Wonton Soup

Throughout my childhood, my grandmother, aunts, and uncles would come over to our house on holidays or the occasional weekend. We'd sit around and wrap dumplings and wontons, cooking them in batches and taking turns eating.

Wontons are small dumplings wrapped in thin wheat flour wrappers. They are usually boiled and served in a broth or sauce. For this recipe, I make a chicken broth with garlic, ginger, and scallions.

The filling in my wonton is a basic one, aromatic without being overwhelming: ground pork, ginger, garlic, scallions, sesame oil, Shaoxing wine, salt, and black pepper. It’s bound with egg and cornstarch.

I consider wontons to be a weekend project, one where you can get Zen with the repetitive motions while chatting with family and friends. It’s worthwhile to make a double or even multiple batches, allowing you to stock enough in the freezer for a quick meal later.

The Chicken Broth

My mom used canned chicken broth that she heated and ladled into a bowl with finely chopped Tianjin preserved vegetable (pickled Chinese cabbage), scallions, and sesame oil. I’ve noticed that many store-bought broths these days are seasoned with herbs and spices that don’t jive with the Chinese flavors in the wontons.

The broth should have a clean chicken flavor with no prominent vegetable, herb, or spice. I make my own broth with a whole chicken, onion, and the holy trinity of garlic, ginger, and scallions.

I suspect the addition of Tianjin preserved vegetable was my mother’s idea as I haven’t seen others use it, although one of its common uses is in soups.

Tianjin preserved vegetable is a Chinese cabbage from the Tianjin region. It is dried, coarsely chopped, mixed with garlic and salt, and tightly packed into a squat brown crock. It has a salty savory flavor. If you’re not using it, taste and adjust the seasoning of the broth with salt.

The brand of Tianjin preserved vegetables I use comes in a brown crock with the wrapper in mostly Chinese characters. Sometimes the label says Giant Wall, but it’s difficult for me to tell if the ones not labeled as such are the same brand. In any case, there are not a lot of brands to choose from. Look for it in the dry goods section of Chinese markets as well as online.

The Best Wonton Wrappers

The brands of wonton wrappers I see at my local supermarket tend to be too thick and heavy. The ones I buy are sold in the refrigerated section of Asian markets. They should be thin and square. I prefer the Twin Marquis brand square Hong Kong-style wonton wrappers. Shanghai wrappers are thicker.

As a safety measure, buy an extra package of wrappers in case you run into the problem of the wrappers drying out or tearing. If you have extra wrappers, wrap them tightly with plastic wrap and freeze them for another time.

Tips for Perfect Wonton Filling

Stir the filling rigorously in one direction until your arm feels like it’s going to fall off, a minimum of 5 minutes. The mixture should lighten in color and become cohesive, pasty, and sticky.

This robust mixing aerates the mixture so that the filling is smooth and light. This is the task my mother gave to us kids. It was a mindless task for sitting in front of the TV. I’ve heard that you can use a food processor or standing mixer, but I’ve never tried it myself.

Keep the filling mixture cool by portioning it out into smaller lidded containers (plastic pint takeout containers work well). Bring out one container at a time while the rest remain covered and chilled in the refrigerator. If the wrapping process is slow going, hold the container of filling in a small ice bath.

Folding the Wontons

When I first learned how to fold dumplings, at about age 4, wontons were easier than potstickers. For wontons, we used store-bought wrappers. For potstickers, we made the dough and laboriously rolled each out by hand.

My family did not wrap wontons in the ingot- or bonnet-style shape that you get from your local Chinese takeout joint. Our wontons looked more like haphazardly bundled beggar's purses.

Once cooked, they remind me of betta fish with their flowing fins. I was taught that wontons are about the thin smooth slippery wrappers with just a small bite of meat filling; this free-form shape showcases the wrappers better than the stodgier shapes.

Making Wontons: Tips and Tricks

These wontons aren’t too fussy to wrap. There are no fancy pleats and once cooked, they’re indistinguishable from one another. Once you get the hang of it, the wrapping is very quick. It’s fun to get your family and friends involved. Here are some tips and tricks for making wontons:

• Don’t be tempted to overfill the wrappers. It may seem like a level teaspoon of filling is too skimpy, but the meat does expand during cooking.
• Set up the wrapping station before you start to wrap the wontons. Line two sheet pans with parchment or wax paper, or lightly dust with flour. Set the bowl with the wonton filling over a bowl of ice water to keep it chilled while you make the wontons. Unwrap the wonton wrappers and cover them with plastic wrap or a damp paper towel to keep them from drying out. Fill a small bowl with water—it will be used to seal the wonton wrappers. Have a small plate in front of you unless you prefer to wrap the wontons directly on your hands, a clean table, or counter. It’s also helpful to have a damp paper towel to wipe your fingers clean as necessary.
• The stack of wrappers will dry out if not covered. I cover them loosely with its packaging, but plastic wrap or a damp paper towel will also do the trick.
• Arrange the wontons on a sheet pan lined with wax or parchment paper or lightly dusted with flour. Leave enough space between the wontons so that they don’t touch, or they’ll stick to each other. The wontons can be lightly covered with plastic wrap or damp paper towels to keep them from drying out.
• Cook the wontons in a separate pot of water and not in the broth that they will be served in. The wrappers will release starch, making the broth thick, but not in a good way. If you plan to serve a whole batch of the wontons, you may want to have a second large pot of water to boil them simultaneously.
• Don’t toss leftover wrappers or filling. The wrappers can be cut, cooked, and served with the wonton as noodles. If you have extra filling, but not enough to break into another package of wrappers, form them into small patties and pan-fry them. You could also reserve it for an easy stir-fry with green beans or asparagus.

Ingredient Substitutions

This recipe is for the wontons that I grew up eating and that I make for my own family and friends. Feel free to make use of these perfectly acceptable substitutions:

• Use ground chicken or turkey (preferably dark meat) instead of pork.
• Add chicken stock instead of water to the meat filling. My mother added milk—she thought it was a sneaky way to get milk into us.
• Substitute the Shaoxing wine with dry sherry.

Wonton Variations

The filling, shape, and size of the wontons vary depending on the region of origin. Here are some variations I enjoy:

• Add chopped raw shrimp to the pork mixture.
• Add chopped shiitake mushrooms or reconstituted dried shiitake mushrooms to the pork mixture. If reconstituting mushrooms, add the soaking liquid in lieu of the water into the filling.
• Instead of serving the wontons in a soup, serve them Sichuan-style in a spicy chili oil.
• Deep fry the wontons and serve them with a spicy mustard sauce, sweet chili sauce, or sweet and sour sauce.

Storage Instructions

Wontons need to be eaten right away and don’t hold well once cooked. If not being served right away, store the uncooked wontons separately from the soup. The wontons will get mushy if left in the soup.

Once you get the hang of wrapping the wontons, it goes by very quickly, making it worth your while to double the batch and throw some in the freezer for a quick no fuss meal. When freezing, arrange the wontons in a single layer, not touching, on parchment-lined or lightly floured sheet pans and freeze until solid. Transfer the frozen wontons to a container with a tight-fitting lid.

A zip-top bag is not recommended for storage as the wrappers are fragile and will break off easily. No need to thaw the wontons before cooking them. Throw them frozen into the pot of boiling water.

More Flavorful Soups to Try

• Tom Yum Soup (Spicy Thai Soup with Shrimp)
• Hawaiian Oxtail Soup
• Instant Pot Chicken Soup
• Chicken Udon Soup with Bok Choy
• Easy Miso Fish Soup with Soba