2010 hasn't gotten off to a great start. I've been sick: wracking great coughs and a runny nose. The first 3 days of the year were spent in bed with a hot water bottle. And when I complained to my parents they mumbled something about "burning the candle from both ends" so no sympathy there.
I've got 3 weeks left in Belfast, so need to be fit and healthy for leaving dinners, leaving drinks, final hikes, and just general fun, so I'm eating my greens, taking my vitamin pills and trying to get a few early nights.
And its been cold here - the coldest winter in 28 years, apparently. John and I went for a stroll to the local park the other day. Well, we weren't exactly strolling, more slipping and sliding on the black ice. We noticed a thin layer of ice on the river Lagan. There hasn't been much snow, just a light dusting each morning, but the temperature hovers around 0. Not that I mind the cold too much. I'd take cold weather over rain any day. And I'll be getting plenty more cold on my travels.
Anyway, its the kind of weather for warm comforting food, and what could be better for a quick Tuesday night dinner than wonton soup. I had some chicken stock left over from a roast I cooked on Friday night, and I stopped past the Asian supermarket on my way home to pick up some wontons. Yes, I could have made my own, but its Tuesday remember! This soup is a meal in itself, and the chili-soy sauce I made in which to dip the wontons helped clear the sinuses.
Ingredients (serves 2)
- Chicken stock
- Water
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon of dark soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon of sesame oil
- Fresh ginger, about 5 very thin slices
- 5 mushrooms, sliced
- 1 large chili, sliced
- 3 spring onions
- 2 large handfuls of pak choi leaves
- packet of 8 frozen wontons
- Fresh cilantro to garnish
Place the chicken stock into a pot, and top with water so that you have just over 1 litre of weak chicken broth. Bring to a simmer over a medium heat. Add soy sauces, sesame oil, fresh ginger and mushrooms. Simmer for approximately 5 minutes, until the mushrooms are almost cooked. Add the sliced chili, spring onions, pak choi and wontons. As the soup is coming back to a simmer, chop the cilantro and place in two bowls. The wontons should be done by the time the soup starts to simmer, so quickly ladle the soup into the bowls. If desired served with a dipping bowl of chili-soy sauce (equal parts dark soy sauce and chili sauce).