A Taste of Asia

Dear Bloggers,
      I never thought I would possess such a profound passion for Asian food, particularly Chinese. Yes, don't we all turn to a takeout box of greasy chicken lo mien on a lonely Friday night? I occasionally turn to Chinese food as it is near and dear to my heart. After going through a year of detesting Chinese, I came around to the dark side and returned my heart. I have always loved eating wanton soup with sliced green onion, spinach leaves, chili paste and some crispy fried wanton strips. The soup brings my heart to a euphoric phase of peace and pleasure. I decided to take a spin at making my own wantons and they were fairly easy. I began by combining 1 cup of ground turkey, with 2 tbsp of green onion, 2 tbsp of carrot, 2 tbsp of spinach, 2 tbsp of parsley, 5 garlic cloves, 1 tsp of fresh ginger, 1 tbsp soy sauce. I added all of the ingredients except the turkey to the food processor until well blended. The consistency should be a very fine chop. I combined all of the ingredients adding salt and pepper to taste and let it sit in the fridge for two hours before working with it. I picked up a package of wanton skins at the local Asian market and tried with both circular and square skins to come up with two different looks.

     When time for stuffing the wantons arrived, I beat 1 egg with 1 tsp of water in a bowl and placed 1 tsp of the filling or less, added a ring of egg wash around the filing then folded them. You can get creative with this step to achieve any desired look. The best idea is to fold the wanton in half then to pinch the bottom end of the stuffed portion and then twist the other two ends around to touch each other. After they are all prepared the simply need to be boiled or fried. I choose to make soup with them and generally they take 6-8 minutes to cook, or until they float for 2 minutes. Careful not to overcook them, or they become mushy. I like to top the soup with fresh spinach leaves, slightly cooked cabbage, fresh green onion, parsley, and chili paste. It is quite a delicious day time snack. Eat up kids and until next time, stay healthy and happy cooking!