Wonton Soup-The New Comfort Food

Many years ago, I had wonton soup from Kinhdho in Uptown during a time of much duress and heartbreak in my life. To this day, nothing quite says, "Everything's gonna be alright" like wonton soup. This delicate soup has all the comforts of a full meal deal and so little complexity that it makes you wonder why this soup isn't a quick and dirty favorite in most American households. My mission is simple.

Their secret is the broth and much to my delight, Ketsana taught me a secret about broth making which makes recreating this Asian standard a breeze and her version is even better than theirs. Now, I no longer yearn for a trip into Uptown or out to Ketsana's to have what my soul craves. The best opportunities for this dish come from having a simple chicken broth on hand. As I've said before, canned or powder will always do in a pinch, but test yourself with how easy it is to make your own and I doubt you'll ever go back. In fact, you'll forever be looking for excuses to make this dish out of leftovers such as roasted chicken. Recovering the pan juices from dishes like this, freezing them if needbe for later use, will become a guilty pleasure. Little do you know just what gourmet indulgences await you with a little forward thinking or as is the case for me, an intense need to stretch the bounty and make the most delicious use out of everything in my crazy kitchen stadium.

For the purists, I begin with the whole shebang. From broth to tablecloth. In the future, I will begin a section about the best use for leftovers and some suggestions for how we make the most of our meals. I'll also be providing the Quick and Dirty Diaries of ways we've substituted, American-ized or shrink-wrapped our more time consuming favorites. Let's begin.

Chicken Broth:
Whole chicken, split breasts or thighs
Enough water to cover
2-3 bay leaves
1 stalk of celery
1 carrot, split in half
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper

1. Bring to a boil. Nothing could be easier. Put all ingredients into a stock pot large enough to fit your chicken and enough cold water to entirely cover the chicken. It's important to start with all ingredients cold, including the water, but I don't know the exact reason why. I do believe it has something to do with the clarity of the broth, though. It's how I was taught and I've no reason to stray. Put the pot on the stove and bring to a boil over high heat. The minute it starts to come to a rolling boil, turn off the heat and cover.
2. Cool and strain. Let cool entirely and any fat that has rendered will be easy to skim off the top. What's left is a beautiful, clear broth and tender chicken that hasn't had its soul sucked out of it. Strain out all of the ingredients and by all means, save the chicken for another dish or better yet, add it to your soup if you wish. Follow the steps below to complete the soup and freeze any unused broth for later use.

Soup:
Broth from above
salt, to taste
frozen stuffed wontons (see The Birth of a Wonton)
fresh snow peas, julienned or whole
carrots, julienned

Garnish:
green onions, julienned
fresh bean sprouts
caramelized onions, (see Thai Meatballs for recipe)

1. Reheat broth. Because the veggies are julienned, they will "cook" on contact with the heated broth. If your broth is frozen, no problem, just reheat on a medium-high heat until it has begun to boil. Reduce the heat so it doesn't boil over if you need to.
2. Add wontons. Drop in frozen wontons one by one being careful not to overload the pot which will cause the boil to drop, taking longer for the wontons to cook. They will float to the surface when cooked and the wontons will turn a bit transparent. When they float, they are indeed done. When in doubt, test one yourself.
3. Garnish and serve. To serve, ladle broth and wontons into a bowl over veggies and garnish or serve family style.

Note: Serving size is a subjective topic I wish to avoid because I, for one, could eat an entire pot of this all by myself. Having said that, a good rule of thumb is about 1 c. of broth/4 wontons for a starter soup portion or double that for an entree size. Around my house, we continue adding wontons and veggies until the very last drop has been licked clean.

There are two different ways to serve this soup; family style, which allows you to serve the broth and wontons at the table in a serving dish with the veggies and garnishes served separately thereby allowing each guest to customize their own soup and choose their own ingredients. An alternate way is to serve it already bowled-up. Put the carrots and snow peas into the bowl, ladle the soup broth and wontons over top and garnish with the green onions, caramelized onions and sprouts. I highly recommend experimenting with veggies you love or happen to have handy. No sprouts? Don't use them. Have celery but no carrots? Fine by me. If you are a celery lover, knock yourself out. Don't have any wontons handy? Well, guess what, there's a name for that, too, and it's called "Put the Chicken Back In" a.k.a "Chicken Soup" or "Wonton Soup for the Broke-Asses". Yep, been there, done that, too.