Prawn and pork wonton soup

A steaming bowl of wonton soup is a very satisfying supper on a cool autumn evening. I put Lyra to work assembling the wontons – her little fingers are very good at pinching the wrappers together. The recipe makes enough filling for about 50 wontons. Leftover filling can be formed into meatballs and dropped into broth unwrapped, or else saved for another day. The original recipe is slightly adapted from the one in Ruth Watson’s Fat Girl Slim.

Prawn and pork wonton soup (serves 4-6)

• 250g ground pork
• 250g raw prawns
• 5 water chestnuts, sliced
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2″ piece of ginger, grated
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup coriander leaves
• 1 Tb soy sauce
• 2 tsp rice wine or sherry
• 50 wonton wrappers, defrosted if frozen

For the broth

• 1 litre (4 cups) chicken or vegetable stock
• 2 Tb soy sauce
• 2 Tb rice wine
• 1 cup white cabbage, finely shredded
• 4 green onions, sliced
• 1/2 cup coriander leaves, roughly chopped

1. In a food processor, blitz the pork, prawns, garlic, ginger, green onions, coriander leaves, soy sauce, and rice wine into a coarse paste. (Or mix together by hand, spread on a chopping board and chop finely.)
2. Place a heaping teaspoon of filling on a wonton wrapper. Dip your finger in a dish of water and wet the edges of the wrapper.
3. Write this step…
4. Assemble all the wontons this way, put them in the fridge, baking tray? Up to 24 hours.
5. Heat the stock to a simmer in a large pot. Add the soy sauce, rice wine and cabbage and cook for three minutes.
6. Drop the wontons into the simmering broth and cook for about five minutes, until the wontons are… and filling looks nubbly and brain-like.
7. Add the onions and coriander, then ladle the soup into large bowls to serve.

Tags: Asian food, dairy-free, pork, prawns, wonton