This wonton soup is light, and, though a little time-consuming to make all 48-50 wontons in one sitting (it took me about 45 minutes while watching TV), you can freeze layers of uncooked wontons separated by plastic wrap to use later (that’s what I did, since it’s just the two of us and we can’t commit to eating 48 wontons in a few meals!).  But don’t worry – the result is truly worth it.  Wonton soup usually can be too salty or be skimpy on the filling.  Here, I packed each wonton with fresh veggies, lean pork, and shrimp.  If you want, you can also pan-fry the wontons, but here, I decided to make a light broth for our Sunday brunch.

Sunday Brunch Wonton Soup

makes about 48-50 wontons

2  lean pork loins (about 4 oz each), boneless and fat cut out

1/2 cup shrimp, shelled and deveined

1 clove garlic

2 tsp sugar

2 tsp low-sodium soy sauce

1 tsp mirin (Japanese rice wine)

1 tsp sesame oil

2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper

3 cups mixture of grated cabbage and carrots

1/2 cup chives/green onions, sliced

1 pkg wonton wrappers (50 wrappers)

2 egg whites

8-10 cups chicken broth

2-inch piece of ginger, peeled

1 Tbsp fish sauce

1 tsp low-sodium soy sauce

1 tsp sugar

1/4 tsp sesame oil

1/2 cup soybeans (edamame, shelled)

1/2 cup green onions, sliced, to garnish

Fried shallots, optional, to garnish

Preparation:

1.  In a food processor, combine the pork loins, shrimp, garlic, sugar, soy sauce, mirin, sesame oil, and black pepper.  Pulse until all the ingredients are combined and the meat is finely chopped.

2.  In a medium bowl, combine the pork and shrimp mixture with the cabbage, carrots, and green onions.  Mix throughly with a fork until combined.

3.  In a small bowl, mix together the egg whites.

4.  On your working area, place your wonton wrapper in front of you, pointed side down (diamond-shape).  Place about 1 1/2 tsp of filling in the middle of the wonton wrapper.  Brush egg white on the edges of the wrapper, and simply fold the bottom corner of the wrapper and press to the top corner, so that you form a triangle.  Press all the edges together so there are no openings; make sure you minimize air pockets.  Repeat with the remaining wonton wrappers.  Your completed wontons should look like this:

5.  To make the broth, heat the chicken broth, ginger, fish sauce, soy sauce, sugar, and sesame oil over medium-high heat in a 6-qt soup pot.  Bring the broth to a boil, then turn the heat down to low, until the broth is barely simmering.  Add the wontons (about 12-16 each batch should feed about 4 people) and soybeans to the broth and heat for about 6-7 minutes (if you take out a wonton and split it, the mixture should be opaque and cooked through).  Ladle out the wontons and broth into a bowl, top with freshly cracked black pepper, green onion, and fried shallots to serve.

Servings: Depends! This recipe, made without the soup broth, can yield about 16 servings (3 wontons each) if pan-fried and served as an appetizer.  Otherwise, you can serve about 4 people by simmering 12-16 wontons in the broth, allowing about 2 cups of broth each person.