
Chili peanut wontons in lemon coriander soup
Silky smooth wontons with a filling of chili and peanuts in a flavourful bowl of lemon coriander soup makes a comforting meal any time of the day.
Living in Singapore has made me appreciate noodles, dumplings, wontons and the variety of desserts made with rice flour more than ever. Walking down the aisles of hawker centers in the morning hours is something I absolutely look forward to. The sight of hot steaming buns, wontons and dumplings in large bamboo steamers in Dim Sum shops, meticulous wrapping of these little parcels in small kitchens, customers walking away with a generous bowl of noodles in a soup or wontons in a clear broth is something that gets my senses excited every single time. This recipe is thus inspired by the technique of laying firm yet soft wontons in a bowl that are submerged with an aromatic broth that I have observed during my trips to hawker centers.
I read somewhere that eating a wonton is like swallowing a cloud and the description fits perfectly. Biting into silky soft wontons filled with a textural bite from chili and peanut in a broth full of aromatics is just that. And if you have enjoyed my Nepalese vegetable momos, you will surely love this one too. Similar concept but the cooking style varies.

The lemon coriander soup is made up of loads of aromatics but don’t let the list demotivate you. It all goes in a processor/chopper and then onto the pan to simmer and infuse its flavours in the water. Essentially what the ingredients make up is a bouillon cube; your own customized stock cube instead of buying ready store-bought stock cubes from the market. Simply make a big batch of the finely chopped vegetables/aromatics and freeze it in cubes. The wonderful thing about making your own bouillon cube is that you could customize it to your liking – if you like the flavour of ginger, increase its quantity or you cannot find a certain ingredient, skip and use something else. No matter which way you go, it adopts beautifully in a soup like my thukpa or even a risotto. Though do note that using starchy ingredient like a potato can make the soup more cloudy than clear and using ingredient like purple cabbage though would taste great, its vibrant colour can seep in the soup.

For the wontons, I have used ready, store bought wontons wrappers that either come in a round or a square shape pack. They are slippery thin but sturdy enough to hold the stuffing. Few things to note while working with wrappers though:
- It makes it easier to fold the wontons if you keep the wrapper pack in the fridge until you are ready to stuff.
- If you intend to make a big batch and freeze, wrap each wonton and lay on a tray with a greaseproof paper. Put the tray filled with wontons in the freezer until frozen. Remove the frozen wontons and pack them in a container or a freezer safe bag. When ready to eat, remove from the freezer and use as needed.
- There are tons of ways a wonton can be folded. You could fold in any which way you like; end result is bound to be delicious.
- When ready to cook, place the wontons in batches in rolling boiling water in a wide pan. Stir it once so that they don’t stick. Leave it without stirring anymore as too much handling can break the delicate skin. Once cooked, they will float to the top. Continue to cook for additional 2 minutes and remove with a wire mesh strainer.
I hope you will like this recipe as its components can be made well in advance and its freezer friendly too. If you liked this recipe, do have a look at these recipes too.
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Chili peanut wontons in lemon coriander soup
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AUTHOR
Hema B Kathrani
CUISINE
Fusion
PREP TIME
35-40 minutes
COOK TIME
30 minutes
SERVINGS
Serves 4-6
Author: Hema B Kathrani | Cuisine: Fusion | Category: Mains
Prep Time: 35-40 minutes | Cook Time: 30 minutes | Servings: Serves 4-6
Silky smooth wontons with a filling of chili and peanuts in a flavourful bowl of lemon coriander soup makes a comforting meal any time of the day.
Ingredients
- For the soup:
- Base:
- ¼ cup coriander roots
- ½ cup coriander leaves, packed
- 2 medium garlic cloves
- ½ inch ginger
- 2-3 shallots
- 1 small carrot
- 1 celery stalk
- 2-3 scallions
- 5 kaffir lime leaves
- ½ cup grated cabbage
- Base:
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp oil
- 1 ½ liter of water
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 3 tbsp coriander leaves, finely chopped
- For the wontons:
- 1 pack wonton wrapper
- 1 ½ cups finely chopped onion
- 7 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
- 4-6 green chilies, finely chopped
- 1 ¼ cup unsalted peanuts
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp oil
Method
- Make the soup:
- In a vegetable chopper or a processor, place all the ingredients except cabbage and pulse until finely chopped, almost mushy.
- Combine grated cabbage and blitz again for it all to combine well.
- In a large pot, heat butter and oil on a low flame.
- Place the finely chopped vegetables and sauté for 2-3 minutes.
- Add 1 ½ liters of water and bring it to boil.
- Continue to boil for 2 minutes and then on a low flame to simmer for 20 minutes.
- Leave it aside to cool.
- Once cool, strain the soup and discard the vegetables.
- Season with salt and pepper.
- Just before serving, add 3 tbsp of lemon juice and 3 tbsp of chopped coriander.
- Make the filling:
- Dry roast the peanuts in a pan and leave it to cool
- In a pan, heat butter and oil on a low flame.
- Add finely chopped chilies and garlic. Sauté on a low flame for 2 minutes or until aromatic.
- Add onions, salt, pepper and cook uncovered until soft.
- Turn off the flame and keep it aside to cool.
- Place the roasted peanuts in a grinder and pulse to a fine powder.
- Combine peanut powder to the cooled onion mix.
- Adjust the seasoning and keep the chili-peanut filling aside.
- Fold the wrappers:
- Prepare to fold the wrapper by
- Removing the wrapper from the fridge
- Place a small bowl of water by the wrapper pack
- Prepare a tray with a grease proof paper to lay the wontons
- Place the filling with a teaspoon
- Once you are set, take a wrapper in your non dominant hand or a plate
- Apply a thin layer of water on the edges of the wrapper
- Take a generous tsp of the filling and place it in the middle of the wrapper.
- Pinch the two opposite ends together and hold it with one hand while you start to pinch one side of the wrapper towards the middle.
- Repeat the pinching on the other side of the wrapper.
- Close the wrapper firmly and place it on the tray.
- Repeat the process with the remaining wonton wrappers.
- Prepare to fold the wrapper by
- Cook the wontons:
- In a large wide pan, bring 1 ½ liters of water to boil.
- Once it comes to a rolling boil, add wontons in batches. Do not overcrowd the pan.
- Give a quick swirl and leave it until the wontons float to the top.
- Continue to cook for 2 more minutes and remove with a help of a wire mesh strainer.
- To serve, in a bowl place the 3-4 cooked wontons at the bottom of the bowl followed by a generous ladle of the lemon coriander soup seasoned with lemon juice and coriander and enjoy!
Notes
- Wontons are typically served in a clear broth or dressed in a flavour packed sauce. You could therefore make a large batch of these wontons and enjoy either ways, in a lemon-coriander soup or with chili-sesame oil (chili-sesame oil is part of the momos recipe)
- This recipe can be made gluten free by using gluten free wonton wrappers.
- To make this recipe vegan, use oil instead of butter.
- The ingredients listed as base under soup can be made in large quantities and in advance. Process all the aromatics/vegetables as written and freeze in cubes. Remove the cubes and use it as needed. These home-made bouillon cubes can also be used for recipes that require stock cubes. You could also use this bouillon cube in my vegetarian thukpa.
- The wontons can be made in advance as well. Wrap each wonton and lay on a tray with a greaseproof paper. Put the tray filled with wontons in the freezer until frozen. Remove the frozen wontons and pack them in a container or a freezer safe bag. When ready to eat, remove from the freezer and use as needed.
- It makes it easier to fold the wontons if you keep the wrapper pack in the fridge until you are ready to stuff.
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