This recipe is excellent for adding more microgreens to your diet without feeling like a salad rabbit. The microgreens are added both to the wonton filling AND to the broth and take on a bean sprout quality like that found in Vietnamese Pho.
INGREDIENTS:
- 3.5 oz of Spice Up Your Life! Microgreens
- 1 whole, raw chicken, breasts removed
- 1 bunch green onion, sliced thin
- 1 carrot, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 thumbnail chunk of ginger, peeled
- 1 package wonton wrappers
- 1 egg
- soy sauce to taste
- fish sauce to taste
- 1 Tbs Chinese 5-Spice powder
- 1 Tbs chili oil (if that’s your thing..)
Bring the de-breasted chicken carcass to a boil and turn down to a simmer for 6 hours. Skim off any grey foam that forms at the surface. Remove from the broth and let cool. Pick the remaining skin and meat off for future use in chicken salad (you can freeze this meat). Toss the bones (or ideally compost them).
In a food processor, combine the raw chicken breast (or tofu), green onions, garlic, half of the microgreens and ginger and pulse until it’s nicely pureed. This will be the dumpling filling. This is a great use for microgreens you might have sitting in your freezer. You can add as many or as few as you want. Also, if doing the tofu version, add 1 egg or egg replacer to bind the mix. Season with fish sauce and/or soy sauce. A tablespoon of soy or half and half soy/fish is a good amount for 2 chicken breasts. Heat up a small skillet and fry up a little bit of the mix to test for adequate seasoning. Adjust as necessary.
In a small bowl, break the egg and whisk it lightly. This will be your wonton glue.
On a clean surface, place your wonton wrappers out and add 1 mounded teaspoon of filling, leaving a good 1″ edge of wonton wrapper around it. Brush the 1″ edge with egg and bring all corners together. Press tightly to seal fully. But don’t worry, if a bad seal is formed, the worst that will happen is you’ll end up with meatballs and noodles in your soup 😛
Once the wontons are ready and sitting spaced out on a floured surface to keep them from sticking, bring the broth to a simmer and add 1 Tbs of Chinese 5-Spice powder. This typically contains cinnamon, cloves, star anise, fennel and Szechuan peppercorns (the berry of the prickly ash tree).
Check the wonton seals one more time and drop them into the broth to simmer. They’ll sink at first but then begin to float. Give them 5-10 minutes to finish cooking once they float. You’ll want to make sure the dough has cooked all the way through in the thick areas.
Garnish with fresh microgreens and chili oil to serve.
(You can make lots of wontons and freeze them individually on a tray before transferring them to a bag for longer term freezer storage.)