Spicy Prawn Wonton Soup with Lup Cheong

Once again, I forgot to thaw meat out, so I fell back on easy-to-thaw shrimp.  The original recipe for this soup is from the cookbook Delicious Noodles from Confident Cooking (I can't find the author?), but you should know me by now that I can't leave a recipe alone!  I modified it by leaving a couple things out and adding a few other things, including the lup cheong.

photo by Emily

Spicy Prawn Wonton Soup with Lup Cheong (serves 1)

Ingredients:

3 raw prawns (shrimp), pealed and deveined
1 spring onion (green onion/scallion) finely chopped
1/2 tsp. celery salt
5 wonton wrappers
2 tsp. tom yum paste (see Note)
1 Thai chili (trust me, you only need 1!)
1 c. chicken stock
scant 1/4 c. coconut milk
1 tsp. brown sugar
2 tsp. fish sauce
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 lup cheong (Chinese sausage)

Note:  Tom Yum paste is a wonderful soup flavor base.  It is made up of garlic, chili, galangal, kaffir lime leaves, lemon grass, and shrimp paste.  It is delightfully hot and sour without be obnoxious.

Chop up the shrimp until almost minced, and mix with the spring onion and celery salt.  Divide up the filling between the wonton wrappers.  Using your finger tip, draw a ring of water around edges of the wonton wrappers.  Then fold up the edges of the wrappers and pinch them together into pouches to complete the wontons.

Slice the lup cheong along the diagonal into thin slices and set aside with the wontons.  Cut open the chili and remove the seeds.  Then slice the chili into thin pieces.  (NOTE: unless you like pain, DO NOT handle the chili seeds with your bare hands!  The capsaicin in the chili will cause your fingers to burn so excruciatingly for at least two days that it's not worth it!  Either wear gloves or use a kitchen utensil to hold the chili while you slice. )

In a pot, heat up the tom yum paste until fragrant, then add the chicken stock, chili, and coconut milk.  Heat the mixture until it boils, then add the sugar, fish sauce, and lemon juice.  Simmer for 2-3 minutes.  Add the lup cheong and wontons.  Cook for 2-3 more minutes until the wontons are cooked through.  (The wonton wrappers will turn somewhat translucent and the prawns will turn pink/red.)

To serve, first scoop out the wontons and put them in a bowl, then spoon the lup cheong and soup over top.