How do you keep the Wontons from getting mushy In Wonton Soup?
The Reluctant Gourmet receives a lot of questions via email. I can answer some of them right away, and I rely on the help of some of my chef friends for answers. Remember, I am by no means a professional chef. I'm called "Reluctant" for a good reason, but I promise I will find answers for you if I can.
I often save the baking-related questions for my friend, Pastry Chef Jenni Field, so here is a round-up of the most recent baking and pastry-related questions and answers. Thanks, Chef Jenni!
From Chuck:
Hello. I made wonton soup the other day for the first time and was very pleased with how it turned out -- with ONE exception. The wontons were a little mushy. The wonton soup you get at a Chinese restaurant has wontons, of course, but they are rather stiff. However, if you have leftovers, you can put them in the refrigerator, and they do not get mushy. I realize that cooking time is a factor (I boiled mine), but I'm wondering if a restaurant would use a different kind of wonton wrapper that keeps the wontons from getting mushy. Thanks in advance for your opinion.
From Chef Jenni Field
Wow, Chuck. This is an excellent question, and using a wrapper different from what is available to home cooks is often an answer that many people don't even consider. I would hazard a guess, though--and this is just a guess--that the wontons are steamed until just tender and then added to the soup at service. Otherwise, I'd bet that even the most sturdy wrappers would get mushy as the starch granules swell and swell and then finally burst, giving a mushy texture.
If I were you, I would try the same thing. Set up a steamer, either a bamboo steamer/wok combination, one of those collapsible steamer inserts, or even just a rack that would suspend the wontons over, not in, boiling water.
If you don't want to get out a bunch of other pots, consider boiling the wontons in salted water until just barely done, so the wrapper is still a little al dente, as it were, then place them in bowls and ladle boiling broth over them. The hot broth should be finished cooking until they are perfectly done.
As for leftovers, I would only boil what I need and freeze any extras until the next time I make the dish.
I hope this answer is helpful to you.
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Tan
I have found out a way to obtain springy and chewy wonton dumplings. It is exactly the same concept with cooking lye noodles. You can boil as many wontons in a pot of water with 2 tbsp of oil and some salt. The oil is added to prevent the wrappers from sticking to one another. After the wontons are cooked, it is very important to drain and wash them under cold or running tap water to stop the cooking process until they have lost the heat. Then you can slide them into any hot soup without worry about them being soft n mushy.
G. Stephen Jones
Hi Tan, thanks for this tip.