I think the ultimate Chinese comfort food is handmade wonton in soup. Warm, soothing, gingery broth…..delicate, floating “clouds.” In Cantonese, wonton is pronounced wun tun 雲吞, which means “swallowing clouds.” The wonton wrapper is so delicate and thin. the wonton appear to be floating in the soup.
When I was in college, my girlfriends and I would get together and make hundreds of these and freeze them. It was cheap, easy to make and we had quite a bit of fun as we turned it into a “dumpling party.” It’s the best quick meal, as wonton can be cooked directly from the freezer into simmering broth.
There’s all sorts of ingredients that you can use to fill wonton. Shrimp, ground beef, ground pork, cabbage, spinach, bamboo shoots, scallops, mushrooms….really, anything that you want. When snow crab or king crab legs are on sale, I’ll make crab and napa cabbage wonton.
I normally eat wonton with a small dipping bowl of red vinegar and slivers of fresh ginger. That’s the Cantonese way! Add in some noodles to make wonton noodle soup and I’m in heaven.
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Pork and Spinach Wonton Recipe Video
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Pork and Spinach Wonton Recipe
Ingredients
- 10 ounces package frozen spinach, defrosted
- 1/4 cabbage, grated on large holes of box grater
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 pound ground pork
- 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
- 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Chinese rice wine (or dry sherry)
- 2 teaspoons roasted sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 16 ounces package of wonton wrappers (about 50 wrappers), defrosted (see note)
For the slurry:
- 1/4 cup cool water + 1 tablespoon cornstarch
For the Ginger Broth:
- 2 quarts vegetable or chicken broth
- 2 thumb-sized pieces of ginger, sliced
- sprigs of cilantro, optional
Instructions
- Squeeze as much water out of the spinach and discard the water (or water your plants!). Place the spinach and cabbage in a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and mix well. Let sit for 10 minutes. In large handfuls (or a cheesecloth), squeeze the water out of the cabbage/spinach and discard the water.
- Add in the ground pork, ginger, garlic, soy sauce, wine, sesame oil and cornstarch. Mix well.
- OPTIONAL: Heat up a small frying pan over medium heat, add in a touch of cooking oil. Cook a spoonful of the dumpling filling and taste. Adjust seasonings to the dumpling filling if you wish.
- In a small bowl, mix together the water and cornstarch for the slurry.
- Take one wonton wrapper, place 1 scant teaspoon of the dumpling mixture in the middle. Paint the outer edge of the wonton wrapper with the slurry. Fold wrapper over like in a triangle shape and seal tightly all around. Make sure there are no air pockets or holes in the wonton. Fold the two triangle points together and seal to make the wonton shape. Place folded wonton on a clean, dry plate and cover with plastic wrap or barely damp towel to avoid drying out.
- When wonton are all folded, you can store or freeze.
- For the broth: Set aside 2 cups of the broth. Bring the remaining broth and ginger to a simmer in a large stock pot and turn the heat to medium-high. Add in a batch of wonton. When the broth returns to a simmer again, pour in 1 cup of the reserved broth. Again, let the broth return to a simmer and then pour in the last 1 cup of reserved broth. Once the broth comes back to a simmer, the wonton should be done. Discard the ginger slices. Serve wonton and broth with few cilantro leaves if desired!
TO STORE:
- If you want to freeze the wonton, place all the UNCOOKED wonton flat on a plate. Do not crowd. Cover with plastic wrap and freeze. Once the wonton are frozen, you can gather them up and store in freezer bag. This ensures that the wonton freeze individually (otherwise if the wonton froze and stuck together, it would be nearly impossible to cook.
- When ready to cook wonton, they can go from freezer to simmering broth. Follow exact same cooking instructions. Since the wonton is frozen, it will take longer time for the broth to return to a simmer -- so it's self timing!
Did you try this recipe? Please leave a star rating in the recipe card below and leave a review in the comment section! I always appreciate your feedback and I know other readers do, too!
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I’ve been making these for a while & they’re amazing. I am incredibly inept at cooking and the recipe still always turn out perfectly, thank you so much!
Thank you so much Anna! jaden
These were so easy to make, and taste really good! I didn’t have spinach, so I used grated carrot instead, which worked well.
I did something dumb, though: I placed the wontons to freeze on a glass baking dish, and now they are all frozen to the bottom of it! I don’t know how to get them unstuck without ruining them or breaking the dish if I use hot water. Do you have any suggestions?
I made these today and they were fabulous! My son didn’t believe that I hadn’t gone to a restaurant for them. Thank you for the recipe, Jaden. Your video showing how to fold the wontons was a great help!
i made your pork and spinach wonton last night and it seriously was amazing!!!
Hi! Great recipe! I’m having a little hotpot gathering tomorrow and will be making these dumplings! Just wondering, can I use fresh spinach instead of frozen spinach? Should I chop the spinach up? Thanks a lot for your help!
Really great recipe and it works very nicely. The photographs you used to accompany this were excellent and make the food look very tempting.
Incredible recipe (and video)! This is one of my very favorite foods – now I can try it at home! 🙂 Thanks!
AMAZING. Brilliant video. Really appreciate how you repeated the wonton folding several times including once from perspective of folder. Thank you!
This look delicious! Is it possible to use fresh, cooked spinach instead of frozen? Thanks!
Jaden I made these for dinner tonight with homemade stock and WOW!!! I never thought I could make my own wontons but these turned out fantastic and now I have a freezer full of them for the next time I want a delicious, healthy and easy dinner. THANK YOU!!!
ps-the video was an enormous help with making the wontons and I got so excited when mine took on the right shape.
Oh my heavens. We made these last night with homemade stock. Unbelievable. Great recipe.
We love wonton soup! Knowing that I can make a ton of these and store in the freezer for soup anytime is very appealing to me!
We have an Asian market that sells both round and square wonton wrappers… which would you suggest would work best for making these?
Square wrappers are best! The round ones are normally for potstickers.
Looks delicioso, will try very very sooooon.
My mom used to add finely chopped water chestnuts to the meat. We usually make it as a light meal during the holidays to tie us over before the big Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner. Will try your version and love your idea about freezing them.
Spinach with the pork inside the wonton? I never thought of this before, but now it makes sense. This must be delicious. I must try it soon. Thanks for sharing, Jaden. Happy 2013 !
This is great! Thanks for the great demonstration and recipe.
I can really imagine this turning in a social event since folding the wontons is fun, but quite time consuming.
I’d love to see some more recipes for the fillings. I have some ideas for the fish filling, but I only have limited experience in the Asian kitchen so it would be awesome to hear some suggestions from a guru like you 😉
Greetings from the Netherlands!
Thanks for the great tips on making and cooking won tons. I can’t wait to make a big bowl of won ton soup. Of course, I like to fry the won tons, too.
Nothing to say about this one, except..YES! Man, that looks good. 🙂
Yum! It’s so cold here in Maryland today, and what I wouldn’t give for a giant bowl of this soup for lunch right now!
This has always been one of my favorite soups. Ever since childhood I have loved it. It’s just so fun to poke around for the wontons and slurp up all the soul satisfying broth, I guess that just never gets old. I used to live in China town in SF and one restaurant I frequented would slice BBQ pork over the top too – total heaven!
Thank you for all your delicious recipes and your generosity with giveaways throughout the year. Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year to you and yours.
Oh man, that looks amazing. Definitely have to give this a go.
Briella, Denver IT Consulting
I love wontons but have never made them, but really want to try your receipe with pork and spinach
thanks for sharing
Mmmm I don’t know why I don’t make dumplings…they’re so easy and delicious. Doing it!!
Jaden- The wontons look amazing. Is there a link to the recipe for the broth? I would love to make the soup too.
Thanks!
Diane
I made the dumplings last night, Jaden! They were delicious & a huge hit. Thank you!
Thank u for the video. Its very helpful
5. When dumplings are all folded, heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat. I was wondering what this step is for since you don’t fry the wontons.
G Your video is well done, except I can’t stand the music. Its too obnoxious and mainly too loud.
Ohhhhhh my Lord. The way those little babies just float in that broth? Stop it.
Actually don’t.
Wonton soup is my absolute favorite. I’m a little intimidated by making the wontons, but your video might convince me to give it a try!
Looks like a great recipe, and the video – AMAZING! You did a really great job at showing enough without being too long! I feel like I could actually do this!
Excellent post, J! You make it seem so easy with all of your tips in the video. I want to make my own now.
Thank you for posting this recipe. I used to make all sorts of dumplings with my grandma growing up, but never got her recipe for the fillings. (she would use the bishop’s hat fold you demonstrated in the video)
I think this weekend will be a good time to introduce my daughter to homemade dumplings (and she loves to help me prepare food)
This looks amazing! Great video!! Thank you for your tips. I had no idea that wontons can go straight to the pot from the freezer.
I think I just drooled myself. Your wonton soup looks AMAZING! Will definitely be making it. PS My mom would have those dumpling parties too, every New Year’s Day. So fun!
Looks great, Jaden! And I love your Mom’s cooking method for wontons. I usually just eyeballed it but this method is way better!
I never imagined that I could make my own wontons. I really thought that I would never be able to do it, but these sound easy! I’ll definitely be trying them soon, especially since I am in love with wonton soup!
and I am in love with your Chocolate Chip Mint Cookies!