Let’s start the week with everyone’s favorite Chinese soup – wonton soup. I am going to prepare this soup using my new Uno sous vide device from Creative Cuisine by Grant.  This nifty device allows you to use an analog rice cooker or crock pot as the water bath while it controls the temperature for you.  In talking with Bob Lamson of Creative Cuisine about sous vide cooking and how their device changes the paradigm, he challenged me to to use sous vide precision to prepare a soup. I was intrigued by the concept and of course, I accepted the challenge. So here we have a fairly simple dish that benefits from gentle cooking to meld the flavors of the broth, but needs an increase in temperature to cook the wontons before serving. Sounds easy enough, right?  Well, with my new Uno it will be!  Are you ready to check out the results to Bob’s challenge?

Setup the Uno and rice cooker. Add the chicken broth to the rice cooker. Start the Uno at 165 degrees and cover.

Cut the bottom from the bok choy and slice each leaf lengthwise several times, creating thin strips. Cut the greens off and rough chop and set aside. Rough chop the whites and set aside. Slice the scallions, reserving some of the greens for a garnish. Divide the remainder of the scallions and finely mince 1/2 and set aside. Grate the ginger and divide. Set 1/2 of the ginger aside with the minced green onions. Slice the celery stalk lengthwise several times, then cut across into a fine dice. Separate and add 1/2 of the celery to the minced green onions and ginger. Mince the garlic and divide. Set aside 1/2 the garlic with the minced green onion mixture. This finely minced mixture will be used for the pork filling.

Add the remaining garlic, ginger, celery, shitake mushrooms, soy sauce, and sesame oil to the chicken broth. Stir to combine well and allow to gently heat and meld flavors, approximately 20 minutes.

In a medium bowl, add the pork, the finely minced mixture, the remaining soy sauce, and sesame oil.

Mix well to combine.

On a clean work surface, add lukewarm water to a small bowl. Layout a single wrapper and place a teaspoon of pork filling in the center. Using a finger, lightly wet the edge of the wrapper with the lukewarm water.

Pull opposing corners together and gently press the wet edges to seal.

Slightly twist the sealed corners and lift each remaining corner and press to seal to the first corners. Gently press each length of edge to seal and set aside. When ready to cook the wontons, increase the temperature of the broth to 195 degrees. When the temperature is reached, gently add the wontons to the broth using a slotted spoon. Add the roughly chopped bok choy whites at this time.

Avoid stirring the broth so the wontons do not break. Cook the wontons approximately 5 minutes or until the wrappers are translucent. Add the roughly chopped bok choy greens and sliced green onion tops just before serving.

Yes, you guessed it. I goofed up crossing the finish line!  I left the wontons in too long and overcooked them. I was distracted with another task I felt would be quick and of course I did not set the timer! So this unfortunate turn of events lands squarely on my shoulders – and not on the Uno device. I will try this recipe again… because it was tasty regardless of how it looked.

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