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    Home » Mains » Soups, Curries and Stews » Shanghai Wonton Soup

    Shanghai Wonton Soup

    Published: May 28, 2019 · Modified: Feb 5, 2021 by HWC Magazine · 50 Comments

    Jump to Recipe Jump to Video Print Recipe
    Shanghai Wonton Soup / https://www.hwcmagazine.com

    Cozy up to a quick and easy Shanghai Wonton Soup made with homemade shrimp, pork and spinach wontons in a simple nourishing broth. With our step by step photos and video, you will be a wonton wrapping pro in no time.

    Wonton soup in a brown bowl with a plate of uncooked wontons and 2 spoons.

    Soup Season Comfort Food

    Do you know that feeling you get when you take a sip of your mom’s homemade chicken soup or Chinese Beef Noodle 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 (also referred to as húntun, 餛飩, 馄饨). There is something magical about the simple broth flavored by the wontons.

    When you take your first bite of the tender Shanghai wonton you will taste the mix of fresh ginger, garlic, shrimp and pork. Then, the delicate flavor of the broth, sesame oil and a freshness from the sliced green onions. It's a must try soup recipe and way better than take away.

    Cooked Shanghai wonton in a Chinese spoon getting picked up with chopsticks with a tasty broth.

    How Many Wontons Can You Eat?

    Five? Ten? Twenty? This recipe makes about forty dumplings. 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.

    Twenty uncooked wontons all lined up on a rectangle black plate. They look like little nun caps or old fashion nurse caps.

    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.

    Buddy a little Yorkie dog sniffing an uncooked wonton. He is wondering what they taste like but he will not be getting lucky today.

    Freeze Shanghai Wontons

    You sure can! Freeze the wontons 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.
    Super close up shot of prepared wontons ready to cook. They looks just like little nun caps. Super cute.

    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.

    Placing a little water on the wonton with my finger.

    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.

    Placing a heaping teaspoon of the filing in the center of the wonton wrapper.

    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.

    Holding the wonton with the filling in our left hand.

    Next fold over lengthwise so it looks like a little nun’s cap or an old fashion nurse’s hat.

    Folding the wonton in half and getting the air out around the filling.

    Dab a little extra water around the edges and then pinch close to form the cute little wonton.

    Fold the wonton wrapper lengthwise over.

    Recipe Tip

    Keep a damp towel over your wonton wrappers and stuffed wontons, so they do not dry out. If the wonton wrappers get dry, they are very difficult to fold up and may crack.

    Finished wonton held in my fingers.

    Lucky Chinese New Year Soup

    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
    Two bowls of wontons soup, prepared wontons, chopsticks and a spoon, ready to eat.

    Huntun (馄饨)

    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 Chinese recipe is from our dear friend Lynn Li from Shanghai.

    More Delicious Chinese Recipes

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    Beef and Peppers in Black Bean Sauce

    How to Prepare Wood Ear Mushrooms

    Wood Ear Mushroom Vegan Stir Fry

    Chinese Vegan Radish Cake

    Did You Like Our Recipe? Leave a ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ rating and/or a review in the comments section below. Your feedback is always appreciated! Follow us for more delicious recipes on Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter and Facebook! Don't forget to sign up for our email list for more free recipes.

    Shanghai Wonton Soup

    Shanghai Wonton Soup is a delicious lucky soup made with homemade shrimp, pork and green vegetable wontons with a simple nourishing broth.
    5 from 2 votes
    Print Pin Rate
    Course: Mains, Sides
    Cuisine: Chinese
    Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes
    Cook Time: 15 minutes minutes
    Total Time: 45 minutes minutes
    Servings: 8
    Calories: 243kcal
    Author: HWC Magazine

    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
    US Customary - Metric
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    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!

    Video

    Notes

    Shanghai Wonton Soup is generally made with just pasta water for the soup broth. However, if you desire feel free to add a little chicken broth or chicken bouillon to the pasta water as desired.
    Feel free to exchange the pork and shrimp filling with all pork, ground turkey, more steamed vegetables or whatever your little heart desires.
    We used spinach but feel free to use sweet potato greens or any greens that your little heart desires.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1bowl with 5 wontons | Calories: 243kcal | Carbohydrates: 24g | Protein: 16g | Fat: 9g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 116mg | Sodium: 740mg | Potassium: 226mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 1144IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 83mg | Iron: 3mg
    Did you make this recipe?Tag us @HWCMagazine or hastag us #HWCMagazine!
    Shanghai Wonton Soup / https://www.hwcmagazine.com

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    About HWC Magazine

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

      5 from 2 votes (1 rating without comment)

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      Recipe Rating




    1. Tamara Andersen says

      September 29, 2020 at 12:11 pm

      5 stars
      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!

      Reply
      • HWC Magazine says

        September 29, 2020 at 5:15 pm

        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.

        Reply
    2. nancy@jamjnr says

      August 26, 2013 at 1:14 am

      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.

      Reply
    3. Stefanie says

      January 26, 2012 at 4:36 am

      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!

      Reply
      • Healthy World Cuisine says

        January 26, 2012 at 12:43 pm

        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....

        Reply
    4. indonesiaeats says

      January 25, 2012 at 2:22 pm

      The way you shaped the wonton is exactly what I did for my wonton soup. Lovely!

      Reply
      • Healthy World Cuisine says

        January 26, 2012 at 1:01 pm

        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

        Reply
    5. cityhippyfarmgirl says

      January 25, 2012 at 11:41 am

      Great post. Loved reading more about Chinese New Year... I knew there was a reason why I wasn't sweeping lately.

      Reply
      • Healthy World Cuisine says

        January 26, 2012 at 11:07 pm

        That is my story for not sweeping and I'm sticking to it. LOL. Thanks for stopping by. Take care, Bam

        Reply
    6. Choc Chip Uru says

      January 25, 2012 at 10:04 am

      Happy New Year my friend - everything looks so festive and creative. A wonderful celebration 😀

      Reply
      • Healthy World Cuisine says

        January 26, 2012 at 11:05 pm

        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...

        Reply
    7. ceciliag says

      January 25, 2012 at 10:03 am

      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

      Reply
      • Healthy World Cuisine says

        January 26, 2012 at 11:12 pm

        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

        Reply
    8. Clare Cooks! says

      January 25, 2012 at 6:53 am

      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!

      Reply
      • Healthy World Cuisine says

        January 25, 2012 at 8:56 am

        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

        Reply
    9. Nami | Just One Cookbook says

      January 24, 2012 at 6:06 pm

      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!

      Reply
      • Healthy World Cuisine says

        January 25, 2012 at 8:53 am

        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

        Reply
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