Hi 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 started You 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 adding
1.5 tbsp of soy sauce 1.5 tbsp of fish sauce
1 tbsp of oyster sauce 1 tbsp of Chinese cooking wine
white pepper to taste Stir 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
