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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 · 51 Comments

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

    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)

    Shanghai Wonton Soup / https://www.hwcmagazine.com

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

    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. 

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

    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.

    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.

    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.

    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.

    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

    Finished wonton held in my fingers.

    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

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

    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

    Chinese Vegan Radish Cake

    Hungry For More? Subscribe to our Newsletter and follow along on Facebook, You Tube, Instagram, and Pinterest for all the latest updates.

    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
    Cook Time: 15 minutes
    Total Time: 45 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: 1g | 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!

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    About HWC Magazine

    Join our Healthy World Cuisine medical editors (trained in both Western and Eastern Medicine) and learn how to EAT your way around the WORLD from the comfort of your own kitchen. Grab free health tips, recipe ideas, meal plans and gain a better understand how eating choices can affect your health. Be the healthier and happier YOU!

    Reader Interactions

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      Recipe Rating




    1. andylmoore says

      January 23, 2012 at 4:17 am

      Kung Hei Fat Choi. I lived in Hong Kong for eight years, so brought back some nice memories. Thank you.

      Reply
      • Healthy World Cuisine says

        January 23, 2012 at 9:47 am

        Thanks Andy for stopping by. Gong Hei Fat Choy and I love your cooking website. Looking forward to keeping in touch. Take care, Bam

        Reply
    2. Wholesome Cook says

      January 22, 2012 at 5:31 pm

      Thanks for the dumpling recipe and of course sharing a few things about the Chinese new year's traditions.

      Reply
      • Healthy World Cuisine says

        January 23, 2012 at 12:47 am

        Your welcome Martyna. Take care

        Reply
    3. katyarich says

      January 22, 2012 at 3:39 am

      Hola Bam now is my time to envy you, I just love this chinese soup....looks spectacular
      .....and I love your nails.....looks great!!!!

      Reply
      • Healthy World Cuisine says

        January 23, 2012 at 12:45 am

        Hola Katy, thanks for the complement but I was the photographer during those step by step shots. Those beautifully manicured nails are my dear friends, Lynn. Take care

        Reply
    4. wok with ray says

      January 21, 2012 at 1:58 pm

      What a delicious looking soup! Those pork dumplings are amazing.

      Reply
      • Healthy World Cuisine says

        January 23, 2012 at 12:42 am

        Thanks Ray and Happy Lunar New Year.

        Reply
    5. Asmita says

      January 21, 2012 at 5:54 am

      I love clear soup with these dumplings. I think I will be eating dinner at a Chinese restaurant tonight, I am craving this soup and this kind of food. I love the step by step pictures, really beautiful.

      Reply
      • Healthy World Cuisine says

        January 23, 2012 at 12:30 am

        Actually the clear broth soup is so simple but really light and yummy. Thanks for stopping by.

        Reply
    6. Kay aka Babygirl says

      January 21, 2012 at 2:55 am

      Oh my... that just looks amazing. I love how the wontons came out and the soup just looks so delicious. I would definitely enjoy Chinese new years with these dishes.

      Reply
      • Healthy World Cuisine says

        January 23, 2012 at 12:28 am

        Thanks! My friends Lynn and Yi can make like 50 perfect ones in a minute. I think they may have done this a few times before....

        Reply
    7. thebigfatnoodle says

      January 21, 2012 at 1:56 am

      You'll laugh when you read this. My very first post and recipe is about these dumplings, folded in exactly this way because my mum is Shanghainese! I'm actually make some more this weekend in preparation for CNY.

      Reply
      • Healthy World Cuisine says

        January 23, 2012 at 12:25 am

        M̀h'gōi or maybe xie xie (thank you) very much for the mention on your website today. Your Chinese New Year Shanghai wontons and other treats sound wonderful. Please extend a greetings of Xian nian kuai le on to your family. Take care

        Reply
    8. Zoe @ Pantry and Fridge says

      January 21, 2012 at 12:06 am

      Fabulous!! I love learning of other cultures. I think they all looked beautiful! 🙂

      Happy Chinese New Year!! 😀

      Reply
      • Healthy World Cuisine says

        January 23, 2012 at 12:15 am

        Happy Lunar New Years to you too Zoe!

        Reply
        • Zoe @ Pantry and Fridge says

          January 23, 2012 at 4:25 pm

          I also wanted to thank you for being one of my biggest supporters 🙂
          You have really helped me to keep going, and I wanted you to know I appreciate you very much.
          Your blog is inspiring and I hope to be able to make one of your delicious creations soon.
          Thanks for commenting as often as you do. I really love reading what you have to say.
          Keep up the cooking! I'll keep reading!
          Zoe

        • Healthy World Cuisine says

          January 25, 2012 at 9:00 am

          Hey Zoe, I just realized something.. Did you used to have 2 websites one for your photography and one for your cooking? I tried to take a look at your photography site and no longer available? You are a very talented photographer! Thank you for all of your support and kind words. Take care, BAM

        • Anonymous says

          January 25, 2012 at 10:20 am

          Yea, I used to post photography to a blog but actually am my own worst critic so decided I didn't like the site and deleted it :/ Thank you for saying so, though. 🙂 I post all my pictures to InstaGram (WebstaGram.com) now 🙂 under Zoe_Wright instead of to a blog. I'm not sure why I'm more comfortable with it, but I am.
          Cheers Bam!

    9. Baking with Sibella says

      January 20, 2012 at 11:45 pm

      Bobbi, this is great! I very much enjoyed reading the recipe and looking at the photos! Your blog truly is a window into the Chinese culture for us who have never experienced it!!! Happy New Year! 🙂

      Reply
      • Healthy World Cuisine says

        January 23, 2012 at 12:13 am

        Thanks Sibella. I am glad you enjoyed reading a little about the culture. I think learning about others food, language and cultural is one of my favorite things to do. Of course I guess of all 3 a very big emphasis on the food. Take care

        Reply
    10. Joanne Ozug says

      January 20, 2012 at 10:51 pm

      OH!!!!! MY!!!!!! This looks so good. Off to the store to get some wonton wrappers!

      Reply
      • Healthy World Cuisine says

        January 23, 2012 at 12:08 am

        Thanks Joanne. It is actually a very simple and tasty soup. Perfect for these cooler days. Take care

        Reply
    11. Geni - Sweet and Crumby says

      January 20, 2012 at 10:33 pm

      Your wontons are amazingly beautiful and are making me very hungry. That bowl of soup is just filled with goodness and love. I am so happy that you detailed making the wontons. I can't wait to try and with your step-by-step photos and instructions, I think I can do it!

      Reply
    12. zestybeandog says

      January 20, 2012 at 10:10 pm

      So beautiful! What a lovely soup! I could use some "good luck" soup!

      Reply
      • Healthy World Cuisine says

        January 23, 2012 at 12:03 am

        I think we could all use a little luck in our busy lives, we best make it a double order of soup. Take care

        Reply
    13. promenadeplantings says

      January 20, 2012 at 9:38 pm

      Fab photos of making wontons, it gives me a really clear idea of how to make them. wishing you a happy new year 🙂

      Reply
      • Healthy World Cuisine says

        January 23, 2012 at 12:02 am

        Thanks. I had a wonderful time making wontons with my friends. Great learning experience.

        Reply
    14. thecompletecookbook says

      January 20, 2012 at 8:47 pm

      What fun you are having at the moment with all the celebrations for Chinese New Year. Enjoy!
      🙂 Mandy

      Reply
      • Healthy World Cuisine says

        January 23, 2012 at 12:00 am

        Very busy in Hong Kong as you know it has the densest population in the world. Even busier and crazier than usual this week.

        Reply
    15. gardenfreshtomatoes says

      January 20, 2012 at 7:54 pm

      Great photos and instructions!
      Happy New Year!

      Reply
      • Healthy World Cuisine says

        January 20, 2012 at 8:37 pm

        Thanks Marie! I know you don't celebrate this Lunar New Year holiday in Rhode Island but maybe you can tell work you need the week off anyways. I love Asia so many holidays!!

        Reply
        • gardenfreshtomatoes says

          January 20, 2012 at 11:47 pm

          Since 'work' for me is all at home now, I'm not sure that's going to fly... 😉
          And, I'm always up for a good party!

    Newer Comments »

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