Wonton Noodle Soup

The arrival of this recipe on No Free Lunch is long overdue. Every time I make wonton noodle soup, I strive for it to be "as good as grandma's," and this time came pretty close. In her own words, real Cantonese wonton noodle soup is characterized by thin skins and lots of shrimp inside. These are nothing like the big, doughy wontons you find at the Chinese buffet. Just like any Chinese dumpling, you can make these by the dozens and freeze the ones you aren't going to eat right away. Wontons have a long history in the Wai family. It was always a special treat going to Grandpa and Grandma's house for wontons. Grandpa told us when he was young in Hong Kong, a guy would walk around in front of the apartment buildings selling snack-sized bowls of wontons at night, much to his delight. Take a hint, West Lafayette.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground pork
• 10 large shrimp
• 2 tbs soy sauce
• 3 tbs chopped chives (or green onions)
• Salt and pepper
• 50 wonton skins
• Chinese egg noodles
• Chicken or seafood stock
• Fresh parsley or bean sprouts
• Chili sauce to taste

Instructions

Remove shells and veins from the shrimp. Cut into small pieces. I sliced each shrimp cross-wise, then sliced each piece in half. Combine shrimp pieces and pork in a large bowl and mix together. Add soy sauce, chives, and a little salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly.

Prepare an open workspace with a large sheet pan and a bowl of water. To assemble each wonton, peel off a skin and spoon a small amount of the filling into the middle. Less is definitely more here. Too much filling and it will be difficult to close the dumpling. Make sure each gets a couple pieces of shrimp.

Dip your finger in the water and run it around the outside edges of the wrapper. Fold each corner together, forming a sort of star shape. Each arm of the star should meet at the middle of the wonton. There are many ways to fold wontons, but this is a simple and easy way to do it. Press each fold firmly to prevent them from opening while cooking.

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Drop the wontons into the water and boil until cooked through. This will take several minutes. One thing you can do to get a feel for it is to drop an unwrapped ball of filling in with the wontons. You can break this open to test for doneness. At the same time, cook the egg noodles for about 3 minutes. When the wontons are done, remove them from the water.

In a large bowl, combine several wontons, noodles, and hot stock. Add chili sauce to taste. I use the ubiquitous Sriracha, but feel free to go stronger if you wish. Top with fresh parsley or bean sprouts. I like to have some kind of greens in the soup, as it adds another dimension of flavor while also being visually appealing. If you want to freeze the remaining uncooked wontons, lay them out on a large sheet so that they are not touching. Once they have been in the freezer a while, you can safely transfer them to a plastic bag, as they will not stick together.