Pork Mince & Prawn Won Tons or Chinese Tortellini

  

On board the Thai airline, they call Tortellini “Italian Won Tons” so should I say it’s fair enough to call my won tons Chinese tortellini. They might even have the same origin dated back to Marco Polo’s time similar to noodles and spaghetti.

I like my won tons in clear soup/broth. You can have this soup as a starter to a Chinese meal or as a meal on its own. This recipe will be enough for 4 as a starter.

150 grams Pork Mince (for both won tons and broth)

5 prawns, headed and shelled, each prawn chopped into 4 pieces

1 litre of chicken stock

1 bunch of coriander

2 cloves of Garlic

8 pepper corns

1 tablespoon oyster sauce

2 table spoon soy sauce

1 bunch of bok choy, chopped

20 won ton wrappers

1 egg light beaten

1 spring onion, chopped for garnish

½ teaspoon garlic flakes for garnish

Salt and pepper

A little bit of canola oil

Chop the coriander root and stems, save a tablespoon of leaves for garnish. Blitz pepper corns, coriander root and stems, garlic and a pinch of salt into a paste or you can use pestle and mortar like I did. Mix pork mince with coriander paste, sauces and half the egg. 

Drop half a teaspoon of pork mince in the centre of the won ton wrapper with a piece of prawn. Brush the edge with remaining egg and wrap into triangle shape parcel – try to squeeze the air out as much as possible. If you are in the mood you can wrap them like tortellini. There should be a bit of pork mixture left after 20 won tons – roll it into small balls and add to the boiling chicken stock. Keep it simmering – this will be our broth/soup for won tons. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Place about 2 litres of water in the saucepan and bring to the boil. Cook won tons in this boiling water (never in your broth as it will turn cloudy and not very nice). When the won tons are cooked they will come up to the surface. Take them out with a slotted spoon. Separate and drizzle them with a bit of oil so they do not stick together.

Bring the broth to the boil, add bok choy. It will take only 2-3 minutes to cook then add won tons. Divide the soup into 4 bowls, garnish with spring onion, coriander leave and garlic flakes. Enjoy!