Ingredients

Check off ingredients as you go

Serves 6

For the chicken broth

• 2 chicken thighs (or other pieces)
• 2L (8 cups) water
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1cm (½ inch) piece fresh ginger (6g)
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sugar (optional if using Mirin)
• 2 tablespoons rice wine (or Mirin)
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• To garnish the broth
• 2 small bok choy (optional but delicious)
• 2 green onion stems, sliced
• 1 handful fresh mushrooms, sliced (optional)
• Salt, pepper

For the wontons

• About 30 wonton wrappers (see end of recipe to make your own)
• 300g (10 oz) chicken breast
• 2cm (1 inch) piece fresh ginger, minced
• 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice wine (or Mirin)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 2 scallions (or Chinese chives)
• 1 level tablespoon cornstarch

If you change the number of serving, consider adjusting cooking times!

These Chinese dumplings (wontons) are cooked in a clear broth full of flavor thanks to ginger, sesame oil and garlic.

Preparing the chicken broth

1. In a pot, place the chicken skin side down to sear without oil so it browns slightly in the fat from the skin. Turn on all sides until seared.
2. Pour in 2L (8 cups) water and bring to a boil, then add the peeled garlic, ginger, soy sauce, rice wine (or Mirin), sesame oil and sugar (if using). Cover and continue cooking over medium heat for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, prepare the wonton dumplings.

Preparing the wontons

For the filling

3. Process the chicken, ginger, and white part of the scallion (the green will be great in the broth), then add the liquids (soy sauce etc.) and cornstarch. You’ll get a paste that already smells wonderfully of Chinese cooking!

Shaping the wontons

On your clean work surface, lay out the wonton wrappers.

Keep a small bowl of water handy to moisten the edges of the dumplings to seal them.

Place 1 small teaspoon of chicken filling in the center of each wonton (no more or you’ll have trouble sealing them).

Moisten the edges of the wonton with a little water from the bowl, then fold into a triangle with the point up and pinch the sides lightly (see photo). Set aside and proceed the same way until all the filling is used.

Cooking the wontons

Remove the chicken, ginger and garlic, then bring to a boil. Cook the dumplings for 5 minutes. Set them aside in the serving dish, then clean and cut the bok choy into pieces (rinse well to remove its slight bitterness), add the sliced mushrooms.

Pour everything into the serving tureen.

Variations

• You can use a bouillon cube instead of chicken, but the flavor will be less natural and saltier.

• For a vegetarian and even vegan version, you can make this flavored broth, add the bok choy, mushrooms and Chinese noodles.

• You can change the filling according to your taste by replacing the chicken with beef or shrimp.

• If you want to present them two ways or have leftover filling, you can cook part and fry the rest, as for fried wontons.

• You can remove the chicken pieces from the bone and serve them in the broth or use them in another recipe like chicken club sandwiches.

To make homemade wonton wrappers

If you can’t find wonton wrappers, here’s the recipe to make them yourself - it’s very easy and you can even make gyozas or steamed dumplings with this dough.

Ingredients for about 25 wontons:

• 250g (2 cups) flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 140ml (½ cup plus 1 tablespoon) water
• 1 egg (optional)

Mix well until you get a smooth dough, let rest 5-10 minutes. Put cornstarch on your work surface, roll out the dough thinly then cut into 8-10cm (3-4 inch) squares. You can use them immediately or freeze them by separating each wonton wrapper with parchment paper.