It's finally chilly in Northern VA! We had our first dusting of snow last week. We were all crossing our fingers for more, but it was just enough to make getting to car precarious. The fact it took until January to get here makes me a little wary of the planet's health. Bundle up!
To help us cuddle in the sweatah weathah, we decided to make a feel good soup many people overlook: won ton. It's a Chinese-American takeout classic. It's essentially dumplings floating in delicious broth. My favorite part is knowing what goes into the pot! You can add more veggies if you want, but we stuck with bok choy, green onions, and peas.
The Chinese-American traditional version consists of ground pork with shrimp. We went to two grocery stores and neither carried ground pork! I didn't realize this was a hard product to find or maybe it's just the season. I substituted with a healthier alternative of ground turkey cooked in bacon grease mixed with the crumbled bacon. Don't go crazy on the bacon- a strip or two will do! Just enough to add some flavor. And don't forget the crispy won ton wrappers on top! You can buy these in the international section or make them yourself.
Now I must warn you... the recipe and ingredients are simple and easy to work with. Actually forming the won tons is time consuming. It's a bite sized portion of meat in each dumpling. This yields an army of delicious tasty dumplings that will be gobbled up in a pinch. Make sure you have back up or else you're going to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Make it a date night! Invite a friend over for dinner and movie! Tag team!
For the delectable recipe, check out Starry Night's post on allrecipes!
