Chow Vegan

I haven’t had wonton soup for awhile now. Way back when I used to get the frozen pre-made vegetable dumplings, but they were just alright. I think that’s why I stopped buying them. Why was I buying frozen dumplings in the first place? I was busy with work and stuff and lazy too, what with all that vegetable chopping to make the filling. Anyways, since then I had an epiphany. In my previous post, I made a tempeh filling for yellow chile peppers. I don’t know why it never occurred to me before but I could use that for wontons. Duh!

Perusing the Asian supermarket, I found just two brands that make vegan wonton skins. The rest had eggs in them. I’m not sure what’s the difference between the two other than the packaging. It’s labeled that they’re from the same distributor. If I had to choose, I would go with the Dynasty brand. I seem to have better results with that one. Then again I haven’t actually made wontons in years and for the first batch I used the Myojo brand so that could have skewed the results. But either one would work.

Vegan Wonton Soup
Serves 2

Soup Base
4 cups water
4 dried chinese mushrooms, soaked in water until soft, discard the stems and slice the caps
2 cups chinese greens such as baby bok choy sum sliced on the diagonal into 3/4″ pieces or napa cabbage sliced into 2″ strips
2 slices of ginger
Salt

Start the soup base first, so it can simmer while you make everything else. In a pot, add the water, mushrooms, ginger and salt to taste and bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to simmer and leave until you’re ready to add the wontons. Just before the wontons are done, add the vegetables and turn up the heat to medium, cook for 3-4 minutes and then turn the heat off.

Wontons
16-20 wonton wrappers, allowing about 8-10 wontons per person
1/2 cup tempeh filling

In a separate large pot, fill with water about halfway and bring to a boil. Have a small bowl of water nearby to wet the edges of the wonton skins. Place 1 teaspoon of the filling off center towards a corner. Don’t overfill the wonton. If you’re too generous with the filling, the poor wonton will spill its guts when they’re cooking and it’s not pretty. Wet the edges with your finger, fold in half and seal the edges. Wet one of the side corners and bring the two corners together in an overlap and press to seal.

Add the wontons to the separate pot of boiling water on medium heat. Depending on the size of the pot, you may need to cook the wontons in batches, do not overcrowd the wontons. When the wontons float to the surface, they’re done. Lift the wontons out with a slotted spoon and drop into the soup base. Serve immediately with soy sauce or chili sauce condiments if desired.

Here I am in sunny California, only it’s not sunny, it’s cloudy and dreary. I tend to eat a lot more soup in the wintertime just to warm up. People in really cold areas are probably thinking I’m a wimp. Which I am. Corn chowder has to be one of my favorite soups – it fills the ol’ comfort food craving plus it’s low-fat, creamy and full of flavor.

Vegan Corn Chowder
Serves 2

1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 small onion chopped
1 medium carrot sliced
2 stalks celery sliced
2 medium red potatoes cubed
1 cup vegetable stock or water
1 cup soy milk
1 cup corn kernels fresh or frozen
Cayenne pepper to taste (optional)
Kelp powder to taste (optional)

In a soup pot, heat the oil until hot, add the onions and saute until translucent. Add the carrots and celery, saute for a few minutes. Add the potatoes and vegetable stock. Cover, bring to a boil and cook over low to medium heat for 10 minutes. Add the soy milk and corn and simmer for 5 minutes. Puree 2/3 of the soup in a blender and return to pot. Stir to mix well. Add the kelp powder to individual bowls for a briny taste and top with cayenne pepper if using.

I’ve been eating yuan for as long as I can remember. Come to think of it, I never really knew why my mom made it, she just did. Apparently, it’s to celebrate the Winter Solstice. The round shape symbolizes family unity. It can be made either savory or sweet, we always have the savory, which I prefer. And nowadays, mine is a vegan version.

This last time I helped out with the prep work – cutting the napa cabbage, mushrooms and daikon. While cutting the daikon, mom walks by and tells me I’m cutting it all wrong. It’s at the wrong angle dummy and you’re too slow but you know in a kind, motherly sorta way. Meanwhile, she was making the glutinous rice dough into the round yuans and by the time I was done with the cutting, she was done with the yuan making. I guess I really was slow. I was going to measure and write down the recipe but she’s already finished. Okay, I’ll just get it next time. Mom said I can make it anytime, it’s easy. Ha! I once tried making the yuans myself, rolling a piece of the dough between the palms to make the round shape. They came out kinda lumpy looking, poor misshapen balls. Then mom showed off by making two at a time. I said shut up but you know in a loving, daughterly sorta way.