Mama Baker

My husband’s wanting wontons

I love my husband; well, I guess that is obvious seeing as I did marry him.  He is a great guy and a terrific dad but when it comes to being a husband he is kind of clueless, which I think is hilarious.

I have so many funny stories about him.  The most recent happened about a month ago when our baby girl started teething.  During that time we were getting very little sleep.  I had to spend most of my nights downstairs with the baby in the swing.  I would get a hour of sleep every two hours if I was lucky.

So one night the baby was acting up I got out of bed and took her downstairs.  Like always my husband followed to try and help out.  Because he works ten hour days and needs his sleep more than me I told him to go to sleep.  He asked if he could do anything for me and I told him that it was quite cold downstairs and all I had was a thin sheet.  A thin sheet does not cut it during the winter in Whistler.  My husband then runs upstairs and I have a big smile on my face because I know he is going to bring down our big comforter for me.  Finally he comes downstairs with two housecoats and lies them over me.  I just had to laugh to myself and fall asleep with the warmth of the housecoats to keep me cozy. Later when I mentioned it to him he felt really bad. In his defence, his thought process was that the comforter is an entity of the bedroom so he never thought about taking it out of the bedroom–he has a philosophy degree so maybe his thoughts are just too philosophical for the likes of me.

He does stuff like that all the time.  I won’t even mention how he proposed.  But, I really love it.  It brings a smile to my face every time I think about how hard he tries to make me happy yet how unconventional his actions are.

That being said, when I asked him what he wanted for his Valentines/Chinese New Year dinner he said wontons. Though he knows wonton’s take a lot of work he doesn’t realize that someone has to do the work. I don’t mind though because I love him so much. The reason wonton’s take a lot of effort is because wrapping the wontons is a long job. The meat mixture itself is quite easy. These wontons are worth the trouble.

Wonton soup
Makes about 60 wontons

Ingredients:

Wontons:

• 1 lb ground pork
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 tbsp soya sauce
• 1 1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1/8 tsp white pepper
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 package of won ton wrappers

Broth:
1 tbsp vegetable oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp ginger, finely chopped
1/2 cup green onions
2 boxes (900 ml) of low-sodium chicken broth (you may want to add more broth depending on how you like your wonton to broth ratio)
2 cups bok choy, chopped

Method for wontons:
In a medium sized bowl mix together all the ingredients for the wontons: pork, egg, soya sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, white pepper, onion powder and garlic; set aside. Fill a small bowl with water; set aside. Remove the won tons from the package and cover with a damp towel.

Take a won ton wrapper from beneath the towel making sure that the other wrappers are always covered with a towel. This prevents the other wrappers from drying out.

Position the wonton wrapper so a corner faces you.

Spoon a little under a teaspoon on to the bottom quarter of the wrapper.

Dip your finger in the small bowl of water and wipe finger on the bottom corner of the wonton wrapper and fold it over the meat.

Roll up until a triangle is formed.

Dip finger in water again and wet the sides of the triangle making sure there are no air bubbles.

Cross each side of the triangles over another and hold to make sure a seal forms.

Place on a plate and repeat.

I usually like to make my wonton’s a week or sometimes a month before I make soup. I basically just make wonton’s whenever I have time.

So once I have finished my wontons I line a baking sheet with parchment paper and then lie the won tons flat. I then put the baking sheet in the freezer to flash freeze them.

After 30-60 minutes I place the wontons into a ziplock bag and then put the back in the freezer.

When I am ready to make wonton soup I simmer them in the broth from frozen for about 10-15 minutes.

Method for broth:

In a stock pot heat oil. Add ginger and garlic and cook for about 3 minutes. Stir constantly with a spoon to make sure garlic and ginger does not burn.

Add chicken broth and green onions and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and let simmer for 25-30 minutes.

Add bok choy and simmer for 3 minutes.

Then, gently put the wontons in and cook for about 5- 7 minutes while stirring very gently. When wontons are cooked they will float.

If using frozen wontons do not defrost. Place gently in broth and cook for about 10-15 minutes.