Wonton noodle soup is one of the few dishes I set very high standards for, almost to the point of obsession. Because of cravings for an ideal bowl of wonton noodle soup (and seeing my relatives), I have paid way too much for same day plane tickets to Hong Kong. When I get wontons that are all or mostly pork, I feel cheated. And I rarely visit wonton noodle stands outside of Hong Kong and Guangzhou, for fear of getting inferior versions.
Yes, it’s rather compulsive behavior. But the behavior applies to any sort of a purist, whether the love is sushi, borscht, cocktails, or xiaolongbao. We all have certain foods we put on a pedestal.
If you can’t get to Hong Kong, the next best cure for wonton lust is recreating the darn thing at home. After tinkering in the kitchen for over a year and a half, I have updated an older post on this very topic. For me, an ideal wonton noodle soup must include the following: fragrant broth consisting of pork and seafood umami flavor, springy al dente egg noodles, and wontons containing at least 50% shrimp.
Here are the details, if you would like to recreate my ideal Hong Kong-style wonton noodle soup at home.
1. The Broth – The best broths in Hong Kong incorporate some sort of seafood umami flavor. The broth at the legedary Mak’s Noodles in Hong Kong is supposedly made of dried flounder, dried shrimp, and pork bones. My homemade broth is flavored with pork, chicken, and dried shrimp. If you have pre-made chicken broth, simmer pork bones and ginger in the broth for about an hour, adding dried shrimp with 20 minutes left. Or make a pork and chicken broth in one go, also adding dried shrimp towards the end.
2. The Noodles – For Cantonese-style wonton soup, always use thin egg noodles. In an ideal wonton-loving universe, we would all have a bamboo noodle maker in our neighborhoods. But, alas, we don’t. In the real world, packaged dried egg noodles or fresh egg noodles (available in the bigger Chinatown supermarkets) are the next best choice.
3. Yellow chives – This somewhat pricier alternative to green chives are harder to find outside of Asian markets, but worth it for the more delicate flavor. Substitute green chives or scallions if yellow chives aren’t available.
4. The Wonton Wrappers – Not to be confused with dumpling (jiaozi) wrappers. Wonton wrappers are square and thinner than the round dumpling wrappers. Yellow wontons skins, made of egg flour or an egg/wheat combo, are much better than the whitish all-wheat kind, which become mushy and fall apart much more easily. Also, I know of few homecooks who make their own wonton skins. It’s tough work, when store-bought wrappers are so cheap and do a great job.
5. The Filling – I like to use a filling of 50% pork and 50% shrimp, raising the portion of shrimp if I feel like splurging. You can also make all-shrimp wontons, mostly known as 水饺 in Hong Kong (shui jiao in Mandarin, shui gow in Cantonese) and sometimes accented by shiitake mushrooms.
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Hong Kong-Style Wonton Noodle Soup
Broth ingredients:
- 1 pound pork bones
- 2 oz dried shrimp
- 1 piece ginger, peeled and sliced
- 1 large chicken thigh, or 2 quarts chicken broth
Wonton filling ingredients:
- 1 pound ground pork (not lean)
- 1 pound shrimp, deveined and finely chopped (or 1 pound frozen shrimp, brought to room temperature and finely chopped)
- 5 to 6 strands yellow chives, chopped
- 1 piece ginger, peeled and minced
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 3 teaspoons rice vinegar
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 pinch salt
- 1 pinch pepper
Other ingredients:
- 1 to 2 eggs
- Flour for dusting
- 1 package wonton skins, about 50, thawed if frozen
- 8 ounces egg noodles
- Another 5 to 6 strands yellow chives, chopped, for garnish
The Broth
Simmer pork bones, a chicken thigh, and ginger in a large pot of water for 1 hour, adding dried shrimp in the last 20 minutes. Alternatively, simmer pork bones and ginger in pre-made chicken broth for 1 hour, adding dried shrimp in the last 20 minutes.
The Wontons
Place 2 to 3 large plates near you (for when, later on, your hands are so sticky with egg wash and you’re on such a roll with the folding that you’ll appreciate not having to dig around for another plate.)
In a large mixing bowl, thoroughly mix the pork, shrimp, and scallions. Add soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, salt and pepper. Repeat thorough mixing. Filling should be sticky and slightly wet.
Crack open eggs and beat with a fork. Lightly dust your work surface with flour and keep some extra flour within hand’s reach.
Angle a wonton wrapper so that it faces you like a diamond. With your fingertips or a spoon, spread a thin layer of egg wash along the top two edges of the wrapper. Place a quarter-size spoonful of filling in the center of the skin.
- One super-easy way to wrap is to form a triangle by folding the bottom tip to the top tip and pinch out as much air as possible.
- For the “boat” version, start by making the triangle wonton. Add a dab of egg wash to either of the two side tips and fold them together, overlapping one on top of the other. The end result should look boat-like, with two tips cradling a puff of filling in the middle.
- This page shows 8 different ways of folding wontons.
Place the finished wonton on a plate. Keep wontons covered with a damp towel to prevent the wrappers from drying out. Repeat folding until filling or wrappers are used up.
The Complete Package
You can cook the wontons in the soup itself, but I prefer to cook them separately so any excess flour on the wrapper doesn’t get into the soup. Set aside about 6 wontons per person. Freeze extras.
For noodles, bring soup to boil. Add noodles and cook until al dente, about 3 to 5 minutes, depending on the thickness of the noodles.
Meanwhile, in a separate pot, bring 2 liters (2 quarts) water to boil. Add wontons and simmer uncovered, stirring gently, for about 4 to 7 minutes until done. (Trick of the trade: When dumplings float to the top, that usually means they’re done. Unless there is too much air inside the wontons due to bad folding.) Cut one open to check for doneness.
Divide soup and noodles into separate bowls. Add 5 to 6 wontons per bowl. Garnish with chives and serve immediately.
Recipe sounds fantastic, will try immediately! Besides the big supermarkets, do you have a favorite Beijing market area with good/fresh skins and noodles, plus southern veggies like the yellow chives?
I love wontons – my best memories were of me, my mum, sister and grandmother all in a production line, folding away! I had to make envelopes as I wasn’t dexterous enough. I’m definitely going to try making the stock you detailed; I usually just use some knorr powder.
I just posted the same soup, but not the traditional one.
This looks like the real one. Looks so yumm
Robin – Sanyuanli market, near the Liangmaqiao subway station, is the best local market I know of. I have found a lot of vegetables, herbs, and imported dry goods that are hard to find in Beijing and cheaper than at big supermarkets, including lemongrass, brussel sprouts, really fresh mint. Though Sanyuanli’s wonton skins are all cut in a weird trapezoidal shape and get overcooked easily (more on that in a later post.) Yellow chives are usually easy to find in neighborhood wet markets.
This recipe sounds perfect!
Gorgeous photos, looks great.
Thanks so much for posting this recipe. I love making wontons, but never knew what went into making the soup. I dislike the packaged wonton soup mix, so I eat my wontons in chicken broth, or with a dipping sauce.
I also like wonton noodle with beef stew. I would love to learn how to make the beef stew part if you can ever post a recipe for that in the future.
Yes, it may be considered obsession to some, but the striving for food perfection is a worthy goal to others. You go girl.
I haven’t had HK style noodles since living in HK! I really do miss it, thanks for sharing this.
what type of pork bones do you use? Should they be meaty?
Big bones, like from the leg area, or bones with tones of cartilage, are the best.
I am so obsessed with this soup that I got two orders of it yesterday, knowing we’re going to be snowed in this weekend. I’m eating some for lunch. The version that I have and am addicted to has mini bok choy in it. I can’t wait to try and make this myself. It’ll save me a lot of money if I can have it on hand. Thanks.
I love Mak’s in HK! ! I know exactly what you mean, and do note eat wonton soup outside of HK.. so, so disappointing! !
Thanks, I loved reading this, and will have to attempt some day.
OMG i love you! I just moved from D.C to Georgia (good luck finding good cantonese cooking here) where I would get the BEST hong kong style wontons in hot broth…..they were the beautiful yellow balls with pork and shrimp inside…dipped in the red vinegar and soy sauce…OMG Heaven. I found your recipe…and it is just as well! Thanks
Have tried to make this recipe and it’s amazing!!! thanks!!
Sounds like an amazing recipe. Going to try it this weekend. Does anyone happen to know how many servings the recipe makes? Thanks.
This makes 50 wontons. Depending on the amount of water you use to make the broth, it can make between 8 to 12 servings of soup (just simmer the bones a little longer if using more water.) And you can always get more packages of noodle if needed. So with this recipe you can make enough for 8 to 12 servings of wonton noodle soup.
Can’t wait to try!
a large pot of water = how many litres?
Enough to fully cover the ingredients you’re cooking, plus about 1 to 2 inches extra.
This is the best recipe I have ever found! To up the flavor though why no try boiling the shrimp skins for a while and then adding to the broth, and I also love using umami powder (but I don’t know if thats chinese) for the broth..mmmm so delicious!
I am loving this recipe. I have always loved wonton soup but never had it like this deluxe version. I can’t wait to try it. I never heard of dried shrimp before- will have to look at our asian market for it. I also think some chopped bok choy would go good in this soup. Thanks for sharing a great recipe from HK for those of us who can’t go there. I love all your tips on the better ingredients/versions to use.
homestyleworldcook.blogspot.com
I make this soup, it was delicious!
i have tried it and it was not bad.Easy to make too…..But the garlic taste is a little bit weird.
Sorry…i mean ginger (not garlic)
My Hawaii Chinese family uses pork neck bones and chung choy (preserved turnip balls), as well as chicken and dried shrimp in our broth. And yes, one can easily be obsessed with this. If you are Chinese, it’s genetic.
Actually, if you have a crank pasta maker and a mixer, making your own egg noodles for this isn’t too tough. We use a Hawaii saimin style egg noodle:
5 pounds all-purpose flour
3 to 6 eggs
1 tablespoon salt
3 to 3-1/2 cups water
1/4 cup lye water (potassium carbonate and sodium bi-carbonate solution – available in some supermarkets and in Asian stores)
Beat together eggs, water, salt and lye water. Pour liquid mixture slowly into flour and mix. I use a Kitchenaide mixer with a dough hook, but you could do it by hand as well. Knead for @ 5 minutes. Divide dough and roll and cut out your noodles. Dust with cornstarch to keep from sticking. Cook for @ 2 minutes in boiling water (they rise to the top when done). Much better than dried noodles.
May as well make a batch if you are going to bother – they freeze well.
You forgot to mention how many scallions to add in your list of ingredients. I am adding two, as I am in the process of making them now! Will be making Shrimp and scallop (only because I have a veg head and I have 4 scallops to use up) and pork/beef7shrimp mixture for me. I am also making a vegetable stock base, as because of the veg head, will spice it up with some piri piri peppers fresh ginger and salt, add some cilantro at the end. Will be adding some blanched savoy cabbage to the mix as well. I hope this will work. Have the char siu marinating n the fridge.So happy I found you! Will be going on my blog if I can make magic:)
Hi, I prepared this recipe. The wontons are great. Its ashame you didn’t put the serves at the top….. Soo much more than needed for two or even four and it makes something that should be quick quite long… However, this MY fault for not reading all the comments I suppose.
Things To Note
1)I assume you skim of the scum which rises from the stock? I did as thats just what you do.
2) I used the dried shrimp amount specified and it was very strong and salty. On the packet I missed that it said to rinse before use to reduce saltiness.
The shrimp flavour was a bit too intense.(And I love prawn).
People preparing this should be aware of that.
Is there a specific brand of dried shrimp you use? Would you rinse before use? I might try using fresh prawn shells next time.
Thanks so much for an authentic recipe though! Tiny details once corrected will make this perfect I am sure!
I was looking for a good wonton recipe as I’ve been doing my mother’s recipe for years but it just didn’t taste as wonderful as some of the noodle shops in Chinatown and I just couldn’t get the broth right. I tried your recipe today and it was perfect. Amazing! Thank you!
We enjoyed your recipe last night – thank you for the recipe. I’ve probably shot myself in the foot as my husband told me he liked it better than our local favourite for wonton noodle soup – Hon’s in Vancouver….but had fun making it. And my daughter actually liked the wontons when usually she doesn’t. Any great recipes for excellent barbecued pork?
metamorf – Yes! Try my recipe for Cantonese Barbecued Pork…it’s excellent. http://appetiteforchina.com/recipes/cantonese-roast-pork-char-siu/
And I’m so glad your family enjoyed the wonton noodle soup!
oops should have looked first :) just found a bbq pork recipe on your site will definitely try – than
I make your recipe a lot and absolutely love it. The only problem is, I live in a small city in Norway and good noodles, fresh or packaged, are hard to come by. Also because of the strict alcohol laws here, getting my hands on Chinese cooking wine is next to impossible, but that’s another story. Thanks for posting this recipe.
I’ve never tried any authentic wonton in NY, not even in flushing and chinatown, so I’m definitely going to try this at home. I’m also at the point of obsession when it comes to wontons.
I made the wonton this past weekend and they were really good. The only problem I had (which I modified) was the amount of the seasoning ingredients. How can you flavor a pound of pork and a pound of shrimp with only 1 tbsp soya sauce, 3 tsp rice vinegar, 1 tsp sesame oil and a pinch of salt/pepper. I had to 5 times the amounts to give it the right flavor.
Other recipes asked for other ingredients which totally changed the flavor which did not taste like a Hong Kong style recipe.
One of the most important seasonings for the Wanton ingredients should be flounder powder to bring out the “ump”
I really like this recipe, I’ve made it 3 times this month. Any suggestions on how to store extra won tons? Is it better to freeze them raw or cooked?
Jay N – To store extra wontons, I place freshly made, uncooked wontons on a plate lined with parchment paper and freeze them for about an hour. Then I transfer the wontons to a Tupperware container or gallon-sized freezer bag to store for up to a few months. Doing this way allows the wontons to freeze into a solid shape before being piled on top of each other, and the parchment prevents the wontons from sticking to the plate. Hope this helps, and I’m so glad you’ve enjoyed the recipe this much!