Shanghai Wontons in Soup 上海三鲜馄饨 Shanghai San Xian Hun Tun)

If using dried shiitake mushrooms, immerse them in hot water. Cover and let it sit for 30 minutes. While waiting for the mushrooms to get soft, prepare the other ingredients.

Peel the ginger and wash the green onions. Mince both the ginger and green onions into super fine pieces.

In a large mixing bowl, add the 1.5 lb (~680g) ground pork, minced ginger, minced green onions, 1 large egg, 1 tablespoon of Chinese Cooking wine, and 1 teaspoon of kosher salt. Start mixing everything in either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction (but only one direction). Once everything is evenly mixed, cover the bowl with a lid or plastic wrap and let it sit in the refrigerator while preparing the other ingredients.

Heat a large pot of water under medium-high heat. While waiting for the water to boil, wash the celery stalks and leaves thoroughly and take the leaves off. Save the celery leaves and set aside (the celery leaves will be used in the soup). When the water boils, add the celery stalks only and blanch for 2 minutes.

When the 2 minutes is up, take out the celery stalks and rinse them under cold water. Completely drain the water and cut the celery stalks into tiny pieces. If the stalks are wide, first use your hands or a knife to split the stalks into more narrow strips before cutting. Set aside.

Cut the thawed shrimp into small chunks and put them in a bowl. For size 31 to 40 shrimp, about 4 to 5 chunks will do. Add 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt to the shrimp and mix well.

The dried shiitake mushrooms from step 1 should be soft by now. Lightly squeeze out the extra water. Remove the stems and cut the shiitake mushrooms into tiny pieces. First cut the shiitake mushrooms into slices. Then turn the mushroom slices by 90 degrees so they are perpendicular to the knife. Lastly further cut the slices into small pieces and rock the chef's knife back and forth across the mushroom pieces to make them even smaller. Set aside.

Take out the mixing bowl from the fridge. Add the prepared celery, shrimp, shiitake mushroom, and 1 tablespoon of sesame oil to the mixed ground pork. Slowly and evenly mix everything using either a clockwise or counterclockwise direction (one direction only).

Folding wontons.4 There are many ways to fold wontons. This is one of the Chinese ingot ways. Put a square wrapper in your palm. Add about 1 tablespoon of filing in the center of the wrapper. Wet all 4 edges. Fold the wrapper in half to create a rectangle. Firmly Press all the edges and make sure no air bubble remain. With the edges pointing outward, slightly bend the edges and at the same time slowly bring the two inner corners together. Wet the two inner corners and firmly press them together. Place the finished wontons on a baking sheet or cutting board lined with parchment paper. Continue with the remaining filling and wrappers.

Cooking the wontons. Heat a large pot of water under medium- high. When the water boils, add the wontons to the boiling water. Using a wooden spatula, gently stir the pot to prevent any wonton from sticking to the bottom or sticking together. While wontons are being cooked, occasionally stir the pot with the same spatula. When the water boils again, the wontons are ready. Turn off the heat and carefully take them out with a slotted spoon or strainer ladle onto a plate.

Making the soup (can be done simultaneously while cooking wontons). Prepare several large bowls. Add equal amounts of ingredients to each bowl: a few celery leaves (take out the stems if possible), 1 tablespoon of cilantro leaves, 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt, a pinch of ground white pepper, and a pinch of cayenne pepper. Fill each bowl half way with boiling water, mixing well. Adjust saltiness with more salt or water. Add cooked wontons to the soup and enjoy while they are hot.

For extra uncooked wontons, transfer the entire baking sheet with the wontons to a freezer. Flash freeze them in the freezer for at least 1 hour so they become hard. Put them in a large freezer Ziploc bag and keep storing in the freezer until used. Follow the same cooking method for frozen wontons. DO NOT defrost them. When the water boils, add the frozen wontons directly to the boiling water. It takes a little longer for frozen wontons to cook.