Yun tun mian (wonton noodles)

Grandma Li

This is a simplified home version, not the traditional restaurant method.

In Hong Kong wonton noodles are all about the broth and the pressed noodles. This is the simpler way I make two bowls at home: the broth is bought chicken stock with dried flounder powder instead of a five-hour bone stock, and the noodles are ready-made Hong Kong-style egg noodles. The wontons follow recipe A, from a Hong Kong cookbook, a signed recipe with amounts and numbered steps: shrimp and pork filling, wontons boiled for about 2 minutes. The shrimp soak and the filling and broth amounts follow recipe C, another signed recipe. Recipe B is a third signed recipe that uses just chicken broth and no flounder, a shortcut. The number of wrappers, the seasoning, the amount of noodles and the greens are my own choices at home, and the conversion of 3 cups of stock to 720 ml is mine.

Ingredients

• Shelled shrimp 150 g
• Baking soda (for soaking the shrimp) 1/4 teaspoon, dissolved in a bowl of water
• Minced pork 80 g
• Light soy sauce 1 teaspoon
• Sesame oil 1/2 teaspoon
• White pepper a pinch
• Dried flounder powder (for the filling) 1/2 teaspoon
• Wonton wrappers 20
• Chicken stock 720 ml
• Dried flounder powder (for the broth) 1 teaspoon
• Hong Kong-style fresh egg noodles about 200 g
• Choy sum or other greens about 100 g
• Salt to taste

Steps

1. Soak the shrimp in the baking soda water for 20 to 30 minutes, as recipe C does. Rinse them well, drain, pat dry with paper towels and cut into small pieces.
2. Stir the minced pork, shrimp, soy sauce, sesame oil, white pepper and 1/2 teaspoon of flounder powder in one direction until sticky.
3. Put a small spoonful of filling on each wrapper, fold it over and pinch the corners together to make 20 wontons.
4. Bring the chicken stock and 1 teaspoon of flounder powder to a boil, turn the heat low to keep it hot, then taste and add salt if needed.
5. Boil the wontons in a separate pot of water for about 2 minutes, the time recipe A gives, and a little longer once they float. I lift one out and cut it open: it is cooked through when the pork shows no raw pink and the shrimp are pink and opaque.
6. Cook the noodles in the same water. Recipe A blanches them twice for 30 seconds each, and recipe C cooks them for about 15 seconds; I follow the package and lift them out when they are springy, then drain them into the bowls. Blanch the greens in the same water for about 1 minute.
7. Ladle the hot broth into the bowls, add the wontons and greens, and eat at once.

Tips

• I boil the wontons and noodles apart so the broth stays clear and the noodles do not turn mushy; this is my own method.
• For a dry-tossed bowl, I toss the noodles with a spoonful of soy sauce and a little sesame oil and serve the wontons with a small bowl of broth; this is my own variation.

Allergens: shellfish, wheat, egg, soy, sesame, fish

Grandpa Li

Picks come from public lists and guides and were checked on the dates shown; places can change, so confirm before you go.