Pork and bok choy wonton soup
Shanghai-style wontons filled with pork and bok choy — no prawns or crab, in a clear broth without MSG, so sensitive eaters can tuck in.
- 30 min
- Serves 2
- Boil
- Medium
Why it suits you: People with a sensitive constitution react easily, and itchy skin and hay fever flare in the humid summer heat. The filling uses only pork and greens — no prawns, crab or other common seafood allergens — in a lightly seasoned broth with no MSG. Wrap a batch at the weekend and freeze it, and breakfast takes just a few minutes.
Method
Prep 20 min · Cook 10 min- 1Wash the bok choy. Blanch 200 g for 30 seconds, rinse under cold water, squeeze dry and chop finely; keep the rest for the soup.
- 2Mix the pork with the ginger, ½ tsp salt, the soy sauce, cornflour and sesame oil, stirring in one direction until sticky, then mix in the chopped greens.
- 3Put a teaspoon of filling on each wrapper, fold in half and pinch the two corners together. Extra wontons can be frozen.
- 4Bring the water to the boil with the remaining salt, cook the wontons for 4 minutes until they float, add the remaining bok choy for 1 minute, scatter with spring onion and serve.
Cautions
- If you are sensitive to wheat or gluten, roll the filling into meatballs and serve with rice noodles instead.
Chef's tips
- Squeeze the blanched greens well so the filling isn't watery; cook frozen wontons straight from the freezer for an extra minute.
The TCM view
Pork is sweet, salty and neutral, nourishing yin and boosting qi. Shanghai bok choy is sweet and cool, clearing heat, easing restlessness and freeing the bowels. Wheat is sweet and cool, nourishing the heart, and ginger settles the stomach. Mild and neither irritating nor heating, it supports the body's defences — a good summer choice for a sensitive constitution.
