Wonton Soup

Photo: flickr user Harris Graber

Ingredients

1/2 pound ground pork

Wonton wrappers about 40

5 cups chicken stock

2 cups spinach leaves, torn coarsely

Salt or light soy sauce to taste

1 1/2 tablespoons light soy sauce

1/8 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon dry sherry or cooking wine

Black pepper, to taste

1 teaspoon ginger

1 teaspoon finely chopped scallions

1 tablespoon cornstarch, dissolved in 4 tbsp. of chicken sto

2 teaspoons sesame oil

Preparation

Combine the flour, salt and baking powder; then add the water little by little until mixture resembles a coarse meal soft but not too wet. Depending on the flour, you may have to use a little less or more water.

COMPLETING THE SOUP:

Bring stock to a simmer medium heat, and drop wonton into it. Add torn spinach, and when stew comes to a boil, turn heat to low and simmer for about 2 minutes. Season to taste with light sauce or salt.

Form it into a ball and a floured surface work and knead it about 5 minutes. Dusting with flour when necessary, until dough is smooth and no longer sticky. Cover with a damp cloth and let it rest for 30 minutes. Divide dough in half. Cover 1 piece with damp cloth and roll the other into a thin sheet on a floured surface so it's about 9 1/2 inches wide, 18 inches long and 1/16 inches thick.

Dust the surface of the dough generously with cornstarch. Trim the edges and cut the sheet crosswise into 6 3 inch strips. Stack the strips and cut crosswise 3 times to make 3 inch squares. Repeat with the other piece of dough. You'll get 36 to 40 sq. wrappers.

Don't waste the scraps cut them into small pieces and deep fry, them until lightly brown. They're good sprinkled over a creamy soup or just as is a small munch sprinkled with a little salt.

Well dusted with cornstarch, stacked and tightly wrapped in aluminum foil. Wonton wrappers keep in refrigerator for about 1 week; frozen they keep for months. Defrost thoroughly before using.

Bring 6 cups of water to a boil in a large pot. Turn heat to medium high, drop in the wontons, and stir gently. When water boils again. Add 1 1/2 cups of cold water, when it comes to a boil again add another 1 1/2 cups of cold water.

When water comes to a boil third time, let it boil for about 2 minutes. The wontons are cooked they float to the top.

Repeatedly adding cold water serves 2 purposes; it gives wontons enough time to cool well as rinsing them, since wontons should not be rinsed after cooking as noodles.

After boiling, the wontons be covered and stored 2 to 3 in the refrigerator. Submerge them in cold water to separate them before adding them soup.