MUZIChinese Matrix
Dumplings · FFET10113
Wonton, yuntun, chaoshou: thin wrappers around a meat filling, boiled and served in soup or with noodles under different names across China.
A white porcelain bowl holds clear pale-golden chicken broth with five plump pleated wontons floating in it, scallion scattered on the surface, and a white porcelain spoon resting at the rim.
Boiled, steamed and pan-fried dumplings, wontons and other filled dough foods.
Wonton is a thin wheat wrapper around minced meat, boiled and eaten in soup or with noodles, and close kin to jiaozi. The names differ by region: wonton in the north and around Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, yuntun in Guangdong, Guangxi and Hong Kong, chaoshou in Sichuan, and bianrou around Fuzhou. Cantonese yuntun may have developed from a pork wonton that came from Hunan; the Hong Kong style often adds shrimp to the filling and uses a very thin skin.
Wonton is a thin wheat wrapper around minced meat, folded and boiled, usually served in soup or with noodles, and a close relative of jiaozi.1,2,3,5,6
A dough food called hundun bing was known from the Northern and Southern Dynasties to the Tang. Qing books record a custom of eating wonton at the winter solstice, reflected in the saying that wonton belongs to the winter solstice and noodles to the summer solstice. These accounts have not been checked against the original books, and no dated primary text is available for confirmation, so no year is given here.1
Eaten across China under different names: wonton in the north and around Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Shanghai, yuntun in Guangdong, Guangxi and Hong Kong, chaoshou in Sichuan, bianrou around Fuzhou and bianshi in southern Fujian. Available accounts establish no single place of origin.1,2,3
Cantonese wrappers use egg and flour, and the filling combines fatty and lean pork, with shrimp added in the Hong Kong style. The wontons are boiled until they float and served in seafood or bone broth, often with thin egg noodles.2,3,4,5,6
A saying pairs winter solstice wonton with summer solstice noodles. The Qing Yanjing Suishiji ties eating wonton at the winter solstice to the idea of an undivided heaven and earth; this account has not been checked against the original book.1
Hong Kong wonton noodles are a common street and shop food, and a list of Hong Kong wonton noodle shops names 7. The English word wonton comes from Cantonese.2,3,4
Legend has it that a Qing-era lawyer, He Danru, wrote a punning couplet, “With wine, why not invite the moon to drink; without money, how could I eat yuntun,” setting inviting the moon to drink against eating yuntun, which is said to explain why yuntun is written with the characters for cloud and swallow. Chinese Wikipedia presents it as one account, not as fact.
Told in: Told in Guangdong and Hong Kong, as reported by Chinese Wikipedia.
Grandma Li
This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.
Wontons are not hard to make at home; the hard part is folding them neatly. This is the simpler way I make them: pork and shrimp for the filling, store-bought wrappers, and a hot chicken broth to serve them in. The amounts and method follow two English-language recipes, and the amounts and timings below are my own choices at home; it makes about 35.
Allergens: shellfish, wheat, soy, sesame, egg
Grandpa Li
Picks come from public lists and guides and were checked on the dates shown; places can change, so confirm before you go.
Hong Kong, Jordan
Order: Wonton noodles
This shop is on the MICHELIN Guide's Hong Kong wonton noodle list, which is marked as updated in August 2026. If you want to taste Hong Kong wonton noodles, I would start here.
Checked on 2026-11-02
Hong Kong, Central
Order: Wonton noodles
The same list names it too. Hong Kong wonton often has shrimp in the filling and a very thin skin, which you can look for here.
Checked on 2026-11-02
Hong Kong, Causeway Bay
Order: Wonton noodles
Another shop on the same list, in Causeway Bay. If you want to compare several wonton noodle shops, this is one to consider.
Checked on 2026-11-02
Hong Kong, Sham Shui Po
Order: Wonton noodles
A shop on the same list, in Sham Shui Po. If you are in Sham Shui Po and want wonton noodles, take a look here.
Checked on 2026-11-02
