A bowl of wonton noodle soup is the perfect solution to a healthy and nourishing winter meal! Aside from the initial hurdle of learning how to fold wontons, this homemade recipe is super straightforward and easy to put together.
In this recipe, I'll walk you through the simple yet fancy-looking, foolproof way of wrapping wontons that will not break apart whilst cooking. For an even simpler, no technique method of wrapping wontons, head on over to my Pork Wontons recipe!
Love dumplings? Also check out my easy Vegan Dumplings using simple, everyday ingredients, a tasty solution to a meat-free meal! Otherwise, these juicy and flavour-packed Pork Pan-Fried Dumplings (pot-stickers) will get your tastebuds dancing for sure!
Keen to take things up a knotch with your dumpling skills? Challenge yourself and make a dim sum favourite: juicy Har Gow (crystal prawn dumplings)!
Jump to:
Ingredients
- Chicken stock powder is a convenient choice for making a soup broth quick. The stock powder brand above, Lee Kum Kee (not sponsored), is perfect for this recipes as the flavour profile matches the real deal (Asian flavour profile). Of course, you can use any other chicken stocks that you've got in the pantry. Even better, use homemade chicken broth!
- Peeled and deveined prawns (shrimp). I like buying a bag of these frozen goodies when they're on sale and keep them in the freezer. Kudos to those of you who prefer to peel and devein prawns at home yourselves!
- Bok choy or any other Asian greens you prefer such as gai lan, choy sum, etc.
- Fresh wonton wrappers and fresh egg noodles are available at your local Asian grocery store. To my Australian readers, you can find both at most Coles and Woolies!
- An alternative to fresh egg noodles is the dried version (in the international aisle) although I highly recommend the fresh ones as they have a nice bite to them.
- Feel free to substitute egg noodles with other types of noodle such as rice noodles or plain flour noodles.
- Shaoxing wine is a Chinese rice wine variety that's widely available. Substitute: dry sherry.
- Sesame oil adds a fantastic nutty aroma to the pork and prawns wontons as well as the soup. Also available at the international aisle of major supermarkets.
Step by step instructions
Make the wonton filling and get the soup going
To start, make the the wonton filling by mixing pork mince (ground pork), prawns and the right balance of seasoning in a large bowl. There are quite a lot so I'll just let you read the recipe card below.
To make authentic pork and prawn (shrimp) wontons, finely chop half of the prawns until a paste-like consistency is reached and keep the other half chunky.
This way the minced prawns will mix into the pork mince, developing a delicious texture and flavour profile. Meanwhile, the chunky pieces make the wontons quite luxurious don't you think!? This way you'll also be able to really taste and see the prawns!
Before you begin wrapping, get the wonton soup broth going and let it simmer whilst you're wrapping. Simply add a little soy sauce, shaoxing wine, ginger slices and salt to the chicken stock. Bring up to boil then reduce to a simmer with the lid on.
If you've got the time, make your own chicken broth! Homemade chicken broths always trumps stock powders but use what you've got. 🙂
Now, the fun part.
How to fold wontons
Below image shows just how simple wrapping wontons is. And we're talking fancy-style, like ready-made frozen ones or what you get at Din Tai Fung. For zero folding technique wontons, check out my Easy Pork Wontons recipe.
Check out my step by step video below, just above the recipe card!
- Step 1. First, scoop about 1 teaspoon of filling onto the middle of a wonton sheet that is positioned at an angle, with one corner pointing towards you. Like a diamond. Roughly shape the filling into a rectangular shape. Dab a little water along the upper two edges of the wonton sheet.
- Step 2. Now fold the wonton in half, forming a triangular parcel. Firmly press along the edges so that they're well-sealed (important!). Dab a little water onto the left corner of the parcel, the side that's facing you.
- Step 3. Lastly, bring the two opposing corners together with a small overlap (damp corner on top) and firmly press to seal.
That's it! Once you get the hang of this folding technique, you'll fly through the rest!
This recipe makes about 30 homemade wontons, serving 4 generous portions!
It only takes 15 minutes to cook
To begin cooking the wonton noodle soup, make sure you've got the egg noodles, wrapped wontons and washed Asian greens ready. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Similar to stir-fries, the cooking part happens quick!
Handy tip: have 3 large plates ready to hold the three components (wontons, noodles and veg) separately once they're cooked.
The egg noodles and wontons both take about 3 to 4 minutes in cooking time, on high heat. Meanwhile, the vegetables take just 1 minute.
Handy tip 2: cook the wontons about 15 pieces at a time to avoid overcrowding the pot.
To assemble, add egg noodles into serving bowls, add the fresh wontons then the vegetables. Lastly, add as much of the wonton soup as you want!
Serve with a sprinkle of finely sliced green onions, red chilli (or Chilli Oil) and a couple of drops of sesame oil. Adding a pop of colour, nutty aroma and heat!
Tips for making the perfect wonton noodle soup
- Mix the wonton filling well, in a circular motion. This will help the ingredients bind together and form a paste-like consistency. The results are juicy and tender wontons! I find a pair of chopsticks is the best utensil to use. Otherwise, a spoon will work fine too.
- Heavily season the cooking water for egg noodles, wontons and Asian greens. Just as you would season pasta cooking water, the same goes with these. This is particularly important given the delicate flavour profile of wonton noodle soup.
- Season the chicken soup well. I find if you season the soup on a tad bit on the salty side, the overall dish becomes extremely flavoursome. This is the tricky thing about delicate profiles, it can get bland if under seasoned. Otherwise, take the safe path, season the soup to just right and leave extra salt on the dinner table for seasoning if needed.
- Boil wontons with plenty of water (do not overcrowd the pot). This will prevent the wontons from sticking to each other and consequently break apart.
- Only cook wontons in boiling water and leave them be. We're talking vigorously boiling. This will prevent the wontons from sinking and subsequently sticking to the bottom of the pot (what happens when the water isn't at boiling point). Wonton wrappers will break apart if stuck to the bottom or each other. Also, minimal stirring will ensure wontons hold and not break apart as they're fragile in the first minute of boiling.
Good to know (FAQs)
To keep wontons from falling apart, minimise stirring whilst wontons are cooking in the pot of boiling water. Make sure there is plenty of water in the pot when cooking to prevent wontons from sticking to each other and thus falling apart.
Aside from ensuring the wontons are sealed and wrapped properly with a firm grip when sealing, also avoid over cooking! Over cooking wontons will result in the wrappers becoming soft and thus prone to breaking.
Wontons are cooked once they start to float to the top of the boiling pot. This goes for all types of dumplings.
Serve with a generous side of green vegetables such as bok choy! If you like things on the spicy side, drizzle with some Sichuan chilli oil for extra aroma with a kick!
Yes! However, it is important to freeze the wrapped wontons and not keeping them in the fridge. In fact, all types of dumplings will get soggy (from the filling) in the fridge for more than 1 hour, making them incredibly hard to handle and break apart easily.
Note, if using defrosted prawns (shrimp), it is best not to refreeze again.
To learn exactly how to freeze wontons and how to cook from frozen, head on over to my Pork Wontons recipe for all the details!
Leftovers
Store leftover wontons and noodles separate from the soup, in airtight containers for up to 3 days in the fridge.
Made this recipe? Let me know your thoughts or questions by dropping a note in the comments section below! I'd love to hear from you 🙂
Happy cooking! - Gen
Video
📖 Recipe
Wonton Noodle Soup
Ingredients
Pork and prawn wontons
- 1 pack wonton wrappers ~30 sheets
- 250 g /9oz peeled and deveined prawns (shrimp) defrosted if frozen
- 250 g /9oz pork mince
- ½ tablespoon soy sauce
- ½ tablespoon shaoxing wine
- 1 clove garlic minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh ginger minced
- ½ teaspoon dark brown sugar or white sugar
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ teaspoon white pepper
- ¼ teaspoon sesame oil
Easy wonton soup
- 1 litre /4 cups chicken stock (note 1)
- ½ tablespoon shaoxing wine
- ½ tablespoon soy sauce
- salt to taste
- thumb size ginger thinly sliced
To serve
- 400 g /14oz fresh egg noodles thin (note 2)
- 1 bunch bok choy or other Asian greens
- sesame oil 1 - 2 drops per serve
- fresh chilli (or Homemade Sichuan chilli oil) optional
- green onions optional
Instructions
Prepare
- Finely dice half of the prawns until a paste-like consistency is formed. Chop the other half into rough chunks.
- In a large bowl, combine all wonton ingredients except the wonton wrappers. Mix well in one direction until sticky. About 2 minutes, set aside.
- In a stockpot, combine all wonton soup ingredients, bring up to boil then reduce to a slow simmer with the lid on.
- Whilst the soup is simmering, wrap all of the wontons. This recipe makes about 30 wontons. For wonton wrapping instructions, refer to picture step by step instructions in the post above.
Cook
- Bring a large pot of water to boil, season with salt generously (note 3) and cook the egg noodles according to packet instructions on high heat. This typically takes about 3 to 4 minutes. Remove cooked noodles and set aside.
- In the same pot, add extra kettle boiled water and boil wontons on high heat in 2 batches, about 15 wontons per batch. Only add wontons once the pot is vigorously boiling. Wontons are done once they've floated to the top of the pot. About 3 to 4 minutes per batch. (note 4)
- Remove cooked wontons using a slotted spoon onto a large plate.
- Boil and cook bok choy for 1 minute then remove.
- Turn the heat for soup off, discard ginger slices.
Assemble
- Evenly divide noodles, wontons and bok choy into 4 large soup bowls. Pour hot soup with a ladle into each bowl. Add 2 - 3 drops of sesame oil to each bowl.
- Optional: sprinkle red chilli and green onions to serve.
Video
Notes
- Boil wontons with plenty of water (do not overcrowd the pot). This will prevent the wontons from sticking to each other and consequently break apart.
- Do not stir the wontons in the first 2 minutes of cooking. This is when the wontons are most fragile (wrappers are really thin).
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