Savory Won Ton Soup

"Won Ton Soup" has a lot of variations, but this one is fairly easy to make, healthy, and I haven't gotten anything but compliments on it....even from my kids, so it's a winner in my book! Here you go:

Recipe:

1 lb. ground pork
1 tbl finely chopped fresh ginger
1/2 cup finely chopped green onions
1 tbl corn starch
2 tsp soy sauce (low-sodium preferably)
2 cloves fresh, chopped garlic
1 small carrot, diced
1 tbl rice vinegar
pepper
1 pkg won ton wrappers (often found in the produce section near tofu)
1 beaten egg
bok choy cut into bite-size pieces
4-6 mushrooms cut into paper-thin slices
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp soy sauce
1 tbl cooking sherry
6-8 cups chicken broth (depending how "soupy" you want it)
1/2 cup diced green onions

Directions:

Cook the ground pork in a non-stick pan until about halfway done, then add the ginger, garlic and carrot.  Cook this for about a minute and add the first 2 tsp of soy sauce and the rice vinegar. Mix those in and then add the green onions until wilted.  When the meat is fairly done, empty into a mixing bowl and mix in the pepper and corn starch.  This should thicken the mixture.  You can add a little more if needed, but be weary of adding too much because you don't want it to taste pasty. Beat the egg in a small bowl and set aside (to be used for sealing the won tons).

Lay out 4 won ton wrappers at a time on a cutting board and put about 2 tsp of the meat mixture in each (they should be able to close). To close the won tons, coat the entire inner edge with the egg (I usually just use my fingers to do this), fold the lower corner to meet the top corner so it makes a triangle, make sure the edges all seal, then fold the lower corners in toward the middle.  Do this until the pork mix is all gone, setting the won tons aside when they are sealed. (Don't stack them too much because they will stick together).

Bring the chicken broth to a rolling boil in a large pot, add the sherry, soy sauce, sesame oil, then drop the won tons in one at a time until they are all added.  Once the won tons are in and the soup is coming to a boil again, add the bok choy and mushrooms. Once the won tons start to float, it's done!

Serve hot with lots of broth and garnish with green onions.  This soup tastes even better after a day in the fridge.