So who doesn’t love Chinese food? Dumplings, won tons, fried rice, general tsos chicken… all of it. Recently I’ve tried making some of my favorite take out items and these dumplings/won tons were a winner! I used the same recipe to make each and then pan fried some and boiled the rest for soup. It’s easy to make but just a little time consuming with putting the dumplings together. In my opinion, it’s totally worth it! The nice part is you can use any type of protein and veggies to come up with a flavor palette you love.

If you’re Italian you’ve likely made cappalletti soup and if you’re Jewish you’ve made kreplachs…. it’s all similar.

Ingredients:

Inside the dumpling/wonton:

• 3/4 – 1 pound ground chicken
• 1 dash soy sauce
• 1-2 teaspoons fresh grated ginger
• 1-2 teaspoons sesame oil
• Finely chopped chives and/or scallions
• 1-2 celery stalks, diced
• Diced mushrooms (i used some crimini and shitake)
• 50 wonton wrappers
• Cornstarch to prevent sticking

If you are making dumplings you will need a hot chili oil

Broth (if you are making the soup)

• 8 cups chicken stock or broth (I bought organic broth from Whole Foods)
• 2-3 inch piece of ginger, peeled and sliced
• 2 large garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 bundle 4 or 5 scallions,
• Soy sauce or salt, to taste

Directions:

Combine your chicken, soy sauce, ginger, sesame oil, chives, scallions, celery and mushrooms in a bowl.

Place a few wonton wrappers on your counter. I found I could do 3-4 at a time. Place a dish towel or plastic wrap on the remaining ones so they stay damp. Also prepare a small bowl of water you can use to seal the wrappers.

I used round wonton wrappers but you can also use square ones–whatever you can find. Put a little more than a teaspoon of the mixture on the wrapper. Dip your index finger in the bowl of water and slide around the edges. Fold the wrapper in half and press the air out from the middle and press down on the edges to seal.

If you are making dumplings, press the edges with a fork. If you’re making wontons, wrap the wonton and seal the edges together as pictured below. Then place them on a sheet with cornstarch to prevent them from sticking.

The broth is super simple: pour the stock in your pot, and add all the ingredients. Let simmer for 20 minutes and then remove the garlic, ginger and scallions. Reserve the diced scallions to finish your bowl of soup. You could also add some fresh spinach to finish as well.

To make the dumplings: add about a teaspoon or two of chili oil and a teaspoon of sesame oil to a medium heat pan. Saute your dumplings to brown on each side.

Then add a dash of water and cover to steam your dumplings for 60 seconds.