Vegetable Dumpling Soup

This is perfect for the busy days this holiday season.  It is a comforting soup bursting with flavor and texture.  It is also plant based.  I have resorted to using store bought Korean vegetable dumplings but I have included the recipe of homemade vegetable dumplings in this post.  You can store these homemade ones in the freezer and use just what you need for this recipe to warm yourself with a delicious soup after a long day at the mall. It is one of those which my brother Benjie, who is a soup addict, refers to as a cleansing soup that invigorates you from head to toe as you slurp on it.  

Vegetable Dumpling Soup

• 4 cups water
• 1 vegetable bouillon cube
• 1/2 package or about 15 Vegetable Korean Dumplings (available in the freezer section of Asian stores or (see recipe below for homemade ones)
• 2 baby bokchoy, sliced into strips or you can cut each in two pieces for better presentation
• salt and pepper to taste

Boil the water.  Place the vegetable bouillon cube to dissolve it.  Then add the dumplings and bokchoy. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Homemade Vegetable Dumplings

(Adapted from this website)

• 1 package wonton wrappers
• 1 carrot, peeled
• 2 cups cabbage cut into small pieces
• 6 oz mushrooms (shiitake or white)
• 4 scallions
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1/2 inch ginger, cut into small pieces
• 4 oz firm tofu
• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
• pinch crushed red pepper
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tsp cornstarch

1.  Place carrot, cabbage, mushrooms, scallions, garlic and ginger in a food processor.  Pulse until ground into small bits, but not pureed.

2.  Place 1 tbsp water in a skillet and add the vegetables.  Cover and allow the mixture to cook. Season with salt and pepper.  Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.

3.  Add the tofu in a bowl and crumble with your fingers. Add the soy sauce, brown sugar, crushed red pepper flakes and cornstarch and mix well.

4.  Add cooled vegetables and mix again.

5.  Lay wonton wrappers on a cutting board, fill the middle of the wonton wrapper with approximately 1 tsp tofu mixture, wipe sides with water,  fold over to form a triangle and then seal the corners and edges. You can freeze the prepared dumplings in one layer on a pan and then transfer to a plastic bag for use later on.  

Important:  When preparing the soup using these homemade dumplings, bring the vegetable broth to a simmer rather than rolling boil and drop the homemade dumplings.  The simmering approach rather than rolling boil will prevent the dumplings to open up.  For some reason the commercially bought ones did not do this.