November 16, 2015

Wonton Noodle Soup with Roasted Duck

It’s officially “soup season” and this soup combines two of my favorite things:

Dumplings and Noodles.

Mì Hoành Thánh Vịt Quay is a Vietnamese soup with egg noodles, wonton shrimp and pork dumplings with bok choy topped with roasted duck. It’s a Vietnamese dish long ago influenced by the Chinese. This dish is completely different from that Wonton Soup you find at chinese take-out. Please, do not confuse the two.

My strongest memory of this dish, one I will always correlate with Mì Hoành Thánh is from 2009. We arrived into Saigon, Vietnam from a late, long flight and slurped up a bowl of this soup at 3:00 am. It was the perfect remedy for jet lag and fatigue.

As always, this recipe is my own rendition of a traditional dish without the MSG, the pre-packaged powders and as least sugar (or none in most cases) as possible. It may taste a little different than what the restaurants and Grandma may make, but kitchen experiments in Mama Melly’s Messhall are always ground-breaking!

 

Let’s start the broth:

Clean the pork neck bones with salt and rinse.
Clean the pork neck bones with salt and rinse.
Place it in a pot with water to cover the bones, bring to a boil. Remove the bones, rinse it separately. Dump out that nasty grey water and clean the pot.
Place it in a pot with water to cover the bones, bring to a boil. Remove the bones, rinse it separately. Dump out that nasty grey water and clean the pot.
Blog- Mi Wonton 4
Return the pork neck bones to the dutch oven and fill with water. Peel carrot, ginger, daikon, shrimp and slice. Add to dutch oven. Add 1 tsp sugar, 1 tbsp salt.
Blog- Mi Wonton 5
Waste not the shrimp shells! Flavor city!
Blog- Mi Wonton 6
Bring to a boil, add shrimp shells. then simmer for 1 hour.
Blog- Mi Wonton 9
Discard daikon and shrimp shells.

Add 1 tbsp Red Boat fish sauce. Stir and adjust to taste. Broth is ready!

 

Time for the Wontons:

In a large mixing bowl, add ground pork, shrimp, sesame oil, salt, sugar, pepper, ginger, white part of green onions, water chestnuts and egg.
In a large mixing bowl, add ground pork, shrimp, sesame oil, salt, sugar, pepper, ginger, white part of green onions, water chestnuts and egg.
Mix everything together with your clean bare hands. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Mix everything together with your clean bare hands. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Set up your wonton wrapping station. Make sure you have a beer, maybe two handy since you won't be getting up for a while.
Set up your wonton wrapping station. Make sure you have a beer, maybe two handy since you won’t be getting up for a while.
Use one teaspoon of mix per wonton. I am using TOO much in this photo. Don't do what I did. Seal each dumpling using your finger dipped in egg white.
Use one teaspoon of mix per wonton. I am using TOO much in this photo. Don’t do what I did. Seal each dumpling using your finger dipped in egg white.
Wrap using wonton wrappers. Instinctively, I started wrapping up these little presents into tortellini and then remembered I was cooking an Asian dish. I played around with Gyoza style and pouch style wrappings. Any wrapping of your choice works!
Wrap using wonton wrappers. Instinctively, I started wrapping up these little presents into tortellini and then remembered I was cooking an Asian dish. I played around with Gyoza style and pouch style wrappings. Any wrapping of your choice works! My husband even requested a mini-burrito.
Dumpling pouches of gold
Dumpling pouches of gold
I could frame this.
I could frame this.
Boil water. Add just the amount of dumplings to be served. Remove after 5 minutes, 7 min if frozen.
Boil water. Add just the amount of dumplings to be served. Remove after 5 minutes, 7 min if frozen.

 

Bok Choy:

Boil water with a pinch of salt. Add cleaned bok choy for 2 minutes and remove. Set aside.
Boil water with a pinch of salt. Add cleaned bok choy for 2 minutes and remove. Set aside.

 

Egg noodles:

Add fresh egg noodles to boiling water for 2 minutes, then drain.
Add fresh egg noodles to boiling water for 2 minutes, then drain.
Blog- Mi Wonton 12
Add 2 tbsp sesame oil per 4 bunches and toss. Set aside.

 

Plating:

Blog- Mi Wonton 19
Once all the prep is completed and the mise en place set, clean up! Trash out, tables wiped, dirty dishes away. The only way to cook is in a tidy space. A lesson learned from culinary school that still rings loudly for me today.
Blog- Mi Wonton 20
Once you are ready to serve, heat up the broth, place noodles into the bowls, top with duck and bok choy.
Blog- Mi Wonton 21
Load up your bowl and generously garnish with green onion. Slurp away!

 

Freeze all the leftover dumplings on the baking sheet spaced apart with none of the dumplings touching. After about an hour, remove and place into containers. As long as they are frozen spaced apart first, they won’t clump together. The next time you are ready to eat, just drop the frozen dumpling babies straight into the boiling water and add 2 minutes to your cook time.

I hope you end up having a second bowl at dinner, like my husband did. He liked it so much he started speaking Vietnamese! (He’s not Vietnamese).

Bon Appetit,

Mel

All photos by Melllypoo via iPhone 6.

 

 

Wonton Noodle Soup with Roasted Duck (Mì Hoành Thánh Vịt Quay)
Serves 5
Shrimp and pork wonton dumplings served over egg noodles with roasted duck and bok choy
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Prep Time
2 hr
Cook Time
2 hr
Total Time
4 hr
Prep Time
2 hr
Cook Time
2 hr
Total Time
4 hr
Broth
  1. 1 lb Pork neck bones
  2. 1 inch fresh ginger, peeled, sliced large
  3. 1 white daikon radish, peeled, sliced in large 2 inch portions
  4. 1 carrot, peeled, sliced into small 1 inch portions
  5. 1 tbsp fish sauce
  6. 1 tbsp salt
  7. 1 tsp sugar
Dumplings
  1. 1 package of square Wonton Wrappers
  2. 2 eggs (1 full egg, 1 separate egg white)
  3. 1 lb small shrimp with shell and tail, saving the shells for the broth then deveining and chopping into small half inch portions
  4. 1 lb ground pork
  5. 1 can of water chestnuts, about 20 chestnuts total, minced
  6. 1 tbsp minced fresh ginger
  7. 6 green onions
  8. 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
  9. 1/2 tbsp salt
  10. 1 tsp pepper
  11. 1/2 tbsp sugar
  12. 1/2 roasted duck, chopped into small pieces
  13. 2 packages of fresh thin egg noodles (4 tbsp sesame oil to toss)
  14. 7 baby bok choy
Broth
  1. Rub the pork neck bones with salt, then rinse.
  2. Fill a pot with water, add bones and bring to a boil.
  3. Remove from heat, remove bones, discard water and clean the pot. Rinse the bones under water.
  4. Fill up a pot 2/3 of the way with fresh water and add the bones again.
  5. Peel ginger, carrot, and daikon, slice then add to pot.
  6. Add salt, sugar and shrimp shells. Say it three times fast.
  7. Bring to a boil, then simmer for one hour. Discard daikon and shrimp shells.
  8. Add 1 tbsp fish sauce. Stir and adjust to taste.
Dumplings
  1. Peel shrimp, saving shells for the broth. De-vein and cut into small portions (about 4 pieces per shrimp).
  2. In a large mixing bowl, add ground pork, shrimp, 1 egg, water chestnuts, thinly sliced white portions of 6 green onions, sesame oil, salt, sugar and pepper. Hand mix. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
  3. Place 1 tsp of dumpling mix onto each wonton wrapper, sealing the edges using egg white dipped from your finger. Fold into whatever shape your heart desires.
  4. Bring a pot of water to a boil, adding in just a few dumplings at a time. Remove after the dumplings float, about 5 minutes.
Bok Choy
  1. Bring a pot of water and a pinch of salt to boil. Add washed baby bok choy and boil for 2-3 minutes and remove. Set aside.
Noodles
  1. Bring a pot of water to boil, add noodles for two minutes and remove. Toss with 2 tbsp sesame oil per 4 noodle bundles immediately. Set aside.
Plating
  1. Add noodles to bowl, topped with baby bok choy, wonton dumplings and roasted duck. Add broth to cover. Garnish with green onion.
Notes
  1. Shortcut: Use chicken broth and add noodles, etc. This is cheating but acceptable in case of emergency dumpling soup craving.
  2. Freeze dumplings raw on a baking sheet making sure that none of the dumplings are touching. After one hour, remove and separate into freezable containers. To cook, boil for about 7 minutes.
Adapted from Spices of Life
Adapted from Spices of Life
Melllypoo http://www.melllypoo.com/