Homemade Wonton Soup

Making Wonton Soup at home really isn’t as hard as you might think; in fact, it’s even quite fun. Especially when you have access to a great tutorial and pictures!  

Making Wonton Soup at home really isn’t as hard as you might think; in fact, once you get the hang of it, it’s even quite fun.

Sure, it does take a little while to make all the wontons, and quite frankly, it’s the kind of project that I don’t have much patience for. But once that’s out of the way, you can freeze the noodles and have a delicious bowl of hot wonton soup in just minutes, whenever you feel like it. No need to hit the restaurant.

Plus, I bet once you’ve started making your own, you’ll like it so much better than the one you get to eat in most restaurants, you probably will prefer to stay at home and have a bowl of yours. I know I’m completely, totally addicted to mine now. Ever since I learned how to make it — thanks to my daughter who recently taught me how — I sort of want to live off the thing.

Or even bathe in it…

The trickiest part is learning how to form the little bundles of stuffed pasta, but really, you’ll see, there’s nothing to it.

Just get out there, find yourself some decent wonton wrappers and then come back here so we can get started. Most grocery stores happen to carry wonton wrappers in the frozen aisle, but if you’re not having any luck, try your local Asian grocery store. There, you’re absolutely certain to score!

Oh, and if you end up getting the frozen wrappers?, be sure to plan on giving them a good night in the refrigerator to thaw, before you get started…

When you’re ready, we’ll start by making the wontons. Of course, to do that, we first need to make some stuffing!

So grab a medium bowl and in it, combine:

• 200g of ground pork (or ground chicken, if you’re not a fan of pork)
• 200g of finely chopped raw shrimp
• 1 green onion, finely chopped
• 1 tsp minced fresh ginger
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp unpasteurized honey
• 1/2 tsp sambal oelek (if you like a bit of a kick that is, but that one’s entirely optional)

Mix with your hands or with a large spoon until well combined.

Once that’s done, lay 6 to 12 wonton wrappers on your work surface and place about half a teaspoon of stuffing right in the center of each wrapper.

Make sure that you don’t use too much stuffing, especially if you are fairly new at making wontons… Trust me, those wrappers will be much easier to handle and fold if they aren’t over-generously stuffed. As you gain more experience, you’ll be able to push the envelope a little bit and put a tad more in there… but for now, stick to about half a teaspoon.

Next, brush the edges of the wrappers with a little bit of milk (you could also use water or egg whites, if you wanted to, but I’m a big fan of milk – I find it “glues” really well and very cleanly, too) and then fold the wrappers in half, either vertically or diagonally — as pictured above. Press to seal, taking care to remove as much air as you can and then “crimp” the top edge slightly between your fingers.

Brush a little bit more milk on the “corners” of the folded wontons and then bring those corners together, pressing lightly to ensure that they stick well.

Repeat with the rest of the wonton wrappers until you run out of stuffing. Be sure to always keep the wrappers and finished wontons covered with a damp cloth while you work to avoid them drying out.

Oh, and in case you’re wondering, both methods are fairly equal in terms of overall result and “in-mouth” experience; the difference between the 2 is mainly aesthetic — although I find the triangles might be a tad easier to fold. Just use whichever method you prefer or feel more comfortable with; or do like I do and mix things up a little: do a little bit of both!

Once all the wontons are done, you can either cook them immediately or refrigerate or freeze them in airtight containers to cook at a later time; If freezing or refrigerating, arrange the wontons in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and make certain that they do not touch until completely chilled or frozen to prevent them from sticking together.

Refrigerated wontons will keep for maximum of 24 hours, while the frozen ones will keep for up to several months. Frozen wontons can be cooked directly from the freezer — no need to thaw them first.

Now let’s make some broth… combine some chicken stock, water, sesame oil, honey, rice vinegar, garlic, and ginger in a stock pot. Pound a stalk of lemongrass with a meat mallet or blunt object until well bruised and then add it to the stock.

Bring to the boil and then lower the heat to a slow simmer. Cover loosely and simmer for 10 minutes, then fish out the ginger, garlic and lemon grass and bring back to a roaring boil.

To cook the wontons, delicately add the wontons to the boiling broth — calculate about 5 to 6 per person — and boil until fully cooked, about 2 to 3 minutes for fresh wontons or 6 to 8 minutes for frozen.

Alternatively, some people prefer to cook their wontons in plenty of salted boiling water, drain them and then ladle the warm broth directly in the bowl, over the cooked noodles.

Personally, I prefer to cook the wontons direcly in the broth because the dough sort of absorbs some of the flavor of the broth as it cooks, but then some of the starch from the pasta also gets transferred into the broth, rendering it a tad richer, thicker, heavier. I understand that not everyone cares for that, so really, feel free to use whichever method you prefer.

You’re not gonna hurt my feelings!

Whatever option you decide to go with, though, I say you should totally garnish your soup with a little sprinkle of chopped green onions. It’s all part of the true wonton soup experience!

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5 from 4 votes

Homemade Wonton Soup

Prep Time: 45 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 5 minutes minutes

Total Time: 50 minutes minutes

Making Wonton Soup at home really isn't as hard as you might think; in fact, it's even quite fun. Learn how with this great tutorial and pictures!  

Servings: 60 wontons

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

For the wontons

• 7 oz lean ground pork, or ground chicken
• 7 oz fresh raw shrimp, cleaned, peeled and finely chopped
• 1 green onion, finely chopped
• 1 tsp minced fresh ginger
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp unseasoned rice vinegar
• 1 tbsp unpasteurized honey
• 1/2 tsp sambal oelek, optional
• 1/4 tsp salt
• About 60 wonton wrappers
• 2-3 tbsp milk, or water or egg whites

For the broth (for 4-6 servings)

• 4 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 2 tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 tsp unpasteurized honey
• 1 tsp unseasoned rice vinegar
• 2 garlic cloves, peeled
• 2 thick slices of fresh ginger
• 1 stalk lemongrass

To Serve

• Finely chopped green onions

Instructions

To make the wontons:

• In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients for the wontons (except for the wrappers and milk) and mix with your hands or large spoon until well combined.
• Lay 6 to 12 wonton wrappers on a work surface and place about half a teaspoon of stuffing right in the center of each wrapper. Brush the edges with a little bit of milk and then fold the wrappers in half, either vertically or diagonally (see pictures in post for visual reference). Press to seal, taking care to remove as much air as you can and then “crimp” the top edge slightly between your fingers.
• Brush a little bit more milk on the "corners" of the folded wontons and then bring those corners together, pressing lightly to ensure that they stick well.
• Repeat with the rest of the wonton wrappers until you run out of stuffing.
• Be sure to keep the wrappers and finished wontons covered with a damp cloth while you are working to avoid them drying out.
• When all the wontons are done, you can either cook them immediately or refrigerate or freeze them in airtight containers to cook at a later time; just arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and make certain that they do not touch until completely refrigerated or frozen to prevent them from sticking together. Refrigerated wontons will keep for maximum of 24 hours, while the frozen ones will keep for up to several months. You can cook the frozen wontons directly from the freezer without thawing them first.

To make the broth

• Combine the chicken stock, water, sesame oil, honey, rice vinegar, garlic, and ginger in a stock pot. Pound the lemongrass with a meat mallet or blunt object until well bruised and add it to the stock. Bring to the boil and then lower the heat to a slow simmer. Cover loosely and simmer for 10 minutes, then fish out the ginger, garlic and lemon grass and bring back to a roaring boil.

To cook the wontons

• Delicately add the wontons to the broth, about 5-6 per person, and boil until fully cooked, about 2 to 3 minutes for fresh wontons, 6 to 8 minutes for frozen.
• Ladle into bowls and garnish with chopped green onions.
• Alternatively, you could also cook the wontons in plenty of salted boiling water then drain them, put them directly in the bowls and ladle the warm broth over the cooked noodles.

Nutrition

Serving: 1wonton, Calories: 39kcal, Carbohydrates: 4g, Protein: 2g, Fat: 1g, Cholesterol: 11mg, Sodium: 97mg, Potassium: 19mg, Vitamin A: 5IU, Vitamin C: 0.2mg, Calcium: 10mg, Iron: 0.4mg

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Asian

Author: Sonia! The Healthy Foodie

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