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Cozy Wonton Soup

August 28, 2025 • 22 comments • Posted in: chinese food, soup, wonton

Wonton soup has long been one of my favorite foods. It was one of the only things I ate as small child and I have many fond memories of my small self, kneeling on a chair at our round laminate kitchen table, meticulously wrapping wonton for dinner. I would always make the wonton extra tiny. I loved eating wonton wrappers, more so the the wonton filling, and my wonton would be 10 percent meat and 90 percent wrapper. They didn’t look anything like the wonton we would order by the bowlfuls on the weekends at our local wonton congee noodle restaurant, but I loved making those misshapen, wonky wontons.

What is wonton soup?

In the USA, wonton soup seems like an afterthought: something you might order to round out your takeout meal. But in Hong Kong, arguably the home of the best wonton soup in the world, it can be a Michelin worthy meal. Hong Kong style wonton soup is a clear soup base made with chicken or pork broth and dried shrimp stock, full of umami and depth. A hint of toasted sesame oil adds a light nuttiness and a touch of soy sauce adds a satisfying salinity. The wontons themselves are bouncy and delicate, a mix of ground pork and roughly chopped prawns wrapped in a silky noodle wrapper. A good bowl of wonton soup is revolutionary.

How to make wonton soup

1. Make the broth. Bring the broth ingredients to a simmer and let infuse.
2. Cook the wonton. Bring a large pot of water up to a boil. When at a rapid boil, gently drop in the wonton and stir to stop them from sticking to the bottom of the pot. The wonton will sink down at first and then start to float as the water comes back up to a boil and they are cooked through. Take one and cut it open to make sure, then scoop out all of the cooked wonton.
3. Serve. Ladle the broth into a bowl. Add the wontons and finish with scallions. Enjoy!

Easy wonton soup

It's best to make the wonton by hand, but sometimes you just don't have the time. In that case, feel free to grab a bag of frozen wonton from your local grocery store (they should be in every frozen aisle ever, no need to go to a specialty Asian supermarket) and follow the recipe for the soup. You can have delicious easy wonton soup in 5-10 minutes.

What are wonton?

Wonton are Chinese dumpling filled with meat, typically served in a flavorful clear broth or dressed in sauce. Unlike most other Chinese dumplings, wonton wrappers are squares or trapezoids. The wrappers are slippery, thin, and supple. Wontons are usually filled with ground pork, shrimp, and aromatics. They’re incredibly popular, both as a snack, side dish, or meal. They’re served at home, in restaurants, as night market street food, You can make them at home easily and they also sell them premade, frozen, in lots of grocery stores. Weirdly, you can even get them on Amazon. But the best is homemade, which is what we're doing here.

How to make wonton filling

Wonton fillings are where it’s at! Everyone and their grandma has a secret recipe for fillings. Usually when you get wonton the filling is ground pork with shrimp, but nowadays there are MILLIONS of filling combinations. The simplest way to make wonton filling is to put everything in a bowl and mix it up. Here are some tips:

• Protein. Wontons are a meat based dumpling, so it’s best to use a protein with some fat in it so the filling stays juicy and fluffy after cooking. This is why pork is so popular. Ground pork has just enough fat to protein ratio. Adding in some bouncy shrimp is a pro move because they add some textural contrast. That being said, you can use any ground meat you like (or even tofu), just know that your wonton will probably be a bit more dense if you’re using extra lean meat.
• Aromatics and seasoning. Ginger, scallions, soy sauce, and shaoxing wine (read more about shaoxing here) are my weapons of choice to make these wontons absolutely irresistible.
• Cornstarch. Mix together a bit of cornstarch with water then stir it into the ground pork. Stirring in a bit of cornstarch and water will make the insides of your wonton super tender. It’s the secret to juicy, tender wonton! When you stir in the water-cornstarch mix everything will come together into a homogenous paste, which is exactly what you want.

How to fold wonton

The simplest way (and the way I did it when I was small) is to just put 2 teaspoons of filling into the middle of a wonton wrapper and squish up the wrapper around the filling. That’s what I did in the photos in this post and they look chubby and cute. It’s the classic Hong Kong style wrapping. However, if you want a bit more pizzazz, you can try this:

1. Lay the wonton wrapper out as as diamond. Place some filling near the corner closest to you.
2. Fold/roll the wrapper up, enclosing the filling in a triangle.
3. Press the sides to seal.
4. Bring the opposite ends of the wrapper together and use a dab of water to seal.

Which wonton wrappers to buy

Wonton wrappers are always square, just look for a square package of dumpling wrappers (they’re in the fridge section). They’re supposed to be very thin, so choose the package that has the thinnest wrappers. You'll find a better selection of dumpling wrappers at your local Asian grocery store. Some major grocery stores sell wonton wrappers as well, but they tend to be thicker.

How to freeze wonton

I like making a big batch of wonton and then freezing them so we have wonton on hand when we want a quick and easy meal. To freeze, just lay out the wonton in a single layer on a tray or baking sheet, not touching, and freeze until firm. Then gather them up and put them in a freezer safe bag or container. Cook from frozen, adding a couple of extra minutes on the cooking time.

What does wonton mean?

I’ve always loved wonton, mostly because of how they taste, but also because wonton in Chinese (雲吞) means swallowing clouds. They kind of do look like fluffy little delicious clouds floating in broth :)

How many wonton per person

A good rule of thumb is 8-10 as a snack/starter and 12-16 as a main.

How much soup per person

I would say 1 1/4 cup of soup per person is a good amount.

Frequently Asked Questions

• I’m allergic to shrimp, do I need shrimp in wonton? Nope, if you don’t like shrimp or are allergic, you can simply omit the shrimp and add in the equal amount of extra pork. Obviously you would leave the dried shrimp out of the soup as well. If you want to add extra umami, add a dried shiitake to the soup where you would add the dried shrimp.
• I don’t eat pork, what can I make wonton with? Chicken wonton are wonderful, as are turkey wonton. I don’t really do beef wonton much because I like how much more tender ground chicken and turkey are.
• What vegetables can I put in wonton soup? If you want to add more vegetables to your wonton soup to make it more veggie forward, the good news is that you can add just about any vegetable to make it more hearty and healthy. Try adding sliced mushrooms, kale, or spinach.
• How do I add noodles to wonton soup? If you want to make wonton soup a meal and go the Hong Kong route and make wonton noodle soup, simply cook your noodles according to the package (not in the wonton soup) drain well and then add them to the soup with the wonton. The kind of noodles used for wonton noodle soup are, unsurprisingly, called wonton noodles. They’re thin, egg noodles that are springy, chewy, and seriously good. You can find them in the refrigerated section of Asian grocery stores labeled thin wonton noodles.

One last (really important) thing

There are are a lot of wonton soup recipes out there. Heck, there are actually a lot of different kinds of wonton soups in the world. That being said, if you’ve been poking around the internet and aren’t sure if the recipe you’re looking at is authentic or not, I will give you this tip: Chinese people will NEVER ever boil wontons in the soup they’re serving them in. Don’t do it! Boiling wontons in the soup will make your soup slimy and taste weird. There’s a reason why all wonton noodle houses have at least 2 giant boiling pots: one filled boiling water for cooking wontons and one filled with that delicious broth the wontons bathe in after they’ve been cooked. Happy wonton-ing! xoxo steph PS - Try these in spicy chili oil, they’re amazing. PPS - Round out your Chinese take-out feast with Easy Homemade Char Siu, Egg Fried Rice, and Sweet and Sour Pork.  

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Easy Air Fryer Korean Fried Chicken

August 27, 2025 • 41 comments • Posted in: air fryer, chicken, fried chicken, korean, korean fried chicken

You’re 30 minutes away from the easiest air fryer (or oven baked) Korean fried chicken.  Believe it or not, the air fryer is the best tool to make amazing homemade Korean fried chicken. If you’ve never tried it, its an extra crunchy double fried chicken tossed in a sweet and spicy sauce, all done up in an air fryer. It's like the best hot wings ever.

What is Korean fried chicken?

Korean fried chicken is double (and at some places, tripled) fried extra crispy wings and drummettes that are then coated in a sticky, sweet, and spicy sauce. Today we are making the most common sauce, which is basically sweet and spicy. It’s like buffalo wings amped up with the power of gochujang.

Air fryer Korean fried chicken

We've always loved the idea of making Korean fried chicken at home, but even with as much as we cook, deep frying is never fun, so we've never done it. Steph suggested using the air fryer, which I thought was a genius idea, and I developed this double air fry technique that produced a pretty darn crispy chicken that I think rivals the best of the best deep fried versions while being way healthier.

How to make Korean fried chicken

The secret of Korean fried chicken is the double frying. Double frying in the air fryer works just as well as it does with deep frying, but way easier. The secret is to coat your chicken after the first fry using a spray/mist of oil. It's not totally necessary, but it really helps. To make Korean fried chicken in an air fryer:

1. Coat the chicken. I coated the chicken first with oil to help with heat transfer, then salt and pepper, then corn or potato starch, which is what Asian-style chicken is classically made with for a lighter, crispier outer shell.
2. Air fry the chicken. 400ºF for 15 minutes. There’s no need to preheat the air fryer.
3. Make the sauce. While the chicken is air frying, make the sauce by combining all the sauce ingredients, then heating it up to a very slight boil (or even just microwaving it for a minute).
4. Flip the chicken. When 15 minutes is up, flip the chicken and continue air frying for another 5 minutes. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes.
5. Double fry and sauce. After the chicken has cooled, spray it with oil again, then air fry it for the final time at 400ºF for 5 minutes. Remove and toss in sauce, then enjoy immediately.

How to make a lot of wings

Sometimes you need to make multiple pounds of wings. Air fryers tend to have small baskets that fit one pound just about perfectly. You could easily do small batches until you achieve your desired wing quantity, but there are a couple of other options. You can:

• make multiple levels of wings with air fryer racks (be sure to buy the right size for your baskets), which we love. It takes a little more time and it's best if you swap the rack positions halfway for even browning, but it's amazing for doubling or tripling your air fryer wing output.
• use a baking sheet with a rack and an oven on convection mode to simulate a giant air fryer.
• use a baking sheet with a rack and a conventional oven, this will take longer (up to 30-50 minutes depending on how crispy you want your wings) but it's still a lot less labor than standing by the air fryer swapping out baskets of wings.

Korean fried chicken sauce

The magical sauce that goes on Korean fried chicken is a mixture of honey, brown sugar, gochujang, and ketchup. Really: ketchup is a very important ingredient if you want to keep things authentic. It's important to note that this is just one possible sauce – there are other sauces for Korean fried chicken out there, but this one (in America, at least) is the iconic one.

What is gochujang?

Gochujang is very slightly spicy fermented Korean paste that goes great in everything. We also use it for our sweet and spicy gochujang honey roast chicken and potatoes, our 10 minute spicy beef weeknight stir fry udon, and our kimchi stew with mochi egg recipe.. Traditionally it comes in tubs, but these days you can find it in much more convenient squeeze bottles in the Asian aisle of literally any grocery store.

What if I don't have spray oil?

Spray oil is really good, cheap, and irreplaceable in the kitchen – especially if you have an air fryer. It's not worse for you than any other kind of oil, as long as you know when to use it and its limitations. We like a nice high smoke point propellant free oil, but you can use any oil you want (except olive because of its low smoke point) and you can even make your own.

Deep/pan fry Korean fried chicken

If you don’t have an air fryer (they're pretty cheap these days though) you can easily do it the classic way: fry the chicken until golden brown, then remove and let cool a bit before dropping it back in for a few more minutes. Then toss in sauce.

Oven baked korean fried chicken

If you don't have an air fryer, you can use an oven to bake these wings. Just follow the recipe as is, but preheat the oven to 425ºF and bake the wings on the middle rack for 30 minutes, then turn them and continue for another 10-20 minutes (50 minutes total). Toss them in the sauce once they are cool enough to handle.

Will this sauce work with any kind of fried chicken?

Yes! If you are feeling lazy, you can just make the sauce and toss it in grocery store or chain fried chicken. It won’t be as good or quite the same, but still pretty awesome.

How does it compare to delivery?

Korean fried chicken is available as a delivery, so why do all this work you ask? Because it's not really that much work, it's cheaper, and believe me, this chicken is going to knock the socks off the delivery stuff. -Mike

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Air Fryer Chicken Tacos

August 25, 2025 • 10 comments • Posted in: air fryer, chicken, mexican, new mexico, tacos

You need to make these air fryer tacos made with corn tortillas with juicy chicken and cheese, crisped up in the air fryer for the ultimate in crunch. Last summer, Mike and I were lucky enough to go on a road trip through New Mexico. We went camping at White Sands National Park, we spent a thankfully-air-conditioned afternoon inside Meow Wolf (highly recommend!), and we ate ALL the green chile cheeseburgers and tacos. It was truly the land of enchantment. I never knew that New Mexico would touch me so deeply, but it did. I’m forever changed by its stark beauty, its quiet sunsets, and of course, its food. I have a vast appreciation for New Mexican and Southwestern food now. While the green chile cheeseburgers were the highlight of our trip we also had a lot of tacos, specifically crispy chicken tacos. If you guys are ever in New Mexico, get the crispy chicken tacos at El Parasol. They're the best crispy chicken tacos I’ve ever had. The chicken is juicy, the tortillas are crisp, and the guacamole is the perfect creamy counterpoint to all of it. These crispy air fryer tacos are inspired by those very tacos.

How to make chicken tacos

1. Marinate. Boneless skinless chicken thighs in a marinade made up of orange juice, vinegar, and spices for 2 hours.
2. Cook. Lightly oil the air fryer basket and cook the chicken, flipping once. We like to slightly undercook our chicken because it’s going to get cooked again when the taco is assembled, so extra juicy is extra good. After the chicken is cooked, shred or chop it into small pieces.
3. Assemble. Warm up your tortillas - this is key so they don’t crack and break - wrap them up in a damp paper towel and microwave briefly. Oil the tortillas on both sides, then top with chicken and cheese and fold over carefully.
4. Crisp. Place the folded over tacos in the air fryer basket and crisp them up, flipping once. They tend to get a bit crispier as they cool, so you can take them out once they feel crunchy. Finish the tacos off with toppings of your choice and enjoy!

Why air fryer tacos?

Did you know you can make your own crispy hard shell tacos at home? Just like homemade tortilla chips, homemade hard shell tacos are super easy, barely an inconvenience. All you need are corn tortillas. You could deep-fry or bake the tortillas for that crispy crunch you’re looking for, but really, the air-fryer is the answer. Less oil, less mess, more crunch. Everything you could want in a homemade hard shell taco.

Do I need an air fryer?

Technically you don’t need an air fryer because an air fryer is really just a very tiny convection oven that heats up super quickly. So if you have convection mode on your oven or don’t mind waiting for your oven to heat up, you can bake these tacos for that same crispy crunch. We love the current air fryer we have though because it has such a giant fry basket and cleanup is a lot easier than washing baking trays.

What about soft tacos?

Sometimes you just want the hug of a soft taco – especially if you have some plush flour tortillas on hand. For soft chicken tacos, add 2 minutes of cook time to the chicken in the air fryer so the chicken is cooked through. Warm your tortillas up then top with the shredded chicken and hello super juicy soft chicken tacos!

Why homemade taco seasoning?

You might notice that there are a lot of spices in the ingredients list when I could have just specified taco seasoning instead. The reason is that taco seasoning is not only deeply unhealthy (it’s like 3 kinds of salt) but it’s also not that tasty compared to homemade. The taco seasoning you end up making here is good not just for chicken but beef or pork too, once you try it, you’ll never go back to store bought!

Chicken taco ingredients

• Corn tortillas. If you want crispy crunchy tortillas, you’re going to want corn tortillas. Flour tortillas are great too, but they don’t fry up the same way in the air fryer. Usually we like street taco size small corn tortillas (about 4 inches) but we also use the slightly bigger corn tortillas too, the ones that are about 6 inches. We have a local tortilleria where we get tortillas, but you know, Mission street taco corn (or flour) tortillas work well too!
• Chicken. Air fryer chicken thighs are extra juicy. Plus I love the fact that everything was made in the air fryer. You can also go for pork chops or steak if you’re not feeling chicken.
• Spices. For extra flavor the chicken is marinated in orange juice, vinegar, garlic, chile powder, and a bunch of spices for an extra kick. The orange juice and vinegar tenderize the chicken making it super juicy.
• Cheese. Cheese is optional but who doesn’t love cheese, especially when it’s melty?
• Toppings. You can go wild here. Classic is onions and cilantro of course, but maybe do like El Parasol and add some guacamole on? We went with some lettuce, avocado slices, hot sauce, and some limes to squeeze on for some tart-freshness.

Green chile chicken tacos

It’s Hatch green chile season and I just added some green chile to these chicken tacos and they are amazing. I just had to share.

All you need to do is remove the chile powder and instead add in 1/2 cup of chopped green chile.

Marinate 2 lbs of boneless skinless chicken thighs in: 1/2 cup orange juice, 1/2 cup green chile (I used fresh fire roasted Hatch chile), 3 cloves minced garlic, 1 tbsp neutral oil, 1 tbsp white vinegar, 2 tsp each of ground coriander, smoked paprika, dried oregano, and dried cumin, 1 tsp black pepper, and 1 tsp kosher salt. Let marinate for no more than 2 hours. Air fry the chicken as per the recipe below and follow the rest of the instructions to make the crispy air fryer tacos. Serve them up with some salsa verde on the side and you’ll be in heaven!

xoxo -steph

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Iced Matcha Latte Recipe

August 23, 2025 • Leave a comment • Posted in: latte, matcha

Iced matcha latte is having its moment in the sun and I am here for it. I love the green earthiness of matcha and I’m so excited that there are a bunch of new matcha cafes cropping up. Of course, I’m not loving the expensive price tags that iced matcha lattes come with, so I’ve been making my iced matcha lattes at home.

Matcha latte is better at home

It’s so satisfying to whisk up matcha into a smooth, bouncy microfoam. Plus, when you make matcha at home you have control over everything: the ice, the milk, the sweetener, and of course, the matcha. When you love matcha as much as I do, making lattes at home is so much better than paying for a water-y overly fancy matcha drink from a cute cafe (most of the time). You get a little moment of zen, a feeling of accomplishment (even if it is just making yourself a drink), a little bit of self-care, and a treat.

Iced strawberry matcha latte

My favorite matcha drink at the moment is the ever classic, strawberry matcha latte. The distinct layers of ruby red strawberries, pearly white milk, and verdant green matcha are just *chef’s kiss.* The sweetness of the strawberries, the creaminess of the milk, and the subtly bittersweet of matcha go so well together. Plus, they’re super easy to make at home. I’m going to do it two ways: one with homemade strawberry compote and one with strawberry preserves/jam.

Just a plain iced matcha latte

If you’re looking for a classic iced matcha latte, sans strawberry, it’s essentially the same as making a strawberry matcha latte, minus the strawberry, plus a sweetener. You can use anything you like for sweetener: honey, maple syrup, simple syrup, or even flavored syrups. How much you add is up to your preferred sweetness level. Start with 1-2 teaspoons and go from there. You can always add more sweetener at the end, but you can’t take sweetener away.

Iced matcha latte ingredients

Strawberries

The sweetness in this matcha comes completely from the strawberries. If you’re a sweet tooth, you can add in a bit of sweetener too, but I find that the strawberries add just the right amount of sweetness to contrast and highlight the flavor of matcha. You can go one of two ways to make the strawberry component: homemade or store-bought. Obviously, store bought is super easy and convenient and it’s what I do in fall and winter when local strawberries aren’t in season. I love Bonne Maman’s strawberry jam/preserves. That being said, if strawberries are in season, I love making a quick strawberry compote — it tastes fresher, sweeter, and more like summer. More on that below.

Milk

The milk in this latte is up to you. The nuttiness of oat milk pairs very nicely with matcha, as do all the other plant based milks. Regular, conventional milk works too. It’s really up to you and what milk you love in your lattes. I like oat milk or 2%, depending on my mood.

Matcha

The most important part! There are so many grades of matcha powder out there and so much information about quality and taste. There’s a lot of discourse about how you shouldn’t use high-quality matcha for lattes, but I’m of the opinion that you should do what’s right for you. If you want to use high quality, ceremonial grade matcha in your strawberry matcha latte, go for it! I usually use ceremonial grade. I understand why people say that it’s wasted in something that is not just plain matcha, but I can taste the difference between culinary and ceremonial matcha and I want my strawberry matcha lattes to taste amazing. The choice is up to you.

Ice

Ice is so much more than just what makes the latte cold. The shape and size of your ice also affects the taste. Be aware that not just the shape, but the amount of ice changes the way your latte will taste. If you like your lattes strong and concentrated tasting, use a giant, large ice cube. Use smaller ice if you like a bit more mellow latte. If you use crushed (or even better, nugget) ice, it will make your latte taste even more watered down, almost like a fresh green water. I go between regular sized ice cubes and giant ice cubes, mostly. Sometimes if I feel like I want to sip on something for a long time with a more watered down flavor, I’ll use nugget ice.

How to make an iced strawberry matcha latte

1. Make the strawberry compote - if you’re using strawberry jam/preserves, you can skip this step. It’s super easy to make fresh strawberry compote though, check out the next section.
2. Add the strawberry to the glass - scoop out 2 tablespoons of the fresh strawberry compote and add it to the bottom of your glass. If you’re using jam, you might want to experiment a bit with how much or little strawberry jam you want to add.
3. Add ice and milk - add a generous amount of ice to your glass and pour in 170 ml (about 3/4 cup) milk of your choice to the glass. Set aside.
4. Whisk the matcha - use a sieve to sift 4 grams of matcha into your matcha bowl. Add 15 grams (about 1 tbsp) of room temp water and use your chasen (matcha whisk) to mix into a thick paste. Add 45 grams (about 3 tbsp) of warm water (140-150°F) and whisk, whisk, whisk, until your matcha is thick and foamy. Pour the matcha gently into the glass, aiming for an ice cube so the ice cube can break the tension and help layer the matcha over the milk.
5. Enjoy - admire your gorgeous homemade iced strawberry matcha latte, use a straw to stir it all up and enjoy!

How to make strawberry compote

1. Wash and hull 1lb of berries and chop them into small pieces.
2. Add the strawberries, with 1/4 cup sugar and a squeeze of lemon, to a small pot and bring to a gentle simmer over medium-low heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves and the berries start to break down and thicken.
3. When the berries are soft and the sugar is completely mixed in, remove from the heat.
4. Use the back of your spoon or fork to mash the berries up, making sure that they’re soft and small enough to go through a straw.
5. Set aside and let cool completely.

Do I need a matcha whisk/chasen?

You don’t need a matcha whisk and holder, but if you have one, making matcha will be infinitely more enjoyable and easier. Traditional matcha whisks, called chasen, are made of a single piece of bamboo and have a multitude of springy whisps specifically designed to help whisk matcha into a creamy emulsified suspension. Chasen’s advantages are twofold: because chasen are made from bamboo, they won’t scratch your bowls and because they have so many prongs, they will actually froth your matcha, unlike a metal whisk. If you get a matcha whisk, it’s best to get the holder – kusenaoshi – as well. The holder holds the whisk with the prongs facing down so they can air dry in the proper shape and not get moldy. Unlike most things in the matcha world, chasen aren't super expensive either. After trying a whole bunch of cheap and expensive ones from here and brought home from Japan, I find myself using this one from Amazon most often, which is a bonus because I can easily replace it when the prongs wear out. That’s it! I have so many other matcha drink recipes if you like, so let me know if you try this one or if you want more! xoxo steph

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