Shanghai Wonton Soup is a delicious lucky soup made with homemade shrimp, pork and spinach wontons with a simple nourishing broth. (Step by Step how to and Video included)
Why you are going to LOVE homemade Shanghai Wonton Soup
Do you know that feeling you get when you take a sip of your mom’s homemade soup? You feel cozy, safe and healed from whatever ails you right away. That is exactly how you will feel after a delicious bowl of Shanghai Wonton soup.
When you take your first bite of the tender wonton you will taste the mix of fresh ginger, garlic, shrimp and pork for a succulent bite. Then when you slurp the broth you will taste the delicate flavor of the broth, sesame oil and a freshness from the sliced green onions. If you like a delicious comforting broth, you may also like to try our Chinese Beef Noodle Soup Recipe. This Shanghai Wonton Soup is seriously addictive and not too hard to make. Be sure to check out our casual You Tube video on how to form the wontons.
So how many wontons do you think you can eat?
Five? Ten? Twenty? We can tell you this recipe makes about forty dumplings but if you have growing teenagers or big eaters, be prepared to double your recipe. Personally, I have seen my super skinny Chinese girlfriends pack away about 25 dumplings in one sitting. Be prepared and err on the safe side and make extra as everyone loves Shanghai Wonton Soup.
What are wonton wrappers made of?
Wonton wrappers are super thin sheets of pasta made with eggs, water and flour. They are cut into squares. You can find these in the refrigerated section of your grocery store or Asian market. If you are feeling ambitious you can make them from scratch. On the other hand, Dumplings are made with just flour and water and are just a wee bit thicker. If you enjoy dumplings, be sure to try our Spicy Pan-Fried Beef Bao.
You can freeze Shanghai wontons
You sure can. You can freeze them BEFORE you cook them. As you form your wontons, be sure to place them on a sheet pan dusted with a little cornstarch or rice flour. Place them uncovered and not touching each other inside the freezer. Once they are frozen solid, remove the wontons from the tray and place in a freezer safe baggie or container. They can be frozen for up to 2 months. From this frozen point, your wontons can be boiled or made into Shanghai Wonton Soup.
How to wrap a wonton…
It’s a relatively simple process to make Shanghai Wonton Soup. Be sure to check out our quick video down below and you can follow along to learn how.
You start by dabbing a little water all around the edges of your wonton wrapper.
Then place about 1 heaping teaspoon of filling inside the wrapper in the middle. Do not overfill as that will be problematic during the cooking process.
Next, close and seal the wonton wrapper in half. Be extra careful to get out any air and make sure the wrapper is sealed all the way around so that no filling bursts out during the cooking process.
Next fold over lengthwise so it looks like a little nun’s cap or an old fashion nurse’s hat.
Dab a little extra water around the edges and then pinch close to form the cute little wonton.
Very important! Make sure you keep a damp towel over your wonton wrappers and over your completed wontons, so they do not dry out. If your wonton wrappers get dry, they are a pain in the #$%# to fold up and we can’t have that. LOL
Shanghai Wonton Soup is Lucky during Chinese New Year
The Chinese New Year (CNY) feast takes many days to prepare and lasts about 15 days. Now that is a lot of celebrating. Be sure to check out our 10 Fun and Easy Chinese New Year Recipes. These are some of the traditional Chinese New Year foods served on New Year’s Day and throughout the festivities:
meat dumplings for good luck
tangerines for good fortune
apples for peace
sweet rice cakes for more wealth every year (Sweet Sticky Rice Chinese New Year Cake, Niangao, 年糕)
fish for plenty
veggies with long noodles for long life
chicken for wealth
mustard greens for a green year for farmers
soup means everything better than last year
oranges for money and wealth
shrimp for abundance
So today we are going to combine three auspicious meals in one. Wontons (a thinner type of dumpling also known as huntun-馄饨 in Chinese) for good luck, soup to make everything better than from last year and shrimp for abundance. Let’s enjoy some tasty lucky Shanghai Wonton Soup. This Recipe is from our dear friend Lynn Li.
More Delicious Chinese Recipes
Chinese Eggplant with Spicy Pork
Beef and Peppers in Black Bean Sauce
How to Prepare Wood Ear Mushrooms
Wood Ear Mushroom Vegan Stir Fry
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Shanghai Wonton Soup
Ingredients
Wontons ingredients
- 40 wonton wrappers
- 3 cups Chinese Greens
quickly boiled and then run under cold water to stop the cooking process (Chinese Chrysanthemum, spinach or Chinese watercress may all be good substitutes) - ½ pound ground pork
(minced) - ½ pound shrimp
peeled and deveined minced - 2 green onion
minced - 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon rice wine
or dry sherry - ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon sugar
or sugar alternative - optional - ½ teaspoon white pepper
or to taste - 2 teaspoon ginger
fresh finely grated - 2 cloves garlic
peeled and minced - 2 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 egg
- water
little bowl (to seal the edges of the wonton) - 1 tablespoon rice flour or cornstarch or a sheet of waxed paper (to prevent the wontons from sticking on the baking sheet)
- Water
for boiling wontons - Salt
add to water to boil wontons - 2 cups Cool water (to bring your water temperature down)
Soup Base Ingredients
- pasta water
from cooking wontons (approximately one cup per person) - 2 spring onions
chopped - optional - salt to taste
- white pepper to taste to taste - optional
- sesame oil 2 drops per bowl of wonton soup
Instructions
- Flash boil the Chinese greens or spinach and then run under cold water to stop the cooking process. Squeeze the water out of the vegetables and dice finely and set inside a medium mixing bowl.
- In the same bowl you put the chopped Chinese greens put in minced pork, green onion, soy sauce, rice wine, salt, white pepper, ginger, garlic, egg and sesame oil and mix well.
- Dip your fingers into the water bowl and place a little water around the edges of one wonton wrapper. Make sure you cover the rest of your wonton wrappers with a damp tea cloth, so they don’t dry out while you are stuffing the wontons
- Place a heaping teaspoon of pork mixture in the middle of the wonton. (Do not overfill the wonton or otherwise it will burst open during the cooking process)
- Fold the wonton wrapper in half and make sure you press tightly around the edges of where the pork mixture is, so you have a good seal.
- Fold the wonton over so it looks like a little flying nun hat and then fold the two ends on top of each other to seal. The finished product should look like a nurse’s cap or maybe even a flying nuns cap depending on your technique.
- Place your finished wontons on a baking sheet lightly rice floured/corn starch or waxed paper lined baking sheet to prepare for the soup. Alternatively, wontons can be frozen and used later. (If you decide to freeze some, freeze them flat on a baking sheet and once they are frozen you can transfer them to a plastic baggie. This prevents them from sticking together.)
- How to cook your wontons: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add about 6-10 wontons to your pot. (depends on the size of your pot) Make sure there is enough room for them to move about freely. The wontons will cook for a total of 5 - 8 minutes or until they rise to the top and the filling is cooked through. (VERY IMPORTANT! During the boiling process, add about ½ cup of cool water about every 2-3 minutes so that the water does not boil intensively and break apart your wontons- total of around 1.5 cups. You will add the cool water 3 times. Do NOT let your wontons boil vigorously as they may burst. Your goal is to bring them up to a boil and then add a little of the cool water to bring the temperature down. Then bring it up to a boil a second time and then add a little of cool water. For the third and final time you will add a little cool water and bring it up to a boil. Remove your wontons from the pot with a slotted spoon. Repeat this process with the remaining wontons.
- To serve, place somewhere between 5 - 10 dumplings in a large bowl (depends on how hungry you are) and then ladle with 2 ladles of pasta water over the dumplings. Simply add some salt to taste, chopped green onion, white pepper and a little drizzle of sesame oil.
- Enjoy!
Tamara Andersen says
My mouth is watering Bobbi, and it is 7:09 am! LOL. What a beautifully photographed and instructional post. The process photos inspire confidence, and I think I might be successful making these tasty dumplings!
HWC Magazine says
Thanks so much Tamara. We delighted to hear the step by steps and video were helpful. This is such a comforting soup for the fall and winter.
[email protected] says
I know this is an old post but I just clicked through to you from GG's website and I'm so happy I did! I've always wondered what those funny looking 'flowers' where and now I know. I'm lucky enough to have a dumpling lady across the road from me in Shanghai so I don't make my own dumplings but I always have some in the freezer for emergencies.
Stefanie says
Yummy! I love wonton soup! And it's even better when it means so much 🙂 I meant to make some stuff for Chinese New Year, but completely lost track of time and pretty much missed it. Looks like you had a yummy meal though!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thanks Stephanie. I agree time has just been flying by so fast. Can you belief it is already the end of January? Soon it will be Valentines Day....
indonesiaeats says
The way you shaped the wonton is exactly what I did for my wonton soup. Lovely!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Your wontons are beautiful. I think this particular shaping of the wonton seems to be the method for those raised in or near Shanghai. Whatever the shape or method to create the wontons, your soup looks delicious. Take care, Bam
cityhippyfarmgirl says
Great post. Loved reading more about Chinese New Year... I knew there was a reason why I wasn't sweeping lately.
Healthy World Cuisine says
That is my story for not sweeping and I'm sticking to it. LOL. Thanks for stopping by. Take care, Bam
Choc Chip Uru says
Happy New Year my friend - everything looks so festive and creative. A wonderful celebration 😀
Healthy World Cuisine says
Thanks Choc Chic Guru. I know it is not some yummy sweet dessert like you make but this soup really does hit the spot. Maybe I will have to finish off my meal with of those nutella desserts...
ceciliag says
Wow, this all sounds fantastic, i love traditions, esp the cleaning one, though too late for me to clean now I cannot clean for a few days!? YAY! c
Healthy World Cuisine says
We certainly do not want any bad luck by sweeping in the first few days of the New Year....I wonder if this same rule applies to cleaning the bathrooms and dusting. Just to make sure we should avoid all these kinds of activities, just to be sure. Wink...wink... Take care, Bam
Clare Cooks! says
This soup looks so good! Wonton soup was always one of my favorites growing up. Now if only I could convince myself to attempt gluten free wonton wrappers... Maybe a weekend project!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Dear Clare, please do let me know if you decide to either make from scratch or or able to find in the markets gluten free wrappers. Take care, BAM
Nami | Just One Cookbook says
Oh wah... I love your wonton soup!!! It's been so cold and I was thinking of making shumai but have been so busy that I have been reluctant. It must be crazy and fun to be in HK during this time. I like how you shared all the traditions. I didn't know some of it, so thank you!
Healthy World Cuisine says
Konnichi wa Nami-san. Today it is 12 degrees Celsius here in Hong Kong. For HK this is quite brisk. I actually had to wear long trousers and socks today. Brrr.... It is quite crazy and busy in Hong Kong this week. I decided to take some time away from the crowds and cook at home. Take care, BAM