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The Dumpling 100 · make it at home

Hong Kong wonton noodle soup

1 hr · 4 bowls (about 32 wontons)

Shrimp wontons with a little pork, a clear and savory broth and thin springy egg noodles. The Hong Kong way puts the wontons under the noodles so they don't overcook.

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The real one

You need

• For the wontons: 300 g (2/3 lb) raw shrimp, peeled, half chopped fine and half in chunks
• 100 g (1/4 lb) ground pork
• 1 tsp light soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• 1 egg yolk
• 32 thin square wonton wrappers
• For the broth: 1.5 liters (6 cups) chicken stock
• 2 tbsp dried shrimp (or dried flounder powder if you can find it)
• 3 slices ginger
• 1 tbsp fish sauce or light soy sauce
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• To finish: 4 nests thin fresh egg noodles (about 300 g), 4 stalks gai lan or a handful of choy sum, 2 scallions, sliced, white pepper

How to make it

1. Make the broth (25 min): Toast the dried shrimp in a dry pan 2 minutes until fragrant, then add with the ginger to the stock and simmer 20 minutes. Strain, season with fish sauce and sugar, and keep hot.
2. Make the filling (5 min): Mix shrimp, pork, soy, sugar, salt, pepper, sesame oil, cornstarch and egg yolk in one direction until sticky.
3. Wrap (20 min): Put a teaspoon of filling near one corner of a wrapper. Roll the corner over the filling, then roll once more. Wet the two side corners, bring them together under the filling and press, so the wrapper trails like a little tail. Keep wrapped wontons under a towel.
4. Cook the greens (2 min): In a big pot of boiling water, blanch the greens 1 to 2 minutes, lift out.
5. Cook the wontons (4 min): Boil the wontons in the same water, in two batches, 3 to 4 minutes until they float and the shrimp shows pink through the wrapper. Lift into four bowls.
6. Cook the noodles (30 sec): Boil each nest of noodles 20 to 30 seconds, shaking apart with chopsticks, then rinse briefly under hot water and lay over the wontons.
7. Finish: Ladle in the hot broth, add the greens, scallions and a pinch of white pepper. Eat right away, before the noodles soften.

Tips

• Wrapped wontons freeze beautifully; cook from frozen for 5 minutes.
• Hong Kong noodles are thin and alkaline; look for 'wonton noodles' in the fridge at Asian groceries.

Chef Amazing's own home version of wonton noodle soup, in our words; not any restaurant's recipe.