As a fan of wonton, I learned to make a delicious yet easy wonton soup recipe at home, with traditional ground pork filling and pre-made skin. The recipe was built based on what I tried in Chinatown Cho Lon, Saigon, as well as various Chinese restaurants everywhere I’ve been, from Taiwan to Italy, Denmark, or Belgium.
Table of Contents
Having lived in Saigon for a long time, I became a fan of Chinese food thanks to the rich culture and especially diverse cuisine of Hoa people (Chinese Vietnamese people) in Cho Lon, Saigon’s Chinatown. Cho Lon is also the biggest Chinatown in Vietnam. One of the most popular dishes in Cho Lon is wonton, with a whole street selling it and other dim sum dishes like jiaozi and har gow (Ha Ton Quyen Street, District 11).
At first, I was confused between har gow, jiaozi, and wonton. It took me some time to distinguish these three by their wrappers, fillings, and cooking methods. You can refer how to distinguish har gow, jiaozi and wonton here.
So, wonton is a type of Chinese dumpling which has a square, yellow wrapper made of wheat flour, egg, and water with a ground pork/shrimp/chicken filling. To cook wontons, we can boil, steam, or deep-fry them. Jiaozi’s wrapper is quite similar in components but different in shape, usually round. The filling of jiaozi is made of meat and vegetables. Har gow is the easiest dumpling to distinguish thanks to its white, translucent wrapper which allows one to see the shrimp filling inside.
Wonton Soup’s Ingredients
We can boil or steam wontons and eat them separately, deep-fry them, or make an easy wonton soup. For wonton soup, there are two parts: wontons and the broth.
Wonton
To simplify the process of making wonton soup, I bought pre-made wonton wrappers from an Asian grocery store. The brand’s name is Happy Belly Wonton Skin. It’s quite good but also easy to dry out, so you’ll need to prepare a small cup of water to brush on each wrapper.
For the filling of wonton, this simple version uses only ground pork as the main ingredient. You can also mix ground pork and ground shrimp together or use ground shrimp only. To make the filling more combined, add tapioca starch and egg yolks.
Best Wonton Shapes for Wonton Soup
The process of making wonton, deep-fried wonton, and wonton soup gave me some experience in selecting the shape for each dish. With wonton soup, because the wontons will be served with broth, it’s better to select a tight shape to make sure your wontons do not tear after being boiled and served with liquid. The two shapes I suggest are the round shape and traditional triangle shape.
Wonton Broth
The last part is the broth. I made this broth with 1kg of tubular bone, some carrots, and dried shrimp. Basically, pork bones are the key, like the broth for many other dishes. If any, dried shrimp, squid, or fish can be used to bring more umami flavor to the broth. Carrots, daikon, kohlrabi, etc., are necessary to make the broth richer and naturally sweeter.
Easy Wonton Soup Recipe
This is an easy wonton soup recipe for 4 servings:
Wonton
- 500g (17.6 oz) ground pork
- 20g (2 ¾ tbsp) cornstarch
- 5g (1 tsp) salt
- 5g (1 tsp) sugar
- A pinch of ground pepper
- 1 egg (medium size, ~50g)
- 20-30 wonton skins
Broth
- 1kg (35.3 oz) tubular bone
- 1-2 carrots (150-200g, 5-7oz)
- 4-5 dried shrimp (if any)
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp salt
How to Make Wonton Soup
Step 1. Cooking the Broth
- Because simmering tubular bones to make wonton broth takes the longest time, you should begin with it first. In a pot, simmer pork bones, carrots, and dried shrimp (if any) with 2 liters (67 fl oz) of water. Cook on medium heat for around 1 hour. Adjust the taste with soy sauce and salt, depending on your preference.
Step 2. Mixing Wonton’s Filling
- This version includes ground pork, cornstarch, and egg. If you would like to replace ground pork with shrimp, just replace the amount of ground pork with peeled, ground shrimp. A mixture of ground shrimp and ground pork is another option; you can mix at the ratio of 1:1. For example, instead of 500g (17.6 oz) ground pork, use 250g (8.8 oz) ground pork and 250g (8.8 oz) ground shrimp. Mix them until well combined into a unified block.
Step 3. Shaping Wonton
The most interesting part is here. With this easy wonton soup recipe, I applied only two shapes, which are the most appropriate shapes for soup, in my opinion. With store-bought wonton skin, prepare a cup of water to brush a bit on the skin to make it stick together.
- The first shape is the basic traditional shape. Scoop a small amount of filling and place it in the middle of the wonton skin. Brush water around the filling, then fold the square skin into a triangle. Make a fold on each side of the right triangle. Finally, gently press it to make sure the filling is wrapped tightly by the skin.
- Another shape is the round shape. Similar to the first shape, make a triangle. Next, brush a little bit of water on the hypotenuse (the longest side) then stick the two triangle tops together.
- More wonton shapes: money bag, golden ingot…
Step 4. Boiling Wonton
- Turn on high heat to boil water in a pot. Once the water comes to a rolling boil, drop your wontons in. Boil until the wontons float to the surface of the boiling water. Remove cooked wontons using a strainer/skimmer.
Step 5. Serving
- Transfer cooked wontons into a bowl. Then, pour the broth over them. Drizzle with a bit of chopped spring onions and cilantro. You can add a handful of fried shallots if desired.
How to Store Wonton Soup for Later Use
With wonton soup, you should store the broth and wontons separately. It’s better to store uncooked wontons in the fridge and boil them only when you are ready to enjoy them. However, it’s still alright to store boiled wontons in an airtight container in the fridge. Try to consume wonton soup within 1-2 days.
You can also freeze uncooked wontons for a longer period. Remember to defrost them first before boiling, or else it can lead to unevenly cooked wontons: the skin is overcooked while the filling is undercooked.
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Easy Wonton Soup Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Wonton
- 500g (17.6 oz) ground pork
- 2 ¾ tbsp corn starch 20g
- 1 tsp salt 5g
- 1 tsp sugar 5g
- A pinch of ground pepper
- 1 egg medium size, ~50g
- 20-30 Pre-made wonton skins
Broth
- 1kg (35.3 oz) tubular bone
- 1-2 carrots 150-200g, 5-7oz
- 4-5 dried shrimp if any
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp salt
Instructions
Step 1. Cooking the Broth
- Because simmering tubular bones to make wonton broth takes the longest time, you should begin with it first. In a pot, simmer pork bones, carrots, and dried shrimp (if any) with 2 liters (67 fl oz) of water. Cook on medium heat for around 1 hour. Adjust the taste with soy sauce and salt, depending on your preference.
Step 2. Mixing Wonton’s Filling
- This version includes ground pork, cornstarch, and egg. If you would like to replace ground pork with shrimp, just replace the amount of ground pork with peeled, ground shrimp. A mixture of ground shrimp and ground pork is another option; you can mix at the ratio of 1:1. For example, instead of 500g (17.6 oz) ground pork, use 250g (8.8 oz) ground pork and 250g (8.8 oz) ground shrimp. Mix them until well combined into a unified block.
Step 3. Shaping Wonton
- The most interesting part is here. With this easy wonton soup recipe, I applied only two shapes, which are the most appropriate shapes for soup, in my opinion. With store-bought wonton skin, prepare a cup of water to brush a bit on the skin to make it stick together.
- The first shape is the basic traditional shape. Scoop a small amount of filling and place it in the middle of the wonton skin. Brush water around the filling, then fold the square skin into a triangle. Make a fold on each side of the right triangle. Finally, gently press it to make sure the filling is wrapped tightly by the skin.
- Another shape is the round shape. Similar to the first shape, make a triangle. Next, brush a little bit of water on the hypotenuse (the longest side) then stick the two triangle tops together.
- More wonton shapes: money bag, golden ingot…
Step 4. Boiling Wonton
- Turn on high heat to boil water in a pot. Once the water comes to a rolling boil, drop your wontons in. Boil until the wontons float to the surface of the boiling water. Remove cooked wontons using a strainer/skimmer.
Step 5. Serving
- Transfer cooked wontons into a bowl. Then, pour the broth over them. Drizzle with a bit of chopped spring onions and cilantro. You can add a handful of fried shallots if desired.
