Dry Wonton Noodles

This is the 2nd entry for the Food Inspired by People project. Every Monday for three months, I will post a dish that is inspired by a person. Today is Dry Wonton Noodles inspired by my dad.

1st Entry: Sambal inspired by my mom

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Imagine this. It’s the weekend. For two sweet days, all you want to do is to relax and to indulge in your favorite food. Noodles. Dry wonton noodles. Oh, did I mention you have kids. They have favorites too. No, not wonton noodles. Fried chicken. You know if you asked them what they wanted, noodles will not be the answer. So, you oomphed and hyped this food joint hoping they’d believe noodles is the new fried chicken. 

When your kids finally came to a realization that noodles definitely wasn’t the new fried chicken and that this was probably their umpteenth wonton noodles that week, you knew you were busted. You quickly put a super exciting and hopeful face with a puss in boots pathetic eyes and asked “Isn’t the food great here?”. Not wanting to disappoint their father, they promptly nodded their heads and hoped the next meal will not be wonton noodles.

My dad didn’t do this to my sisters and I… hmm… or did he?

I do remember my fair share of dry wonton noodles I ate as a kid. Weekend breakfasts, wonton noodles. Weekend lunches, wonton noodles. Weekend dinners, wonton noodles. Ok now this is an exaggeration on my part. My point is, he really does love his wonton noodles. Lucky for him, he makes a mean, ridiculously delicious dry wonton noodles at home.

Not surprising how the universe’s goal is to torture the heck out of me, dry wonton noodles also happens to be one of Mr. V’s favorite noodles. If asked what he wanted to eat, that would be one of his top choices. I guess I’m destined to be with you, oh dry wonton noodles.

PS: When I say dry, I don’t mean they’re dry dry, I just meant they’re not soupy.

To see all the delectable entries for the Food Inspired by People project, click here.

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Dry Wonton Noodles             Serves 2

what you need:

12 oz fresh thin wonton noodles

Seasonings for noodles:
3 tbs thick caramel sauce (for color)
3 tbs light soy sauce
3 tbs oyster sauce (or pork drippings/sauce from the BBQ Pork)
1 tbs garlic oil
1 tbs shallot oil
1 tbs sesame oil
A pinch of salt and white pepper

Vegetables:
1/4 lb yu choy (or bak choy), cut into 2″ in length
1/4 tsp shallot oil
1/4 tsp garlic oil
Pinch of salt

Pork:
One strip sliced Chinese BBQ pork (Char Siu), toast or broil or bake to reheat

Condiment:
1 – 2 tbs pickled green chilies, in 1 tbs soy sauce

Garnish:
1 green onion, sliced
2 tbs fried shallots

Soup: (optional)
Pork or chicken broth with cooked wonton

directions:

1. Bring a large saucepan of water to boil. Blanch the yu choy for 30 seconds to 1 minute, drain and toss with garlic oil and salt.

2. In the same saucepan of water, bring water back to a rolling boil and cook the noodles for 1 minute.

3. When noodles are cooked, use a strainer to drain them. Rinse them under cold water for 5 seconds. This is to remove the starch and stop the noodles from cooking further. Then, rinse noodles under hot water for another couple of seconds just to heat them up. Drain and immediately toss with the noodles seasoning.

4. Serve noodles with blanched vegetables, char siu, green chilies and a bowl of wonton soup at the side. Garnish with green onions and fried shallots.

Notes:

1. The thick caramel sauce gives the noodles its dark color. It’s not very salty like ordinary soy sauce. If you can’t get a hold of it, use the thickest consistency dark soy sauce you can find in Asian supermarkets. If doing so, reduce the amount of light soy sauce by half.

2. If the noodles seem too dry after tossing with the seasonings, hydrate it with 1-2 tablespoon of soup (if you have any) or water from cooking the noodles.

3. I make the shallot and garlic oil in bigger batches, as well as the Chinese BBQ Pork (char siu) which I freeze and thaw as I need them.

4. You may have heard about or eaten wonton noodles soup. But we’re not talking about that here. This is the ‘dry’ version. The wonton soup is still served in a separate bowl. This dry version is very popular in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore.

5. Yu choy, oyster sauce, and noodles are sold in Asian markets.

P.S. I know it’s somewhat ironic that this post is called wonton noodles but there isn’t even a hint of wonton in the pictures. Curious points given to those who noticed. I just don’t make this with wontons. Yes, sometimes I don’t understand me either.

My last post: Have a break, not a vacation.

What reminds you of your dad? Food wise, that is.