Prawn Wonton Soup

In a pot on medium heat, sweat the onions, ginger, garlic and dried shrimp until translucent. Add the peppercorns and cook for a further minute.

Add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer for 1 hour.

Turn off the heat and add the anchovies and sliced jamon. Make sure they are fully submerged.

Infuse for 20 minutes before passing through a fine strainer. Allow the liquid to gently fall through making sure not to press down on the solids. Discard the solids.

Season broth with salt to taste.

Chop prawn meat with a knife until it reaches the texture of coarse mince.

Place prawn mince in a large metal bowl with sesame powder, dashi powder, sesame oil, msg, sugar, salt and egg. Using your hand, mix all the ingredients together vigorously making sure everything is well combined. Continue to mix everything with your hand until the mixture thickens and becomes extremely sticky (roughly 5 minutes).

Line your chopping board with wonton wrapper sheets and place a teaspoon of prawn mix in the centre of each sheet. Dip your finger in a small bowl of water and rub it around the edges of the wonton sheet – this will help seal the wrapper.

Bring the corners of the wrapper together and pinch the edges firmly to create a ‘money bag’ shape with the wonton. Make sure the filling is not exposed once the edges are sealed, otherwise they will explode when you cook them. You can make them in advance and store them in a lightly greased container so they do not stick before cooking.

Bring a large pot of salted water to the boil. About 1 teaspoon of salt per litre will do.

Cut the yellow chives into 2cm batons (if you have opted for spring onions, slice them 1-2mm thick).

In a smaller pot, bring the wonton broth to the boil.

Blanch prawn wontons in the boiling salted water for about a minute. They will rise to the surface when they are fully cooked. Strain the wontons and divide into bowls.

Pour the wonton broth into the bowls with prawn wontons and garnish with a pinch of yellow chives or spring onions. If desired, you can serve them with a side of chilli oil and Chinese red vinegar for dipping the prawn wontons into.