Crispy Wonton Soup

Rich, gingery miso vegetable soup, slightly thickened, served with crispy chewy seitan filled wontons- top with a drizzling of Siracha sauce to make it spicy!

I made a big cauldron of vegetable miso soup with wontons for Mom, who was under the weather. When I came back, the large portion that was left was delicious, but the veggies were overcooked and mushy, as were the few remaining wontons. I decided to do another remix, and puree the veggies in the soup to make a thicker base. What I discovered was that I forgot to remove the slices of ginger that I had put in there for flavoring before pureeing, and it gave the soup a distinct gingery flavor. I added a little brown sugar to offset the slight bitterness, and the outcome was a wonderful complex flavor and comforting texture. The wontons were filled with last night's leftover seitan cutlets, and prepared like potstickers in a skillet, steamed, then allowed to get crispy- the perfect accompanyment to this rich delicious soup!

Soup:

4 C. water
1/4 C. white miso paste
1/4 C. unsalted broth powder
2-3 C. veggies ( I used onion, cauliflower, carrots, and nappa cabbage)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 C. frozen corn
1-2 slices fresh ginger, skinned
1 T. brown sugar
soy sauce to taste
Siracha (hot red pepper sauce) to taste (optional)

Spinz:
Bring water to boil. Scoop out about 1 cup of the water into a bowl and whisk in the miso paste. Return miso mixture into the boiling water. Add unsalted broth powder, veggies, ginger. Let simmer until veggies are soft. Add sugar and puree with a stick blender. Turn off heat and add frozen corn, stiring until combined. Add soy sauce and Siracha sauce to taste.

Wontons:

• store-made wonton skins (make sure they don't have eggs!)

• seitan from last night's recipe, cooked and ground in a food processor to resemble ground meat

Spinz:

Wet the edges of the skin and place a small 1/2 - 1 tsp filling. Close to form triangles. Spray skillet with non-stick cooking spray and add 1 T. canola oil. Turn on high heat, and arrange wontons (single layer) in the skillet. Add about 1 cup of water and cover. Let it steam until the water is gone (listen for sizzling!). Bottoms should be golden brown and tops will be soft and chewy. Serve warm.