Wanton Mee or Wanton Noodles are very popular in South East Asia and I would say it is one of the most popular noodles. You can either make Wanton Noodles dry or in a soup. I like both – simply cannot decide. The wanton dumplings are very easy to make and you can either fry them or cook them with the broth. I sometimes add Char Siu pork to my noodles and it’s simply yum!

Ingredients (serves 6)

For the Wanton dumplings:-

• Minced pork 250g
• Prawns 250g (minced)
• Wanton skins x 1 pack
• 1 clove of garlic (finely chopped)
• 100g water chestnut (finely chopped)
• Spring onions x 4 (finely chopped)
• Ginger (1x3cm) finely chopped
• 2 x Shallots (finely chopped)
• 2 tbsp rice wine (Shaoxing wine)
• 3 tbsp light soy sauce
• 3 tbsp sesame oil
• Ground pepper
• 2 tsp fish sauce

For the broth:-

• 2 cloves garlic (crushed)
• Ginger 1 x 3 cm (crushed)
• 1 litre Chicken Stock 
• Spring onions
• Chives
• 1 tbsp sesame oil
• 10 whole black peppercorns
• 2 tsp fish sauce

Noodles

• Wanton noodles 400g
• Sesame oil
• Light soy sauce

Optional

• Chillies
• Pak Choy
• Deep fried shallots

Methods

Minced the prawns and mix with the minced pork. Finely chopped all the other ingredients; water chestnuts, garlic, ginger, spring onions and shallots. Some like to add in mushrooms, bamboo shoots etc. Add all the other ingredients together and mix well.

Prepare a small of water. Unwrap the wanton skins. You can get wanton skins from Chinatown or even some supermarkets here in London.

Take a teaspoon of the mix and place it into the middle of the wanton skin (on your palm). Dip your finger into the water and wet the two adjoining sides of the wanton skins. Gently press down with finger from the middle out (to prevent air being trapped inside the wanton dumpling) and fold it into a triangle.

Now, take the two folded edges of the triangle and stick them together using a bit of water. Press gently and voila, a golden ingot of wanton dumpling is ready!

I love to fold it this way as it’s more auspicious and traditional. When making wanton noodle soups, with this style of folding, they do taste better and tend to hold the dumplings together better, too.

For frying, I prefer to just fold them into triangles. This allows more of the pastry to fry, and hence more crispy. Of course, you can fry them in the golden ingot style too.

If you are folding quite a few, make sure you cover them or refrigerate them so that they don’t dry out before cooking.

Set the handmade wantons aside.

Now, for the broth, in a pot, gently fry the crushed garlic and ginger until slightly golden. Then add the white parts of the spring onions and the peppercorns. Pour in the chicken stock. Bring to a boil. Add chives, sesame oil, green parts of spring onions and fish sauce.

Drop the wanton dumplings in and let them cook for approximately 5 minutes. They tend to float when they are cooked.

Now, you can also fry some of the wanton dumplings. Another reason why I fold them into triangles is because it’s quicker and easier to fry them this way. It takes about 4-5 minutes to fry them until golden in colour to get crispy wanton. Set aside.

Prepare the wanton noodles. Cook them in hot boiling water for 30 seconds and then take them and rinse them under the cold tap. Set aside until ready to cook in the broth for a further 30 seconds.

You can also use egg noodles if you cannot find wanton noodles.

Prepare the Pak Choy and the chillies.

Once wanton dumplings are ready, remove from the broth and cook the Pak Choy for about 3-4 minutes. I don’t like over cooked. Then finally, cook the wanton noodles for 30 seconds.

Dish up and serve whilst hot. I like to have both soupy wantons and deep fried wantons in my bowl and sometimes, I do add in the barbecue Char Siu Pork. Of course, I always add my special chillies with soy sauce and a sprinkle of deep fried shallots and a garnish of spring onions to complete. Enjoy!