Do you believe that you can wrap 50 wontons within 5 minutes? Most people think making wontons at home is a labor of love. This recipe is going to change your mind completely because I will show you the easiest fastest folding method to wrap the wontons and a quick tip to upgrade your store-bought stock. It takes about 30 minutes from start to finish and it serves a whole family.

Cut 1/3 of kabocha squash into a few big chunks. Use a spoon to remove the seeds. After you peel the skin, it weight about 10 oz. Cut it into 1 cm thick slices. Place it into a glass bowl along with a few tbsp of water to help to create some steam. Cover with a plate. Microwave it for 5 minutes.

While waiting, you should have just enough time to make the filling. In a food processor, add

• 1/2 lb (227 grams) of ground pork, if you don’t eat pork, substitute it with chicken
• 1/2 lb (227 grams) of peeled and deveined shrimp
• 1/4 cup of diced some scallion and 1/4 cup of diced cilantro
• 1.5 tbsps. of finely minced garlic
• 2 tsps. of finely minced ginger
• 2 tbsps. of soy sauce
• 1.5 tbsps. of oyster sauce
• 1/2 tsp of sugar
• 1/2 tsp of five spice powder
• a drizzle of sesame oil for a nutty taste
• 3 tbsp of water

Use the on and off mode to blend everything for just 40 seconds. Don’t grind the meat too fine otherwise the texture will come out too mushy. Give it a few stirs to incorporate the uneven bits that were stuck on the edge. And your filling is done. Just leave it in the food processor. No need to transfer it into a different bowl unless you like to wash more dishes.

Take the squash our of the microwave and add 1 cup of crushed ice to cool down. Then transfer it into a small blender and blend until smooth. Set it aside.

Drizzle in 3 tbsps. of vegetable oil into your wok. Turn the heat to medium. Quickly cut 3 scallions into 2 inches long pieces. Slice 1/2 inch of ginger and 4 cloves of garlic. Add them all into the wok.

Stir this over medium heat for a minute. Store-bought stock usually doesn’t smell as fragrant because they have been sitting on the shelf for a long time. Adding aromatics is an easy way to upgrade it.

Pour in the squash puree and stir for a minute. Then add 6 cups of store bought chicken stock. You can also do beef or vegetable stock.

Mix this really well and your stock will have that desired bright orange color. Squash contains a little bit of starch so it makes the soup smooth, creamy as well. It would take about 5 minutes for this to come to a boil.

Meanwhile, you can wrap the wonton. Make sure you have your wonton wrapper ready in advance. They usually come frozen so you either defrost it in the refrigerator overnight or leave it on the counter for 40 minutes. (To those extra fussy people, this 40 minutes doesn’t count into the cooking time.)

Here is the easiest and fastest folding method. Use a pair of chopsticks to grab about 1/2 tbsp of filling. Put it in the wrapper with the meat side down. Fold it over. Give it a solid squeeze and pull it out.

This folding method does not require any practice. Even if you have never made wontons before, you can do it. Your wonton may not come out the same size, which doesn’t matter at all because wonton is not supposed to be so precised and it it does not need to be sealed completely. It takes me about 6 seconds to make one.  This recipe is enough to make 50 wontons, which can serve a 4 member family.

All right, the broth is nice and bubbling. Add some salt to taste. Throw in however many wontons you want. Freshly made wonton cooks really fast, takes about 4-5 minutes over medium heat. I like to add some baby Bok choy to balance the meal but you don’t have to because we used quite a lot of squash in the broth so this is very healthy already.

Sprinkle some diced scallion as garnish. Who can say no to a bowl of homemade wonton soup. The broth has a subtle sweetness from squash. The wonton is very juicy. Even though we were using the fastest folding method, the taste was super delicious. This is soul-warming – perfect for a rainy day.