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Easy and Festive Soup and Salad for Chinese New Year
Gung Hay Fat Choy! With the Chinese New Year officially here, it is time to break out the good plates and a beautiful bottle of Chardonnay. Wontons are a total family favorite in our house, and honestly, they are so easy to make that there is no reason to be intimidated. I love the process of folding these little delightful dumplings. They just seem to melt in your mouth once they hit the hot broth. They are warm, comforting, and exactly what you want when you are looking for something light but packed with flavor.
Of course, what is a great soup without a salad on the side? To keep things festive, I can not resist serving the greens in individual take out boxes. It might be a little bit cliché, but it is delicious nonetheless and always makes people smile. This salad is filled with fresh and colorful ingredients, but let's be real. It is all about the dressing. That savory and slightly sweet finish is the perfect pairing for the chicken and the lettuce.
Mastering the Wonton Fold
You do not need to be an expert to get these right. Just focus on a few key movements and you will be a pro by the time you hit the bottom of the wrapper stack.
- Prepare Your Station: Set up a clean workspace with your bowl of pork filling, your stack of wrappers, and a small dish of water. The water acts as your "glue" to keep the edges sealed tight.
- The Perfect Portion: Place a single wrapper on your palm or a flat surface. Spoon about one teaspoon of the ginger and pork mixture right into the center. It is tempting to overstuff them, but keeping them small ensures they do not burst during the simmer.
- Seal the Edges: Dip your finger in the water and run it along the edges of the wrapper. Fold the skin over the filling to create a triangle or a rectangle, pressing firmly to push out any trapped air bubbles.
- The Final Pinch: For a classic look, you can bring the two bottom corners of your shape together and give them a little pinch with a drop of water. This creates that "little hat" shape that holds onto the broth so well.
- Store Correctly: Place each finished wonton onto a parchment-lined baking sheet. Make sure they are not touching each other so they do not stick, and keep them covered while you finish the rest of the batch.
Wonton Soup Recipe
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 15 mins
Total time: 30 mins
Serves: 6
Ingredients
For the filling combine:
- 3/4 lb ground pork
- 1 tsp fresh grated ginger
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 3 tbsp finely chopped scallions
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 1/2 tsp rice wine vinegar
- 1/4 tsp sesame oil
- 30 – 35 wonton wrappers
For broth:
- 10 cups canned chicken broth
- 1-2 cups thinly sliced bok choy
- 1 cup thinly sliced mushrooms
- 3 thinly sliced scallions
Instructions
- In a large soup pot simmer chicken broth over medium heat.
- Spoon about 1 teaspoonful of filling into each wonton skin (do a few at a time, while keeping other skins covered in plastic so they do not dry out)
- Wrap each wonton (full folding instructions are here) and set onto a parchment lined baking sheet or platter.
- Add vegetables to simmering broth and cook for about 2 minutes
- Gently add the wontons individually to the broth and increase heat slightly. Stir very carefully to make sure wontons do not stick together or to the bottom of the pot and cook about 5 minutes (the wontons should float to the top of the broth.
- Serve immediately with La Crema Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
Chinese Chicken Salad
Prep time: 15 mins
Cook time: 5 mins
Total time: 20 mins
Serves: 6
Ingredients
For the dressing:
- 1/2 cup rice wine vinegar
- 4 tbsp. red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp. sesame seed oil
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup olive oil
For the salad:
- 3 hearts of Romaine lettuce chopped
- 2 cups shredded chicken (I usually use a rotisserie chicken from the store)
- 1 cup toasted slivered almonds
- Rice noodles, fried (simply follow the package instructions)
- Fried wonton strips (slice wontons and fry them yourself or buy them—usually in the produce section with the croutons.)
Instructions
- Combine all dressing items and beat with a whisk until emulsified.
- Combine Romaine lettuce, shredded chicken and dressing. Toss to coat ingredients.
- Top with rice noodles, almonds and wonton strips.
- Serve immediately with La Crema Sonoma Coast Chardonnay
Why Chardonnay is the Best Pairing
When you are serving a meal that covers the spectrum from savory ginger broth to a sweet and tangy salad dressing, you need a wine that can play along with every flavor. Many people default to beer or tea with this type of cuisine, but a well balanced bottle of Chardonnay is actually a secret weapon for Asian inspired dishes. The key is finding a wine that has enough body to stand up to the pork but enough zip to keep things feeling light.
The La Crema Sonoma Coast Chardonnay is a natural fit here because of its bright acidity. That crispness acts like a squeeze of lime, cutting right through the richness of the ground pork and the sesame oil in the wontons. There is also a subtle touch of oak in this Chardonnay that picks up on the nuttiness of the slivered almonds and those crunchy fried wonton strips in the salad. Because the wine is not overly buttery, it does not clash with the rice wine vinegar in the dressing, creating a balanced experience from the first sip to the last.
