Shrimp & Chinese Chive Wonton Soup

Place mushrooms in a small heatproof bowl. Heat 1/2 cup broth until steaming and pour over the mushrooms. Let stand until softened, about 30 minutes. Remove the mushrooms (reserve the broth); cut off and discard the stems and finely chop the caps.

Cut shrimp into 1/4-inch pieces. Combine the shrimp, the mushroom caps, chives, water chestnuts (or jicama), rice wine (or sherry), 1 teaspoon sesame oil and pepper in a bowl.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and lightly dust with cornstarch. Loosely cover wonton wrappers with a barely damp kitchen towel. Take 6 of the wrappers and set in a row with one corner facing you. Place a rounded teaspoon of the shrimp filling on the bottom corner of each wrapper. Starting at the bottom, roll each wrapper up three-quarters of the way, tucking in the filling as you go. Press on both sides to seal. Lightly dab a few drops of water on one of two side corners, bring the side corners together, overlap them and press to seal. Place the filled wontons on the prepared pan. Repeat in 3 more batches to make 24 wontons.

Put 2 quarts of water on to boil in a large pot for cooking the wontons.

Meanwhile, combine the remaining 4 cups broth, the reserved mushroom-soaking liquid and ginger in a large saucepan; cover and bring to a boil. Add yau choi (or broccolini) and cook until tender-crisp, 1 to 2 minutes. Remove from heat. Discard ginger. Divide greens among 6 soup bowls and drizzle with 1 teaspoon sesame oil each. Stir soy sauce into the broth; cover to keep warm.

Add half the wontons to the boiling water and return to a boil over high heat, nudging them with a slotted spoon to prevent them from sticking. Reduce heat to medium and gently simmer until all the wontons float to the surface, 2 to 4 minutes. Use the slotted spoon to divide the wontons among 3 of the bowls, then ladle about 3/4 cup broth over each portion. Repeat with the remaining wontons and broth. Serve hot, garnished with cilantro, if desired.