Desperate Measures For Desperate Times

Day 83: "Desperate times call for desperate measures." Good Chinese food is just too far away for me to make another special trip out, but I can do the next best thing: make wonton soup at home. I make good wontons.

First of all, let me assure you that this is easier than it looks. It's more time consuming than most of the meals I prepare for myself, but I make a big batch and freeze them. My recipe makes roughly 50 wontons, and 10 in soup provides me with a Crow-sized meal. Second, there are many different ways to fold a wonton. I figure nobody's going to see them but me, so I use the easiest method: put a gob of filling in the middle, bring the four corners together in a bunch and pinch just below the points. They're not elegant, but then, neither am I.

I prefer to make a cooked filling. It holds together better for wrapping. My favourite utilizes ground pork or mild sausage. You will need

3/4 pound ground pork, fried and drained
3 or 4 leaves of nappa cabbage
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp. ground ginger (or alternately, 4-5 chunks of candied ginger)
1 Tbsp. sugar (omit if using candied ginger)
1 Tbsp. soy sauce

Slice the green leafy portion away from the white center rib of the nappa and reserve the greens for addition to the soup later. Dice the white portion finely, and if you're using candied ginger, dice it at the same time. Mix the diced nappa together with the sausage and remaining ingredients. Divide into 50 balls roughly 1 tsp. in size.

Lay out half a dozen wonton skins. Dampen the outer edges. Place a ball of filling in the center. Pull up the four corners and pinch together just below the tips. Set aside until all the filling has been used. Place the wontons in a steamer (mine holds 10 at a time), and steam for 3 minutes. The wonton skins will take on a translucent appearance. Remove them from the steamer and immediately transfer them to a freezer container. Put the lid on the container and put it in the freezer, or in the fridge if you're planning to make the soup in the next two days. Repeat for the remaining wontons. The frozen wontons should be thawed in the fridge before adding to the soup.

For the soup, use canned or homemade chicken broth. Slice the nappa greens into narrow strips and add to the soup along with some little green onions. Bring it to a boil, add the wontons and cook for three minutes.

There are a lot of ways you can vary this recipe. Use chicken instead of pork, use bok choi instead of nappa, throw in some five-spice, add more vegs to the filling...get creative! And enjoy your wonton soup!