Vegetable Dumpling Soup

Wonton Soup or Dumpling Soup, a non-cream stock based soup is perfect dinner for me! As a child, I would always tell my mother to make a big tray full of dumplings. I would eat half of them steamed and the rest dunked in a flavorful broth. That would be my dinner at least once in a month! After coming to the US, I missed the dumpling soup a lot. A friend told me about the dumpling skins we get at the Asian store and I got a packet. Since then, my husband and me enjoy Dumplings either stir-fried or in the soup form. 

I get a packet of dumpling skins from the store, along with vegetables and tofu. On one afternoon, I start something interesting on tv, and fill ALL the dumplings from the packet and freeze them for future use. Whenever we want to enjoy dumplings, just remove the frozen ones and stir-fry them or fry them. Serve this with a garlic soy and sesame dip, and you can whip up a dinner in under 20 minutes!!

Also, once the dumplings have been made, making this vegetable dumpling soup hardly takes any time to prepare. Just boil the broth or water, dunk the prepared dumplings and bring the soup to a boil. Season and serve! That is all it takes to make this amazing vegetable dumpling soup. Now that the weather is getting cooler, it is perfect time to enjoy this soup. It is not made with any cream or any other thickeners. If you like a spicy Version of the soup, just add some chili oil or chili sauce and you can have a spicy dumpling soup in no time!

Ingredients

For the Dumplings

Dumpling Skins 1 packet

Firm Tofu 1 cup

Vegetables of your choice, finely diced 2 cups

Chili Oil 1 tsp

Chinese salt and pepper mix 1 tbsp

Salt , Soy Sauce

Oil to stir-fry

For the Soup

Vegetable Stock/water 1 cup

Spinach Leaves ¼ cup

Spring Onion ½ cup Greens and whites separated

Celery ¼ cup

Salt, Pepper

Oil 1 tsp

Method

The filling of the dumplings can vary as per your taste and preferences. I have used Tofu, Spinach, Carrots, Napa Cabbage, Spring Onion and Cilantro. The method I used to fill the dumplings is as described in this recipe: Pan Fried Dumplings. Follow the recipe section for filling the dumplings. After filling them, they can be frozen for days. To prepare, do not thaw; use them directly from their frozen form. 

In a pan heat oil and saute onion whites and chopped celery. Once cooked, add the stock or water and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper. Drop in the dumplings and let them boil till the skin is translucent, 5-6 minutes. Top with spinach leaves, spring onion greens and serve hot. 

To enjoy other vegetarian soups, go to this page.