I’m nuts about wontons, so I thought I’d try my hand at making some from scratch. I found a trusty recipe in one of my cooking bibles, ‘The Complete Book of Modern Classics’ by Women’s Weekly. Surprisingly, the wontons were the easy part. Making chicken stock from scratch, on the other hand, took the good part of an eternity. For the sake of ease, you could always use ready-made stock, but I have to say the flavour of the homemade variety really was worth the effort. It’s a labour of love. 

Wontons

As for the wontons, they’re quite fiddly, but I really enjoyed the delicacy of making them and perfecting their lovely shapes. I even made extras and put them in the freezer for future use. I read in Good Living that you can just throw them straight into hot stock and they’ll cook within minutes.

Here’s the recipe:

• 4 litres (16 cups) water
• 2kg chicken bones
• 2 medium brown onions, chopped coarsely
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh lemon grass
• 4cm piece fresh ginger, chopped coarsely
• 2 fresh long red chillies, halved crossways
• 2 garlic cloves, quartered
• 1 tsp black peppercorns
• 300g chicken mince (free-range)
• 2 tsp finely chopped fresh coriander
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 2cm piece ginger, grated
• 1 fresh red Thai chilli, seeded, chopped finely
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 30 wonton wrappers
• 1 egg white
• 1 tbs lime juice
• 1 tbs mirin
• 1 cup watercress sprigs
• 3 green onions, sliced thinly
• 2 fresh long red chillies, seeded, sliced thinly
• 1/3 cup loosely packed fresh coriander leaves

1. Combine the water, chicken bones, brown onion, lemon grass, chopped ginger, halved chilli, quartered garlic and peppercorns in large saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 2.5 hours. Strain broth through muslin-lined sieve or colander into large bowl; discard solids. Allow broth to cool, cover; refridgerate until cold.

2. Combine chicken mince, chopped coriander, crushed garlic, grated ginger, chopped chilli and 1 tbs of the soy sauce in medium bowl. Place 1 rounded tsp of the chicken mixture in centre of each wrapper; brush around edges with eg white, gather edges around filling, pinch together to seal. Repeat process with remaining filling and wrappers.

3. Skim fat from surface of broth; return broth to large saucepan, bring to a boil. Cook wontons, kn two batches, about 4 mins or until cooked through. Using slotted spoon, transfer wontons from pan to individual serving bowls. Stir remaining soy sauce, juice and mirin into broth; return to the boil. Top wontons with watercress, green onion, sliced chilli and coriander leaves; ladle broth into bowls.