Wontons in Instant Soup

Made about 200 wontons the other night. Wontons are usually good with soup because that way they not only taste better, the wontons also won't stick together. The problem about soup is you'll have to make soup, which is a hassle because wontons already require a bit of work. Also, since there's just meat in the wontons, a too-rich soup is just too much. The Shanghainese have a good solution to all that, and I'm telling you below. This filling is a fusion of Cantonese and Shanghainese wonton.

Wontons in Instant Soup

500g yellow prawns, peeled & dirt vein removed
500g lean shoulder pork
5 to 6 bunches of fresh coriander (optional)
white pepper
1 heaped t salt
1 T sesame oil
2 T cornflour
1 T light soy sauce
spring oinions, finely cut
wonton wrappers

1. Cut the prawns into peanut-sized pieces, then give it all a rough chop or two. The idea is not to mince them because you want a crunchy filling.

2. Chop the pork finely. It's best to used fresh, not frozen, pork.

3. Mix everything (except spring onions and wonton wrappers) together in a large bowl, and using your hand, swoosh the mixture round and round in one direction forcefully. This will make the filling stiffer and give a good bite. You can tell its done when the meat has a shine and is stiffer, kinda has a bounce.

4. Wrap your wontons the way you like and cook it in boiling water, adding cold water after the first boil to stop the boiling, then let it boil again and its done. Scoop out, shake off the water and add to the soup.

5. In individual serving bowls, put in 1 t light soy sauce, a dash of sesame oil, a dash of white pepper and pour the instant soup in, then add the wontons and sprinkle the spring onions over.

6. Serve with boiled veg, and a good chili dip.

Instant Soup

The Shanghainese way is to just add a dash of msg to the bowl with the light soy sauce and sesame oil and pour boiling water in. That's the fastest. Or you can do as I did and add a chicken stock cube to a large pot of boiling water. Don't make it too concentrated and there's no need to add salt. The idea is to just have a light soup for the wontons to float in.

Note: In the picture, I used potstickers wrappers (from Tong Hing) when I ran out of wonton wrappers.