Television show host and cookbook author Andrew Zimmern loves this combo of poached chicken and wonton soup, both of which he tops with super-flavorful spices and aromatics. He cooks the chicken in stock, creating an extra-tasty broth that he then uses to poach the wontons AND serve as the wonton soup base. It’s a smart, practical way to utilize the broth, but if you only want to make the chicken, that’s totally fine!
Here are his tips for the best results:
1.) When poaching a chicken, to make the white meat meltingly tender, drop a washed and dried whole bird in boiling stock and cook, lowering the heat to maintain a simmer for 90 seconds, then turning off the heat. Cover and let it steep in the hot liquid. Ninety minutes later, it will be perfect.
2.) For texturally perfect wonton filling, add steamed, cooled, squeeze-dried and very well-minced cabbage to the mixture. Mixing in some crushed ice to emulsify the fat helps, too.
3.) Don’t overfill anything. This advice extends to hand pies, empanadas, spring rolls, egg rolls, stuffed grape leaves, turkeys and especially dumplings and wontons! Underfilling is the secret to wrapped/sealed foods.
Get all the tips from our “tip-tastic” show here and check out Andrew’s show, “Wild Game Kitchen,” Monday nights on the Outdoor Channel.