Molo Soup ( Wonton Soup )

        Hi, everyone! I'm so glad to be back after one week of absence. Actually, I never went anywhere, just had to make my college children's uniforms as no tailor would take them anymore. 

        Now, I'm no tailor nor dressmaker. I haven't even finished my dressmaking lessons in the 90's. But I am happy to say that thanks to YouTube and the Sewing Guru, I was able to make two pairs of pants and two polo shirts for my 16 year old boy, and three pencil skirts and two blouses for my 18 year old girl. Whew! I never thought I could make them myself, but after much prayer, pricking my fingers, sewing, and adjusting, they're all done! 

        I have greatly benefited from the experience though; 1. I gained experience making wearable clothes. ( It did matter that I was on a tight schedule, and that the materials were special edition cloths that bore the school's initials, and that I could not afford to make junk out of them) and 2. As my hands were busy, I filled my mind with Christian music, wearing headphones all day, everyday for a week. My mind and soul had a work out and I felt my faith strengthened, and 3. I lost about 5 pounds, sitting on my sewing machine and sewing away from 8 am until 10 pm in the evening. Yay!

        Okay, so today we're finally making Molo Soup. Molo is a district in a town in Ilo-Ilo, where the locals traded with the Chinese. The place quickly gained the reputation of becoming a Chinatown as many Chinese came and settled there even before the Spanish colonization, so that the place used to be called Pari-an ( meaning, Chinatown.)

Molo Soup

        It is safe to say that  Molo Soup was influenced by the Chinese Wonton soup but has taken on a more local flavor. Some people still call it Pancit Molo, though technically there are no noodles in  the soup. ( Pancit;  means noodles ) but few reason that the main ingredients of noodles still make up the wanton wrapper, or so they say. But, pancit or not, I love it, love to make it, and prefer it to any other soup, bar none!

        It has a light, velvety, sexy texture because of the wonton pieces, but is filling with the wonton dumplings. This is one dish you can serve as a light meal, as snack or as soup. This is also perfect for teething babies and toddlers, as well as the elderly, who cannot digest well.

        The Ilonggo ( Ilo-Ilo, a region in the Visayas or Central Philippines ) version of Molo Soup seems to be the most popular, so that's what we will be making.

INGREDIENTS:

A. FOR THE MOLO OR WONTON DUMPLINGS

250 g or a cup of ground pork
50 g of chopped up shrimp (optional, but adds oomph!)
2 T. sliced green onions
1/4 cup grated carrots
1/4 cup grated turnip or singkamas
1 T. patis or fish sauce
salt and pepper to taste
30-50 pieces wonton wrapper ( molo wrapper or siomai wrapper )


B. FOR THE BROTH

1 chicken breast
2 cloves garlic
1/2 cup sliced white onions
6-8 cups water
salt, fish sauce and pepper to taste 
sliced spring onions

PROCEDURE:

1. In a deep pot, saute the garlic and onions until fragrant and transparent, add the chicken and water and a little salt and pepper. Boil until the chicken is cooked. Remove the chicken breast and let cool a little. Flake the chicken meat and discard the bones. Place the chicken flakes in the broth again.

2. In a bowl, mix the first seven ingredients for the dumpling. Wrap each teaspoonful in a wrapper, sealing with water. Set aside. Below is a step by step tutorial on wrapping the molo.

center a teaspoon of the mixture on a wrapper and wet the top two sides with water to seal

Bring up the lower half to seal into a triangle

inserting a finger in the middle, fold up one side, wet the tips with water

Fold the remaining tip over and you're done!

Do the same to the rest. You could end up with 40-50 dumplings

3. Bring the broth with the chicken flakes into the boil again and drop the molo dumplings one by one. Cook for about 10-12 minutes. Tear the remaining wrappers and add to the soup. Adjust the seasonings, adding more fish sauce and ground pepper as needed.

4. To serve: Laddle soup and molo into a soup bowl and sprinkle green onions on top. Serve hot!

Big bowl of Molo Soup

Easy,  and delicious, right? 

NOTE: To make this dish fast, you can use store-bought dumplings instead, and simply get started with the broth. But, if you have time to spare, it would be nice to make them from scratch. Your family will think you fussed, though the dumplings are pretty easy to make.

You may also make the dumplings in advance and freeze until you make Molo Soup.

Til next time, ciao!