WONTON SOUP THE COTTAGE-WAY QUICK AND EASY!!

Instead of Cottage-style wonton soup, I should call this Dutch-style wonton soup because my inpiration for this recipe was a Dutch soup.  Yummy, yummy, yummy.

I came up with this recipe after making a Dutch vegetable soup which had tiny meatballs in it.  I have made wontons once from scratch.  Christy lived in Renton, Washington when she, her two neighbors and I spent the afternoon making filled wontons.  Sealing the wonton wrapper always looks so easy when you see a chef doing it on TV, but in reality ours were very stubborn about sealing no matter how we tried doing it.  We had so much fun and ate ourselves silly with fried wontons and wonton soup, but I have never tried to make them again.
  
I love the taste of the pork or pork and shrimp filling in wontons, but when I order the soup in restaurants the filling is tiny inside a large wonton wrapper.  I decided I would make little meatballs of the pork filling.  Then using chicken broth, I would cook the wonton wrappers, add some vegetables, the meatballs and season to taste.  This is a WONDERFUL SOUP.  It is wonderful at any time of the day or any season.  The cottage-way is quick and easy!!




WONTON SOUP THE COTTAGE-WAY  QUICK AND EASY!!
I like some vegetables in my soup.  I use a packaged mix of oriental vegetables; however, just some pea pods or chopped cabbage would be good too.


Won Ton wrappers, or wide noodles
Mixed oriental vegetables or vegetables of your choice
Soy Sauce
Green onions, chopped, for garnish
Pork filling meatballs
Salt and pepper

Ingredients:  Chicken broth, wonton wraps, green onions, pork filling meatballs, soy sauce, salt and pepper.

PORK FILLING MEATBALLS
I make these meatballs and freeze them in a single layer in a freezer bag so I can have a hot cup of soup anytime I want it. 


1 lb. ground pork, not pork sausage
3 T soy sauce
2 T dry sherry, see note
1/2 t sugar
4 green onions, finely chopped
1 T cornstarch
Dash of  oriental sesame oil
1 (8oz) can water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
1/2 t black pepper
1/2 t salt
1 egg white, beaten until foamy


In a mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients.  Mixture can be chilled for easier handling.  Make small meatballs or scoop with a small scoop.  Place on a cookie sheet with sides and lined with parchment.  Bake in preheated 300 degree F. oven for 25 minutes for small meatballs.  Adjust time for larger meatballs.  NOTE:  Rice wine vinegar can be substituted for the sherry.

Ingredients: Ground pork, dry sherry, soy sauce, oriental sesame oil, water chestnuts, green onions, sugar, egg white, salt and pepper.

Put ground pork in a bowl.

Separate egg.

Beat egg white until foamy and set aside.

Drain water chestnuts.

Clean onions.

Finely slice onions.

Finely chop sliced onions.

Add onions to ground pork.

Finely chop water chestnuts.

Add to ground pork.  Add egg white to ground pork.

Add rest of ingredients to ground pork.

Mix well together.

On a cookie sheet with sides, put a sheet of parchment paper.

Take a small scoop of pork filling mix and fry it in a pan so you can eat it to check to see if seasoning is correct.  Adjust seasoning if necessary.

Scoop small balls of meat and put them on parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake in a preheated 300 degree F. oven for 25 minutes or until there is no pink in the middle.  Time will depend on what size you make the meatballs.

Cool and put them in a single layer to freezer individually or use immediately.

Finished meatballs.  Delicious.  Tasty. 

TO ASSEMBLE THE SOUP
In a large pan, put chicken stock and heat over medium heat.  When hot, add wonton skins and cook for 3 to 5 minutes.  Add a handful of vegetables and pork filling meatballs.  Cook until vegetables are tender crunchy and meatballs are hot.  Season to taste with soy sauce, salt and pepper.

I like to cut the wrappers on the diagonal.

I cut them into four pieces.  You can cut them any way you wish.  Wide noodles work well too.

Clean and slice green onions for garnish.

Heat chicken broth in a pan.

These are the vegetables that I buy.

When broth is hot, add some wonton wrappers.  Amount depends on how much soup you are making.  Cook for 3 to 5 minutes.

Add a big handful of vegetables to broth with wontons.

Add some pork filling meatballs.  Cook until vegetables are tender crunchy and meatballs are heated. 

Season to taste with soy sauce, salt and pepper.

Put soup in bowls.

Garnish with chopped green onions.  The onions add color and a lovely extra flavor to the soup.

Enjoy, enjoy, enjoy!!!