Wonton Noodle Soup

Name: Wonton Noodle Soup
Yield: serves 6
Ingredients: 1/2 pound boneless pork shoulder, chopped by hand or machine to a coarse texture (page 69); 1/2 pound medium shrimp, peeled, deveined, and cut into pea-sized pieces; 1 teaspoon cornstarch; 3/4 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon black pepper; 2 scallions, white part only, finely chopped; 1 teaspoon sesame oil; 48 square wonton skins (1-pound package); 3 quarts (12 cups) Noodle Soup Broth (page 219), with 1/4 cup dried shrimp added during simmering; 1 tablespoon light (regular) soy sauce; Salt; 1 pound thin Chinese egg noodles, cooked in boiling water for 2 to 3 minutes until tender yet chewy, drained, and flushed with cold water; 3/4 pound baby bok choy, sliced on the diagonal into 3/4-inch-wide pieces, cooked in boiling water for about 1 minute, or until tender and bright green, and drained; Sesame oil; 2 or 3 scallions, green part only, thinly sliced; White pepper; Mellow Chile-Garlic Mix (page 315), optional

December 14, 2011

Wonton noodle soups are often on the menus of Vietnamese noodle shops, but they are seldom as nuanced as those prepared by Chinese cooks. Years ago, while living in Southern California, I wanted to find out the Chinese secret to good wonton noodle soup, so I asked my friend Victor Fong. Born and raised in Chinatown, Los Angeles, he took me to the local Mayflower Restaurant, a tiny locals-only establishment on a side street. The noodles had a perfect chewy-tender texture, the crinkly wontons encased a toothsome pork and shrimp filling, and the golden broth was complex and not darkened by too much soy sauce. The owners and their chef turned out to be ethnic Chinese from Vietnam, and though friendly, there were coy about what went into their noodle soup. After eating many bowls at Mayflower and some trial and error at home, I came up with my own version of this noodle soup classic.

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