Chicken and shrimp wonton soup with aromatic oil

Soak the cinnamon, bay leaves, star anise, cloves and whole dried chilies in hot water for 20 minutes so they can give up their flavour to the oil without burning.

Dice the onions.

Crush and finely dice the garlic; optionally rinse it in a sieve, because crushing releases a chemical that turns bitter when deep fried, then dry it on paper towels.

Cut the scallions into two inch lengths and thinly slice the ginger.

Pour 1.5 cups of oil into the wok and add the onion first, since it holds the most moisture. Medium low, simmer about five minutes.

When it starts bubbling add the garlic, ginger, scallion and the soaked, well-drained spices; stir constantly, scraping the bottom, and simmer on medium-low 20 to 30 minutes until the onion and garlic are golden brown.

Pick out a piece to check the colour against the bubbles, then strain quickly through a sieve and discard the spices, scallion and ginger. Keep the oil in a jar.

Roughly dice the shrimp.

Mix the shrimp and ground chicken with soy sauce, fish sauce, oyster sauce, cooking wine and white pepper, stirring in one direction for five minutes until the paste is sticky and shows small strands.

Fold in the fried aromatics and the diced garlic chives and mix until combined.

Wrap: filling in the middle of a wrapper, gather the edges and pinch to close.

Bring 8 cups of chicken stock to a boil with about a tablespoon of salt, covered.

Swirl the boiling broth into a vortex with a spoon and add the wontons so they flow rather than sink and stick.

Keep the heat medium-low until they float and the pot returns to a simmer, then add half a cup of cold water and wait for it to simmer again; frozen or fresh, the same method cooks them through.

Cut the baby bok choy and blanch it with the wontons for 20 seconds to a minute.

Off the heat, drizzle in 1 to 2 tablespoons of the aromatic oil so the residual heat reactivates the fragrance, and sprinkle with diced scallion.