Chinese Wonton Noodle Soup

With the colder days kicking in, I always look forward to warm and comforting food.

So, when I was free the other day, I finally decided that it was time to make one of my favourite childhood Malaysian hawker or street food – Chinese wonton noodle soup.

Chinese wonton noodles are very popular among Malaysians. They are often sold at street stalls and at Chinese restaurants. Whether rain or shine, you will find Malaysians happily enjoying their Chinese wonton noodles with their family and friends – usually as a weekly affair. This dish is the perfect comfort food whether you’re feeling at tip top condition or feeling sick and down.

There are two versions of Chinese wonton noodles served in Malaysia – the soup based and the dry version. The soup version usually consist of a serve of three wontons, Choy sum (Chinese flowering cabbage), a few strips of BBQ pork, wonton noodles and wonton soup broth. For the dry version, the wontons and soup are served together in a bowl separate from the plate of wonton noodles which are tossed in special oyster sauce combination and topped with vegetables and BBQ pork. These two versions are often served with green chilli pickle.

If you are wondering whether making your own Chinese wontons is worth the effort – my answer is a ‘Yes’. Although it may be time consuming, making your own wontons means knowing what goes into the wontons. This will ensure that you get wholesome ingredients and a generous amount of filling inside your wontons. Sounds tempting enough?

If you’re feeling energised and want to make your own Chinese Wonton Noodle Soup, I’ve specially compiled some useful tips for you.

There are four components in my Chinese Wonton Noodle Soup dish:

• The wontons
• The wonton soup broth
• The vegetables
• The wonton noodles

WONTONS

My freshly prepared Chinese wontons

Ingredients:

1 packet wonton wrappers

500 g skinless pork shoulder

125 g medium sized banana prawns

1-2 stalks spring onions, chopped

Egg wash (beaten egg white)

Cornflour Salt, pepper and sugar to taste

Method:

• Mince the pork shoulder and banana prawns. If you do not have a suitable kitchen appliance, I’d recommend you to omit the prawns and just buy minced pork from the butcher. However, the texture of freshly minced pork shoulder is always the best.
• Mix the ingredients in a bowl together with the chopped spring onions, cornflour, salt, pepper and sugar. If the mixture does not stick together, you should add a little more cornflour to it.
• Prepare some egg wash, a pastry brush and a lightly floured plate to place your wrapped wontons.
• Then wrap your wontons.
• Once you have wrapped your wontons, you should cook them in the wonton soup broth. The wontons will begin to float in the broth once it is cooked. Take them out immediately once they are cooked.

As for the wonton wrapping process, I feel that it would be much easier for me to show you a step-by-step video to help you understand the wonton wrapping process. So I prepared a video.

Watch my video here:

WONTON SOUP BROTH

I’m not a big fan of chicken stock cubes or store-bought chicken stocks. So I make this simple stock for my wonton soup broth:

Ingredients:

Chicken carcass

The white part of the spring onions, chopped

Salt, pepper and sugar to taste

Method:

• Place the chicken carcass, chopped spring onions, salt, pepper and sugar into a large or medium sized bowl. Add the water for the soup.
• Bring the water to the boil. Then, turn down the heat to a simmer.
• Simmer the soup for at least 30 minutes to an hour to extract all the flavours from the chicken carcass.
• Taste the soup and add more salt and sugar if needed.
• Then strain the soup or take out the chicken carcass.

VEGETABLES

Ingredients:

2-3 bunches Chinese Bok choy or Choy sum (Chinese flowering cabbage), sliced

Method:

• Bring a pot of water to the boil.
• Then add the vegetables into the boiling water.
• Continue to boil until the vegetables are tender but not overcooked.
• Strain the vegetables and set aside for the wonton noodle soup.

WONTON NOODLES

Ingredient:

400g egg noodles

Method:

• Take out the egg noodles from its packaging and place it into a bowl of tap water.
• Slowly loosen the noodles in the water.

• Then, transfer the noodles to a pot of boiling water.
• Continue to stir the noodles to soften and loosen them for just 3 minutes.
• Strain the noodles and serve immediately.

TO ASSEMBLE THE CHINESE WONTON NOODLE SOUP

• To assemble the Chinese Wonton Noodle Soup, put a handful egg noodles into a medium sized bowl.
• Then top it with the vegetables, wontons and lastly, the wonton soup broth. Sprinkle with leftover chopped spring onions.
• Enjoy while still warm.

Have you eaten Chinese wontons before? Do you prefer them boiled or fried? Or do you have another favourite street food that you would like to share? I’d be happy to know.

Till next time – I wish you Happy Cooking!

Cheers,

Caroline Poh