— instructions —

①

Infuse broth with ginger & scallion.

Prepare your broth by bringing the chicken stock to a boil. Store bought stock is absolutely fine and will taste just as delicious, but home-made is preferred. Home-made stock brings a more authentic chicken flavour. If you do use store bought, pick a higher quality brand, and use low-sodium broth. Once your broth is to a boil, add the scallion and ginger and bring the heat back down to simmer. Simmer covered for 30 minutes, then salt to taste.

②

Mince shrimp.

You can either mince the raw shrimp by hand or pulse in a food processor. De-shell the shrimp first, and if mincing by hand, just chop the shrimp up into little bits using the same motion as mincing garlic. If using a food processor, add the shrimp in the food processor and pulse a few times until the shrimp is minced. It should feel sort of like a paste, but still chunky. Be careful not to over process the shrimp!

③

Combine filling ingredients & seasonings.

In a mixing bowl, combine the wonton filling ingredients. Mix the raw minced shrimp, raw ground pork, chopped green onion, grated ginger, soy sauce, sugar, Shaoxing rice wine, and corn starch until ingredients are well incorporated. Add 2 tsp. salt, or to taste. A tsp. of white pepper will add some spice and depth, but optional. If you’re unsure of the salt level, take a tbsp. of the mixture and microwave it for 30 seconds (or until it’s cooked through) and taste!

④

Begin assembly – scoop filling onto center of wrapper.

Begin assembly by taking the wonton wrapper and placing it on your palm. Using a spoon, scoop a tablespoon of filling mixture onto the center of the wrapper. Try not to scoop more than a tablespoon. The more mixture you put on, the harder it’ll be to seal the wonton, and the messier the job. But you can experiment with the amount of filling and adjust as you go to see what you’re comfortable with, and what you like. Also, the more you do this, the easier it gets.

⑤

Make border & moisten edges of wrapper.

Once you’ve got the mixture onto the center, dip your finger in a little bit of water and make a border around the edges of the wonton wrapper, kind of like you’re sealing an envelope. Just apply enough to moisten the wrapper – if you apply too much, sealing will get messy. For convenience, get a small water bowl ready for dipping each time, and maybe a little towel to wipe your fingers in between dipping and sealing wontons.

⑥

Fold wonton, seal & get air bubbles out.

Now that the edges are moistened, fold the wonton wrapper up in half, lining bottom edge to top edge. Gently apply pressure to seal the wonton shut (the water is basically your glue) and then press the flat areas around the filling towards the edges to get the air bubbles out.

⑦

Wet bottom corner, fold down & pinch.

So if you’ve ever mastered the art of origami, you might find this easy. But for those of you who have not, no sweat – you will get better at this. Dip your finger in water again, and wet the bottom left (or right, just pick one) corner of the wonton. This should be the corner of the folded edge. Use your index and thumb on both hands to pinch the two bottom corners and fold downward, bringing the corners together until they overlap. Pinch down to seal. If you wet the left corner, the right corner should be brought on top of the left to seal, and vice versa.

⑧

Get your game face on and repeat.

Eat, sleep, wrap, repeat. Get your game face on. Keep on going until you’ve used up all the filling and wonton wrappers! If you’re not cooking your wontons right away, store in a container lined and covered with damp paper towels. You can also freeze them in Ziplocks for later. If you freeze, let the wontons rest for 15 mins. or so to dry out before putting them in the freezer.

⑨

Boil wontons in water.

Bring a pot of water to boil and then turn down to medium heat. Boil wontons for 10-15 mins. or until the skin becomes translucent. You’ll want to boil the wontons in a separate pot of water (not in your broth) if you want to maintain a clear broth. Cooking the wontons in your broth will contaminate the broth with flour from the wonton wrappers and result in a murky broth. However, no one said you can’t do it if you want to cook your wontons in the broth.

⑩

Ladle broth over wontons & garnish.

Drain the wontons in a strainer or use a slotted spoon once the wontons are done. Transfer them to a serving bowl. Ladle the ginger scallion broth over the wontons and garnish with fresh chopped scallions. Congrats! You just made wonton soup.