them before cooking, or they’ll become too soft to handle.
Eric Akis is the author of The Great Rotisserie Chicken Cookbook (Appetite by Random House). His columns appear in the Life section Wednesday and Sunday.
