Wilted watercress and chicken wonton soup recipe
This chicken wonton soup recipe is the perfect way to turn a forgotten bag of watercress languishing at the back of the fridge into a first-rate supper. Homemade wonton skins are simple to make, but take a little time. This recipe makes enough to stash half in your freezer for another day – or use shop-bought if you can find them.
This recipe is from Too Good To Waste by Victoria Glass, published by Watkins Media.
Ingredients
For the wonton skins (makes 72)- 250 g plain/allpurpose flour
- 0.5 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 egg
- 200 g cornflour/cornstarch, for dusting
- 1 tbsp sunflower oil
- 1 small onion, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, scrubbed and chopped
- 50 g chestnut/cremini mushrooms, finely chopped
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 thumb of root ginger, peeled and finely grated
- 1 pinch ground black pepper
- 3 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 100 g watercress, finely chopped
- 1.5 l chicken stock
- 3 spring onions/scallions, finely sliced
- 1 thumb of root ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 100 g watercress, roughly chopped
Details
- Cuisine: Chinese
- Recipe Type: Soup
- Difficulty: Medium
- Preparation Time: 90 mins
- Cooking Time: 30 mins
- Serves: 5
Step-by-step
To make the wonton skins:
- Sift the flour and salt into a bowl and make a well in the middle. Beat the egg with about 5 tablespoons water, then slowly pour it into the well.
- Roughly mix with a fork until most of the egg has been absorbed, then knead to a soft and pliable dough, adding a little more water if needed. Tip out of the bowl and knead for about 5 minutes until elastic.
- Put the dough in a large bowl, cover with a damp cloth and leave to rest for 30 minutes.
- Cut the dough into 8 equal pieces. Roll out each piece on a lightly floured surface until it is as thin as filo/phyllo pastry and 24cm/9½in square. Cut each sheet into 8cm/3¼in squares and dust with plenty of cornflour/cornstarch before stacking them. This will make 72 wonton skins.
- Stack half with more cornflour/cornstarch (or they’ll stick together in a sad little lump), put in an airtight box and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight when you need them. Continue with the remaining skins.
To make the filling:
- Heat the oil for the filling and fry the onion, carrot, mushrooms and garlic for 10 minutes until soft. Stir in the ginger, pepper, soy sauce and sesame oil. Take the pan off the heat and stir in the watercress until wilted. Transfer to a bowl and leave to cool.
- One at a time, place 1 teaspoon of filling on a wonton skin and brush the edges with water. Fold the skin in half, seal, then fold in the sides.
To make the soup:
- Bring all the soup ingredients, except the watercress, to a simmer in a saucepan. Cook for 10 minutes. Add the watercress and wontons and boil for 4 minutes before serving.
Recipe and photography © Watkins Media Limited 2017.
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