**The Art of Making Qianlixiang Wonton: A Step-by-Step Guide**
One of the simplest and most delicious breakfast options is the Qianlixiang wonton, which can be easily made at home. This traditional Chinese dish consists of boiled or pan-fried wontons filled with a savory mixture of ingredients, served in a flavorful broth. In this article, we will delve into the world of Qianlixiang wonton and explore the recipe, cooking method, and tips for making this mouth-watering dish.
**Gathering Ingredients and Preparing the Wonton Filling**
To make the Qianlixiang wonton, you will need a few essential ingredients. The main filling consists of ground pork, chopped scallions, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, sesame oil, and salt. You can also add other ingredients such as mushrooms, cabbage, or carrots to suit your taste preferences. Simply mix all the ingredients together in a bowl until they are well combined.
The wrapping process is easy and requires no specialized skills. Simply place a small amount of filling in the center of a wonton wrapper, gather the edge together, and pinch to close it. Even a 3-year-old can help with this part! This recipe makes approximately 50-60 pieces of wonton, which is equivalent to 4 or 5 servings.
**Freezing the Wontons**
One of the best things about making Qianlixiang wonton is that they can be easily frozen for later use. Simply place the cooked wontons in a sealed container and wrap each layer with plastic wrap to keep them separate. Frozen wontons are perfect for quick and easy breakfasts, as you don't need to defrost them before serving.
**Cooking the Wonton**
To cook the Qianlixiang wonton, you will need a large pot of chicken stock. You can use store-bought stock or make your own broth from scratch. Pour 8 cups of chicken stock into the pot and season with salt to taste. Bring the mixture to a boil, then use a spoon to swirl the water and create a vortex.
Once the broth is boiling, carefully add the wontons to the pot. This will help them float to the top of the water instead of sinking to the bottom. As the temperature drops immediately after adding the wonton, keep the heat at medium-low. Wait until the wontons float to the surface and the pot comes back to a simmer.
**Adding Vegetables and Aromatics**
Quickly cut some baby bok choy or other green leafy vegetables that you like and add them to the pot along with the wontons. Let it blanch for 20 seconds to a minute depending on your preference.
**Drizzling with Aromatic Oil and Serving**
The final step is to drizzle the wonton with aromatic oil, which will reactivate the fragrance of the caramelized onion and garlic. Sprinkle some diced scallion as garnish before serving. For an added touch, top your Qianlixiang wonton with pickled long beans or other types of pickles.
**Tips and Variations**
If you like this recipe, feel free to double or triple the amount and put them in a sealed container. Frozen wontons are perfect for quick and easy breakfasts, as they don't need to be defrosted before serving.
The most important part of making Qianlixiang wonton is to not forget to add aromatic oil at the end. This will reactivate the fragrance of the caramelized onion and garlic, which is essential to the dish's flavor profile.
For a more authentic experience, you can try adding other ingredients such as fermented soybeans or mushrooms to the filling mixture. You can also experiment with different types of vegetables or herbs to create your own unique flavor combinations.
**Conclusion**
Making Qianlixiang wonton is a simple yet rewarding process that requires minimal effort and expertise. With this recipe, you can enjoy a delicious and nutritious breakfast in just a few minutes. Whether you are a seasoned chef or a beginner cook, give this recipe a try soon!
"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enHi everyone, welcome to Souped Up Recipes. Today we are making 千里香馄饨. Huntun is wonton. Qian means a thousand. Li is an ancient unit of length, which equals 500 meters. Xiang means fragrance or aroma. So the name is trying to tell you that this wonton smells so good that the fragrance can spread out to 500 km away. That is a little bit exaggerated but it indeed smells amazing and super delicious. I am excited to share it with you. let's get startedYou will need some spices - 1 cinnamon stick, 2 bay leaves, 1 star anise, 2 pieces of clove, and 3 pieces of dried red chilies. This will not make the soup spicy because I will keep the chilies whole. The reason I am using it is that I want to get a slight smoking touch. If you want the dish to be spicy, you can open up the chilies to release the flavor. Soak them with some hot water for 20 minutes. This is to give the spices a little bit of moisture which will allow them to transfer the flavor to the oil without burning. Set it aside.Here is my story about this recipe. There used to be a wonton store on the way to my school. It is packed every day. People got attracted by its fragrance and stayed for it’s flavor. I always wonder how they make the wontons smell and taste so good.The key is deep-fried onion and garlic. Of course, the owner kept the secret. I figured it out after countless times of eating it there and trying it at home.Dice the onions. These are pretty big-size onions, so I used 1 and a 1/3 of it. Try to use purple onion, so the fragrance can be stronger.18 cloves of garlic, you can use more if you want. Remove the root. Crush them one by one. Dice them finely.Optionally, put the garlic in a sieve and rinse it with running water. When the garlic is crushed and chopped, it will release a type of chemical called mercaptans, which makes your knife, and cutting board sticky. That chemical is what we are trying the rinse off because it will bring a bitter taste when deep-fried. Dried it with paper towels. Set it aside.Cut 3 scallions into 2 inches long pieces. You don’t need to remove the root because the root has flavor too. Just make sure you wash it really well. These are pretty thick scallions so I will cut it in the middle.Slice 2 inches of ginger finely.Dice 100 grams of garlic chive. You can use other types of vegetables if you want. Such as mushrooms, carrots, cabbage, scallion...Pour1.5 cups of oil to the wok. The onion contains more moisture compared to other ingredients so we will add it to the wok first. Turn the heat to medium low. Simmer this for 5 minutes. When you see it starts bubbling like that, you can add in the garlic, ginger slices, scallion strips, and the soaked but well-drained spices. Stir it constantly. Make sure to use your spatula to scrape the bottom of the wok so nothing sticks. Continue to simmer everything on medium-low heat for another 20 - 30 minutes or until the onion and garlic are lightly golden.By the way, a safety note: do not do this with a small saucepan. These aromatics have a lot of moisture, which will create lots of bubbles while simmering in the oil, and it could overflow if your cookware is too small. A wide-open wok is perfect. If you don’t have a wok, you can use a large frying pan.Since it has lots of bubbles, it is hard to see the color change. So you will have to pick up a little bit of the onion and garlic to check the color carefully. When you see it becomes golden brown, quickly let it go through a sieve. You can take your time to pick out all the spices, scallions, and ginger. They have done their job, we don’t need them anymore.We will use the fried garlic and the onion to make the filling later. Store the aromatic oil in a jar. It will stay good in the fridge for 2 months. This is good stuff, you can drizzle it over wonton soup, noodle soup, and hot and sour soup. It will bring the dish to another level. I also like to add a little bit of it to my stir-fries. The fragrance will give you a nice feeling when you put the dish on the table. It can also be a replacement for sesame oil if you are allergic to sesame.Next, let’s make the filling. I got here 200 grams of peeled and deveined shrimp. I am just going to roughly dice it. You can grind it finely if you want but I like to be able to chew the little shrimp bits.In a big mixing bowl. Add the shrimp that we just diced, and 300 grams of ground chicken thigh. You can also use chicken breast. I just prefer dark meat.Continue by adding1.5 tbsp of soy sauce 1.5 tbsp of fish sauce1 tbsp of oyster sauce 1 tbsp of Chinese cooking winewhite pepper to tasteStir the protein in 1 direction for 5 minutes to develop the texture. Once you see the meat become a stick paste, and there are many small little strings appearing, you can add the fried aromatics, the diced garlic chives, or any other vegetables that you like. Keep stirring the filling until everything is well combined.Next, we will wrap the wonton. I am using store-bought wrappers because making them from scratch is time-consuming and you can buy wonton wrappers easily in Walmart and target. Just check the frozen sections in your local grocery stores. Be sure to put them out 40 minutes ahead at room temperature to defrost.The wrapping is really easy. You just put some filling in the middle. Gather the edge together and pinch to close it. Even a 3-year-old kid can do it. This recipe is enough to make 50-60 pieces of wonton. That will be 4 or 5 servings.Wonton is freezer friendly. If you like this recipe, you can double or triple the amount. Put them in a sealed container. Use plastic wrap to keep each layer separate. Frozen wonton is one of my quick and tasty breakfasts. Whenever you want to eat them again, don’t need to defrost them, just boil them directly.Ok, let’s cook the wonton. Pour 8 cups of chicken stock into the pot. I am just using the store-bought stock as it is fast and easy. There is no need to spend hours making your own broth for this recipe, because, With the deep fry onion and garlic, the wonton is going to taste amazing.Season the broth with some salt by taste. I used about 1 tbsp here. Cover it and bring it to a boil.When the broth comes to a boil, use your spoon to swirl the water to create a vortex. Then put in the wonton. This way, they will flow with the water instead of sinking to the bottom directly. Otherwise, they will stick to the bottom and loss a part of the skin.The temperature of the pot will drop immediately after you add the wonton. Keep the heat at medium-low. Wait until they float to the top of the water and the pot should come back to a simmer. Then add 1/2 cup of cold water to drop the temperature. Wait for the pot to come back to a simmer again. This method is called dian len shui. Whether your wonton is frozen or fresh, you can use the same method and the wonton will be fully cooked. Don’t worry about the timing because if the wonton is frozen, it takes longer for it to float to the top of the water and come to a simmer.Quickly cut some baby bok choy or you can use other green leafy vegetables that you like.Ok, the pot is simmering now, add in the vegetables you like. Let it blanch with the wontons for 20 seconds to a minute depending on your preference. And you are done.Serve them in a bowl, you can do 8-15 pieces per serving depending on your appetite.Here comes the most important part to make this qianlixiang wonton - drizzle in 1-2 tbsp of the aromatic oil. The heat from the soup will reactivate the fragrance. Sprinkle some diced scallion as garnish.When you take a bite, you will get blown away by a strong complex flavor, which is from the caramelized onion and garlic. This is my go-to breakfast. No matter how many times I eat it, I am always amazed by its meaty and juicy texture.Oh, almost forget to mention an optional topping but must-have for me - the pickled long beans. You can also do other types of pickles. A little bit of fermented touch really helps to brighten up the taste.I hope you can give this a try soon. if you did leave me a comment let me know how it goes as always don't forget to check the description where you can find all the links including the printable recipe the related videos the purchase link for special ingredients if you don't know where to buy them or the tools that I have used in this video thank you for watching and I will see you next time bye\n"
