Chef John's Pork Wonton Soup

The term 'wonton' is mostly commonly translated as meaning 'irregularly-shaped pasta'. The second translation I found is from a popular Cantonese homonym that literally means 'swallowing clouds'. If given the choice between eating 'irregularly-shaped pasta', or 'swallowing clouds', I'm going with the clouds every time! You can add ginger, onion, soy, hot pepper, cilantro, lime, lemon grass, etc., to suit your taste and customize the broth.

• Preparation Time: 15 mins
• Cooking Time: 15 mins
• Total Time: 30 mins
• Calories: 347 Calories

Ingredients

• 1 egg white, beaten
• 1 pound ground pork
• 1 tablespoon dry sherry
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 3 green onions, minced
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• ¼ teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil, or as needed
• 1 teaspoon Sriracha sauce
• 1 ½ tablespoons freshly grated ginger
• 4 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and caps thinly sliced
• 1 ½ quarts chicken stock
• 1 (10 ounce) package wonton wrappers, or as needed
• 1 head bok choy, thinly sliced

Recipe Instructions

Step 1

Stir pork, green onion, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, fish sauce, dry sherry, sriracha sauce, and sesame oil together in a large bowl until well-combined. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate meat mixture until chilled, 30 minutes to 1 hour.

Step 2

Heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Saute mushrooms in hot oil until golden and fragrant, about 10 minutes. Pour chicken stock over mushrooms; bring broth to a simmer.

Step 3

Place wonton wrappers on a flat work surface and drop about 1/2 teaspoon pork mixture into the center of each wonton. Brush egg white onto the border of each wrapper. Take the bottom corner and fold it up to the top corner to form a triangle and press edges with fingers to seal. Hold opposite ends of the triangle, center-tip facing down. Gently push down on meat pocket to form a flat base and fold triangle points together to form a tortellini shape.

Step 4

Stir bok choy into mushroom broth and return broth to a simmer. Add wontons to broth; cook until wontons are wrapper firms and meat is cooked through, 3 to 5 minutes.