Impressive Food, Easy Recipe

Hello All!  I hope you had a wonderful weekend and are looking forward to Pumpkin Wednesday as much as I am!  Today I wanted to share a new recipe from a cookbook I found while cleaning out the kitchen two weekends ago.

If you don't know this about me, I spent a semester in college studying abroad in Japan.  I lived with an amazing host family and learned a lot of Japanese very quickly.

Hanging out at a Japanese Castle in Kimonos

I also was totally obsessed with Japanese food (we ate out a lot and my host mom was a great cook)

The host family ordered sushi in one night

and bought an Asian cookbook titled East and Southeast: great recipes from China, Japan and southeast Asia, as soon as I got back.  Unfortunately I didn't do a lot of cooking in college, and the book went to the bottom of a pile of stuff as I moved to law school and then to my real life apartment...

Quite the detour to tell you about a great recipe called "Chopstick Chicken Wontons."  I promise you can make these wontons without taking too long and they are a satisfying and pretty healthy meal.

Here's what you will need to cook a full meal of wontons for two people:

1 1/2 quarts chicken stock *Quick note, buy no sodium added because it allows you to control the level of salt in the recipe.*
4 scallions
1 package wonton wrappers *These can be found in the produce/tofu/herb/bean sprouts area of your grocery store.  I bought the Nasoya brand.*
6 ounces uncooked ground chiekn brast
1 inch fresh ginger peeled and grated
1 fresh red chili, seeded and chopped
1/2 egg beaten
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt


Add the chicken stock to a large and wide pan.  Cut the scallions into long strips and add to the chicken stock.  Bring the stock to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cover with a lid.

I would recommend using a wider pan than this

Make the wonton filling by adding the chicken, egg, chili, ginger, sesame oil, and salt and pepper.  Mix the ingredients well, but don't mix up the chicken too vigorously.

Remove the wonton wrappers from the packaging and place on a clean dry surface.  Fill a small bowl of water to dip your fingers into to use to seal the edges of the wonton wrapper.

Wet the edges of the wonton wrapper.  Be careful not to use too much water or everything starts sticking.  Add one teaspoon of the filling to the middle of the wonton wrapper.  

Fold the wonton on the diagonal into a triangle.

Then fold up the sides making a small purse shape out of the wonton.  Set aside, and repeat until all the filling is gone.

All of these excellent wonton folding photos courtesy of Tim

Turn up the heat on the chicken stock so it returns to a rolling boil.  Add the wontons you have just folded all at once and cook for approximately 4 minutes, and when they rise to the surface, remove with a slotted spoon.

The cookbook recommends adding toasted sesame seeds which is a great suggestion for some textural contrast.  You can dip the wontons in soy, sweet chili sauce or whatever you have in your refrigerator.

Finished product! Delicious!

This recipe is pretty easy albeit a bit time consuming, but produces a nice looking dish.  What recipe do you stand by when you want to impress your guests/family/friends?

Looking forward to Pumpkin Wednesday!