Wonton Noodle Soup – Mì Hoành Thánh – Mama Snow Cooks and More

Serving size: 10-quart pot

Prep and Cook time: 3 or more hours depending on if you have helpers and can multitask. This wonton noodle soup took me about six hours over a two-day span.

I miss my mom and sister whenever I make this noodle soup. It requires a lot of prepping. Whenever mom cook a 20-quart on the weekends, all the girls in the house would pitch in to help. She would go buy all the ingredients a day before and that includes buying the best char siu pork at First Chinese BBQ or at Hiep Phong Market in Garland, Texas. The following morning, she’ll make the broth and the wonton paste so that my sister can help wrap the wontons while I take the easy job of prepping the herbs and vegetables. I made this wonton noodle soup all by myself and let just say it took me a long long time. In this pictorial, I attempted to make my own char siu pork. I normally would buy char siu pork from Kai Kai Chinese BBQ inside of iFresh market in Orlando. From this experience, I learn to make wontons and the char siu pork on day 1 and will cook the pot of broth and prep the other ingredients on day 2.

Ingredients:

For the pork bone broth:

3-3.5 pounds pork bones
1 oz fresh ginger (do not use ginger powder)
2-3 yellow onions
* 3 quart + 8 quart + 1 quart water

For the broth seasoning:

1/2 cup fried shallots
1/2 cup premium dried shrimp
1/2 cup dried squids
6 Tbsp granulated sugar
3 Tbsp kosher salt
2 Tbsp Golden Mountain seasoning sauce
1/4 tsp black pepper

For the pork and shrimp wontons:

See pictorial recipe at https://mamasnowcooks.com/2018/10/20/pork-and-shrimp-wontons-recipe

1 or 2 pkg of wonton wrappers
1/2 – 3/4 lb shrimp – grounded
1/2 lb ground pork butt
2 shallots (minced
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp Viet Huong fish sauce
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup scallion finely chopped

Other ingredients:

1 container of Canadian style “hoanh thanh” noodle
2 bunches of red/green leaf lettuce or baby bok choy
1 bunch cilantro
1 bunch mint
1 bag bean sprouts
2 limes
Huy Phong’s Spiracha sauce
2 lb Chinese xa xiu AKA Char Siu Pork
1.5 lb large shrimp with shell on
1 lb white squid – optional
4 dozen quail eggs – optional
pig’s heart and tongue – optional

Note: Sometimes I would substitute the Chinese roasted char siu pork with Chinese roasted duck if I find a place that makes good roasted duck. If you’re in Orlando, I recommend buying the Chinese roasted char siu pork or roasted duck at Tasty Wok, it’s a bit more expensive than other places but they make the closest authentic taste similar to the popular Chinese BBQ places in the DFW of Texas area.

Directions:

1. Fill the 10-quart pot with 3 quarts of water and hard boil the bones for 10 to 15 minutes. Strain the murky liquid and rinse the bones.

2. Clean the pot as well and then put the bones back into the pot with 8 quarts of water and bring it to a boil. While you’re waiting for the water to boil, roast the onion bulbs. Then add in the onions, ginger, dried shrimps and dried squids. Add in the rest of the other seasoning ingredients except for the dried shallots which will be added near the end. Cook the broth on high for about 30 minutes and discard the scum, then turn the heat to medium high so that the broth is boiling lightly for an hour.

3. During this hour, prep the vegetables, herbs, shrimp and meat. I also bake the xa xiu pork at this time. I baked it for 20 minutes at 400 F degrees in my Cuisenart Air Fryer. This is my first time making my own xa xiu pork for this wonton noodle soup. Back home in Texas, mom would always go buy xa xiu pork at First Chinese BBQ or Hiep Phong Market, the two best places that makes it in Garland, Texas. So all I had to do was slice the pork.

Note: I cook the pig’s tongue and heart separately in a small pot for about 15 to 20 minutes. Then I slice it into thin pieces. If the tongue is not cooked fully, then I would blanch it quickly in the pot of broth. I really like the texture and taste of the tongue.

4. After an hour of cooking the broth, I added one quart water and about 1/3 cup of fried shallots.

5. Turn heat to low and let the broth simmer for another 30 minutes. Discard the ginger and onion bulbs once the center is soften. During this time, I would cook the noodles in boiling water for two minutes and strain it. (Add a teaspoon of oil into the water so the noodles won’t stick together.)