Thai Mushroom Soup with Crispy Wontons

Ingredients

For the soup:

• 125g shiitake mushrooms
• 1500ml vegetable stock
• 2 stalks lemongrass, finely chopped
• 4cm piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
• 1½ tbsp lime juice
• 4 kaffir lime leaves
• 1½ tbsp soy sauce
• 100g chestnut mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1 large clove garlic, crushed
• 1½ tbsp sweet chilli sauce

For the wontons:

• 60g shiitake mushroom tops (use stalks in soup stock), diced
• 75g pressed tofu, finely diced
• 2 spring onions, finely chopped
• 1½ tsp red chilli
• 1 tsp ginger, finely chopped
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 30g vegan margarine, melted
• 100g filo pastry (leave the filo in its packet until ready to use as it may dry and be difficult to use without cracking)

For the garnish:

• 2 sprigs fresh coriander
• ½ red chilli, finely chopped

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 180°C / fan 160°C / gas 4.
2. Take stalks out of shiitake mushrooms and reserve caps.
3. In a saucepan, add the stock together with the shiitake stalks (add stalks from shiitake mushrooms used in wontons), lemongrass, ginger, lime juice, lime leaves and shoyu.
4. Bring to the boil and simmer for 15 minutes. Strain, reserving the liquid and discarding vegetables. Return liquid to the pan and reheat.
5. Add sliced shiitake mushroom caps to the pan and simmer for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, sauté the garlic and sliced chestnut mushrooms in the oil, stirring all the time, until the mushrooms are softened. Add mushrooms and garlic to the pan together with sweet chilli sauce.
6. Mix the first six wonton ingredients together. Melt the vegan margarine. Cut the filo into twelve 10cm squares. Make an 8 pointed filo star by placing one square of filo on your work surface and brushing with a little melted margarine. Place a second square on top rotated 45° to create your star. Brush with a little more margarine.
7. Place 1 tbsp of wonton mixture in the centre of the filo star and draw up the edges, then twist to make a money bag. Brush the outside with more margarine. Place on baking tray lined with baking parchment. Repeat until you have 6 wontons.
8. Bake in the oven for about 7-10 minutes, until golden and crisp.
9. To serve: Reheat the soup and pour into 6 warmed small soup bowls. Just before eating, place a wonton in the centre of each and garnish with coriander sprigs and red chilli.