I’m so glad that the temperature is finally getting cooler. Not only winter clothes can “hide” my body fat a little better, but I can also enjoy my favorite bowl of hot noodle soup without shedding a sweat.
My favorite bowl of noodle soup is the home made Won Ton Noodle Soup (鮮蝦雲吞湯麵). It’s easier to make than you think. Another good news is, you can make the Won Ton ahead of time in a large batch because they freeze really well. You can pull out a few won tons straight from the freezer and get cooking without (and shouldn’t) defrosting them ahead of time. Let’s get started shall we? There are just a few main ingredients in this Won Ton Noodle Soup.
First, you’ll need some shrimps, I like to use 31-40 count (which means there are 31 to 40 shrimps in a pound), the texture of this size of shrimp is more bouncy than smaller size ones. I usually cut them into smaller pieces so they are easier to wrap. Up next is some ground pork for flavor and as a binding agent. Also, there are some ready to eat bamboo shoots in chili oil that are already julienned. Up next,won ton wraps; I’ve tried a few different brands and they are pretty much the same in flavor and quality. Just make sure to get the thin one for Won Ton and not the thick kind for Chinese dumplings. I love to serve the won ton noodle soup with Bak Choy, you can use your preferred vegetables. Last but not least, the chopped green onions. They are not only for garnish on top, but also add a nice mild oniony flavor to the soup.
Of course, you’ll need noodles for this noodle soup. The egg noodles shown on the picture below is the authentic fresh egg noodles used in traditional Won Ton Noodle Soup. They are available in most Asian supermarket in the refrigerator session. Make sure you get this skinny kind, not the wide and flat ones that looks like linguini. Although the package shown four sessions of noodle, this whole package can easily serves six. Well, of course, that depends on your appetite as well.
Up next are the marinade ingredients, there are sesame seed oil, Shao Hsing cooking wine, fish sauce, soy sauce, ground white pepper, 1 egg, some corn starch, sugar and kosher salt. The marinating is simple, just mix everything together with the shrimps, ground pork and bamboo shoots and you’re ready to wrap them up.
Before you start, prepare a lightly floured sheet pan so the wrapped won tons has a place to land. Also, you’ll need a small bowl of tap water so you can seal the wrappers. Here goes the step by step instructions as shown in the picture below:
1) Pick up a piece of won won wrap, spoon a heaping teaspoonful of won ton filling onto the center of a piece of won ton wrap. Make sure you get a little bit of everything, a few pieces of shrimps, some ground pork and bamboo shoots are in the mix. Dip your finger into the prepared bowl of water and wet all the edges of the won ton wrap.
2) Fold a corner of the wrap to the opposite side to form a triangle.
3) Gently press the sides of the wrap to seal the edges.
4) Pick up the bottom two corners of the filled won ton
5) Wet the tips and press them together.
6) Place the wrapped won tons onto prepared sheet pan. Continue to fill won ton wraps until all fillings are used up.
Easy right? It’s really fun wrapping these little jewels up. Almost as much fun as eating them, almost. I can’t wait until my kids are old enough to help out in the wrapping process. Although they already can’t wait to get their hands on them now.
I love spicy food so I usually serve the Won Ton Noodle Soup with some chili oil or chili sauce. The picture below shows one of my favorite chili oil to use. The English name on the bottle says “hot and spicy sauce”! hahaha…so helpful, huh? Anyway, you don’t really need the name as the logo is so distinctive! Don’t judge, this is a really flavorful chili oil with a nice crunch. The manufacturer must have toasted the chilies really well before they’re bottled.
Notice how clear the soup/stock is? That’s because I cook the won tons and noodles in a separate pot than the stock. The water used to cook the noodles and won tons would be too starchy and sticky to consume. So, I never cook the noodle in the stocks directly. That is an important step to a wonderful bowl of won ton noodle soup.
Since these noodles are fresh egg noodles, they cook up really fast compared to dried noodles. They are el dente in about 2 to 3 minutes cooking time. Just like pasta, do not over cook the noodle. However, the texture of these egg noodles are quite different than Italian pasta. They are a lot more “bouncy” than pasta, which is a lovely compliment with the won tons.
Yes, I love chili oil in every bite.
Here’s how the won ton looks like when it’s cooked. The won ton wrap becomes slightly translucent, silky and smooth, so thin that it’s almost invisible.
And below shows the inside of the won ton….the shrimp is naturally sweet, bouncy and flavorful. There’s a slight crisp from the bamboo shoots. With a hint of sesame oil and chili oil, every bit is heavenly. It’s such a heart and stomach warming dish! With the weather getting colder each day, I know I’ll be enjoying this Won Ton Noodle Soup a lot more often as well. I hope you’ll try the recipe and let me know how it goes.
Since this recipe only yields about 3 cups, which fits into 2 or 3 jars depending on the size of the jars. You might want to double or even triple this recipe up when you are canning them for gift-giving. I can't believe Christmas is only two months from now, time really flies.
Luckily, one of my good friends knew I was on the quest to hunt down the ladyfingers and she came to the rescue and got me a huge package! I’ve made a few batches of the traditional Tiramisu and a couple of batches of these Matcha version and they all turned out amazing! Thank you for the fingers, my dear friend! 
