Wonton Soup

After spending the holidays with a bit of my grandmother's delicious, homemade, legit Chinese food, I got to thinking that I should be a better (half) Chinese wife.  In college I cooked a lot more, and garlic and ginger and black bean sauce were a staple in practically every meal.  Sak and his delicate Japanese tongue, however, was wary of the strong flavors of a lot of Chinese cooking, especially after he once ate a whole spoonful of black bean sauce to "try it", since he hadn't had any before. That was amusing.

So I don't cook with Chinese flavors as often anymore.  (I also don't cook as much in general anymore, sadly, ha!)  But with Sak at work late one day, I found myself at Ranch 99, picking up supplies for wonton soup.

I used this recipe from Allrecipes for the filling, and it's definitely a keeper.

Though instead of shrimp, I used a jar of crab. (Shrimp was too expensive for me!)

And instead of rice wine, I used apple juice, because my (really old) bottle of rice wine was..molding, or something.

Gross growths!

Here's the ingredient list I used, adapted from the allrecipes link above:

Filling:

• 2 pounds ground pork
• 1 jar crab meat (6.5 oz)
• 4 teaspoon brown sugar
• 4 tablespoon apple juice
• 4 tablespoon soy sauce
• 4 teaspoon chopped green onion
• 4 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
• 2 packets of wonton wrappers
• 
  
• Soup:
• 16 cups chicken stock
• 1 can water chestnuts, diced
• 1 can bamboo shoots, sliced
• 1 ranch-sized pack of baby bok-choy (any amount you're comfortable with, really!)
• leftover green onion, chopped
• 1 ranch-sized pack of fresh shiitake mushrooms, sliced (any amount, really)

This makes a ton of soup and wonton, which is good for freezer storage.  I'd say at least ten big bowls worth. 

First I mixed all the filling ingredients together, though putting brown sugar in meat was weird! Definitely have never done that before.

The fresh ginger is what really "makes" the wonton taste, in my opinion.  Grate it if possible, because getting a "ginger surprise" (a.k.a. a big chunk) in a wonton is not so fun.

With ingredients mixed well, set up your folding station and fold those wonton! (I used the same method we used for the ravioli.)  For one person to fold two packets worth, it took a while, so fold in front of the TV or something would be my advice.

I made two trays worth of wontons, one of which we froze for later.

Next, it was time to make the soup! In a big stock pot we put chicken bouillon and everything else, until the bok choy and mushrooms were soft enough to eat.  Boil the wonton in a separate pot of water (so they don't get soggy), for about five minutes or until they start floating.

Then put your wonton in a bowl, and cover with soup! Delicious!

This was also a Sak-approved dish, as there are no fermented black beans to be found.  He gave it the thumbs up, and said I should make some for my grandmother! I wonder if it would stand up to her scrutiny?

Calendars

One of the best parts of a new year is breaking open a fresh new calendar!

This year, Sak received an origami calendar for Christmas.

It's pretty awesome, since each month is a different creature!

January is a swan!

Sak's mom also found this super awesome Pokemon calendar at McDonald's in Japan!

Seriously, why do they get all the cool stuff? It came with a sheet of reminder stickers too!

So cute!

Do you have your 2012 calendar ready to go yet?  What kind do you have?

Resolutions 2012

Happy New Year!

I can't say whether I'm good at keeping resolutions or not, as I don't normally make any.  But for the sake of always having goals, I'm going to try this year!

Not this sort of resolution! (source)

Resolution #1

Pass the PE.  I've already signed up for review classes, which were ridiculously expensive and take up nearly every Saturday from the end of January until April.  But I believe they are necessary, since I haven't cracked open a study book in many, many moons.  If I pass, I will get a stamp! How cool and super-official is that? :)

Resolution #2

(source)

Lose 10 pounds by the PE (mid-April). I have gained serious post-wedding weight, and after the holidays am officially in the I-feel-gross department. Though I can't say I'm too excited to get back on the healthy living/eating train, I'm still holding onto the distant dream of being able to cosplay Mara Jade in a full black skin suit. Ambitious!

Resolution #3

Do at least 5 illustrations that take more than 10 hours to complete.  I tend to rush my art, and though it's not bad, I often think how much better it could be if I spent more time with it.  Now I just have to find something I wouldn't mind staring at for that long. Ha! Maybe some hot-dude fan art.  It's been awhile since I've indulged in that sort of frivolity. 

Resolution #4

Lose 10 more pounds by the end of June (cousin T's wedding!).  As the chunkiest bridesmaid of many, I've got my pride, lame as it may be.  Plus Sak's thinking we'll go back to Hawaii this summer (oh please please pleaseee) and who doesn't want to look good for the beach! (and fit back into all her summer dresses...)

Resolution #5

Well, I think four is enough for me.  Any more and I'll be stretching the limits of reasonable-ness.  So I asked Sak for one of his instead, to which he shrugged, and said, "I don't know.  To be a better person?"

Does not count at all.  So in making one for him: it's to learn how to make something from wood with the new miter saw he got for Christmas.  Without cutting anyone's arms off.

(source)

Do you have any resolutions this year?