Wontons in Spicy Gochujang Broth

Hot, aromatic, and soothing, these wontons in spicy gochujang broth really feels like a hug in a bowl. Plump wontons are served in a piping hot bowl of spicy, flavoursome soup with Korean gochujang broth. This spicy soup is savoury, and packed with flavours really hits the spot on a rainy or cold day.

If you are craving for big and bold flavours, and you’re a lover of spicy Asian dishes this is the soup for you. Add in a freshly homemade wontons and you have a perfect comforting cold night meal.

We are big fans of gochujang in my household! We love using this amazing paste to make everything from tofu, to noodles, to rice and now in this wonton soup broth.

What is Gochujang?

Gochujang, also known as Korean red pepper paste, is a thick, savoury and spicy condiment that is one of the fundamental ingredients in Korean cooking. It is made from gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes), glutinous rice, fermented soybeans and seasonings like salt and sugar. 

What does gochujang taste like? It’s a bit spicy, a bit umami, salty and deeply savoury. Gochujang traditionally also gets its gentle sweetness from its fermentation process, which takes place over several years and sees the starches in the rice convert to sugars.

Gochujang not only adds spice to your favourite dishes. It adds complexity and layers of flavour that make it spicy, sweet, salty, and funky all at once.

Wontons in Spicy Gochujang Broth Ingredients:

This wonton soup recipe consists of only two main components: 

• Broth – The star of this recipe is its broth. Ingredients for the broth-
  1. Shallots, garlic, lemon grass and ginger – This classic Asian combination brings Oriental dishes to life.
  2. Carrots, celery, cabbage – creates an aromatic foundation for the soup. Makes it more flavoursome.
  3. Gochujang paste – Adds spicy, sweet, salty, and funky depth of flavours to the broth.
  4. Thai Red curry paste – Adds complexity and layers of flavour.
  5. Soy Sauce – provides the dish with salt, umami and a hint of sweetness
  6. Coconut milk – make the broth a bit rich and balances the spiciness of gochujang a bit.
• Wontons – I highly recommend using freshly made dumplings (you can find our Broccoli and Tofu Wonton here). I think wontons are one of those things that many people don’t think to make, assuming they are really tedious and take ages. But they don’t!! The wonton filling takes minutes to make (literally – 5 minutes) and wrapping the wontons is quite fast if you use my method! But if you are in a rush you can also use the store bought wontons or dumplings of your choice.

How To Make Wontons in Spicy Gochujang Broth

This delicious wonton soup with spicy broth is super easy to put together and requires very little attention while cooking. Here are the quick and simple steps needed to prepare this soup:

• Whisk the gochujang paste, red curry paste, and soy sauce together. Combine the sauce ingredients together in a bowl and mix until well combined, making sure no lumps remain.
• Put a large heavy bottom pan on medium heat. Add the sesame oil, chopped shallots, ginger, garlic, and spring onions and sauté until the onions are soft. Add the carrots, celery, cabbage and lemon grass and sauté again for 2-3 minutes. Add the gochujang paste and mix well. Add the water and stock cube.
• Bring the soup to a boil and then lower the heat to a simmer. The goal here is for all the ingredient to release their flavours in the broth. All you need to do is remember to stir occasionally. 
• Make the dumpling – if making fresh homemade dumpling assemble them now.
• Strain the broth. Let the soup cool for a bit and then strain. Discard all the vegetable. Put the broth back in the pan and put on medium heat.
• Add coconut milk and lime juice. Bring to a simmer.
• Add the dumplings. Cook for 4-5 minutes. For an Asian wonton soup we believe it’s best to boil the dumplings so the soft shell can soak up the delicious flavours.
• Garnish with your favourite topping and enjoy!

How To Serve Wontons in Spicy Gochujang Broth

I love how you can serve and enjoy this spicy wonton soup is many ways. Below are some of my favourite ideas:

• Enjoy as a lunch or dinner – Serve a cup and more of broth with 8 dumplings for a filling meal.
• Serve with rice noodles or crispy noodles – To make a filling meal you can add noodles to this soup.
• Serve as an appetiser in a large party. Serve in small canapé bowls.

Helpful Tips And Tricks to make Wonton in Spicy Gochujang Broth

• Cut your veggies roughly but not into very large chunks. This ensures that your veggies are all cooked.
• If you have a low tolerance for spicy food, start with half the amount of gochujang. You can add more towards the end, if needed. The flavours will be much milder.
• For a more flavoursome broth, always use vegetable stock cube. But do make sure to use a low sodium one as gochujang and soy sauce are pretty salty on their own. 
• Be flexible with the amount of water and coconut milk added. If your gochujang soup is too spicy or salty for your liking, do add in a few splash of water or coconut milk to dilute the flavour. 
• Boil the wontons in the broth. It will make the broth a bit richer and the wontons will soak up all the spicy and umami flavours.
• Boil them Dumpling in a separate pot. Use a large pot (or a wok) filled with plenty of water. Cook dumplings in batches. Ideally 20-25 dumplings at a time (adjust according to the size of the dumplings).
• Steam the wontons : you can also steam the wontons instead of boiling them.

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Wonton Soup with Spicy Broth

Serves: 5 Prep Time: 25 Minutes Cooking Time: 40 Minutes 40 Minutes

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 4 voted )

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Ingredients

For the Wontons:

• 120g asparagus, finely chopped
• 200g pressed firm tofu
• 1 tbsp grated ginger
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped
• 1 tbsp coriander stalks, chopped
• 1 green chilli, finely chopped
• 1 tsp rice vinegar
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp sambal oelek
• 1 tbsp cornflour
• salt and white pepper
• pinch of sugar (optional)
• 1.5 tsp sesame oil

For the Broth :

• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 3 shallots, roughly chopped
• 2 spring onions, roughly chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp chopped ginger
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1 celery stick, diced
• 2 cups cabbage
• 1 lemon grass
• 3 tbsp gochujang
• 1 tbsp Thai red curry paste
• 3 tbsp light soy sauce
• 1 vegetable broth cube
• 1.5 litre of water
• 1.5 tbsp lime juice
• 200 ml coconut milk

Garnish

• Chilli oil (homemade or store bought)
• Sesame seeds
• Coriander
• Spring onions
• Edamame

Did You Make This Recipe?

If you did, take a picture and tag me on Instagram at @poetryofspices!