Vegan Wonton Soup

So, I've been writing papers, procrastinating, researching, procrastinating, and procrastinating for these past couple of weeks. In this procrastination, I was stumbling upon various food items. One was an article on the ten or so dumplings from various cultures that you need to try before you die. Now, as a dumpling lover, I swore to myself that one of these days would be a dumpling day. On the very next day, I am panicking because I only have one out of two papers done that was due the next day. Just as I'm panicking about having to do an eight page paper, one of my classmates lets me know that it's not due until three weeks from now. I was kind of ecstatic :D

So, I'm the kind of person who forgets things, makes mistakes constantly, and doesn't really know where she is half the time. Yesterday was one of those instances (including the paper mishap mentioned above). As I'm walking home from work, I notice that my surroundings don't really look familiar. I cut through the wrong park to get to my bus stop. On my way to the next nearest bus, I notice an Asian grocery store across the street. All I can think is, "OMFG WONTON SOUP!!!!!!!!!!" and I go in.

(Ethnic food stores are glorious, because they have crazy awesome products, and because they are super cheap. Everything I bought, including vegetables, spices, oil, and random things I didn't use in this recipe come out to be around $20. Crazyawesome, crazydelicious.)

I get home and decide that I'm going to look up dumpling/wonton recipes on the web, but none of them look all that wonderful. I decide I'm going to do my own thing. Despite being ridiculously delicious, I did make some mistakes that I learned from.

Here's what I did:

Ingredients:

Soup-

1" fresh ginger, cut into eighths
2-3 stalks of chives, sliced horizontally
1 box of vegetable stock
Soy Sauce, to taste
5 spice, to taste
Salt, to taste
2 large carrots, chopped into hearty chunks
1 carton of mushrooms, halved
5 cloves of garlic, crushed
2 tsp sesame oil
Other oil to cover the bottom of the pan

Dumplings/Wontons-

Dumpling wrappers
1 large carrot, grated
1/2 block, or 1 small block of tofu, minced into tiny pieces
8 mushrooms, minced into tiny pieces
1/2 head of cabbage, minced into tiny pieces
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce (or regular, then don't add salt)
2 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp 5 spice
1/2 teaspoon curry powder
Sriracha hot chili sauce, to taste
1 tsp ground ginger
Salt, to taste

If you like spicy food as much as I do, also add some chili powder or cayenne pepper, to taste.

Directions:

1. Prepare the vegetables and tofu for the wonton filling and combine in a large mixing bowl. I used a grater and a knife, but please feel free to use a food processor.
2. Add all other ingredients to the mixture, mix evenly, and taste. Add more of anything desired. Then mix some more.
3. Lay out a few dumpling wrappers and plop a tablespoon of the mixture in the center of each.
4. Bring up the sides of the dumpling wrapper into a triangle and pinch. Then, lay each corner flat down on the side of the dumpling. Make sure the corners are all laid down in the same direction. Pinch the top closed.
5. Place the finished dumplings on a plate. Make sure they are somewhat separated. They will stick together otherwise.
6a. If you want to steam the dumplings separately, boil pot of shallow water, insert steamer and banana leaf, and arrange dumplings on top. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until the dumplings look ready. This did not work for me because I did not think to buy a banana leaf. Silly me.
6b. If you want the dumplings in the soup, leave the dumplings wherever you placed them and wait until you prepare the soup.
7. Cover the bottom of the saucepan with canola oil/vegetable oil or the oil of your choice. (Just not sesame yet. It burns quickly.) Set the stove to medium heat. Crush garlic into the saucepan and stir for 3-5 minutes.
8. Add mushrooms and carrots. Cook until tender.
9. Add ginger, vegetable stock, spices, and soy sauce and bring to a boil. Taste to make sure nothing is lacking. Add scallions and dumplings.
10. Simmer for 30 minutes.
11. Enjoy!

Makes 4-6 servings

Please note, do NOT stick your dumplings directly onto the steamer. There is no way you can get them off. I'm still soaking mine.

Also, you can fill up your dumplings with whatever veggies you want. Please leave comments on successful combinations you've tried!