You won’t find this Wonton Skin Soup anywhere online but here! Slurp up silky wonton wrappers, bite into juicy pork spare ribs and enjoy this comforting family recipe with your loved ones. It’s easier to make than most noodle soups, but it still packs a ton of flavor!
If you have any leftover skins, use them to wrap wontons!
A rare find on the world wide web
Wonton Skin Soup is one of those family dishes that I grew up eating regularly (even Aunty would invite us over for parties and serve it) but it’s not something I’ve ever known another family to eat.
Just like our Hokkien Pork Noodle Soup, I’ve had no luck finding similar recipes online!
While its origins and how well-known the dish is is still a mystery to me, there’s one fact I do know for sure:
My family’s Wonton Skin Soup is a winner of a recipe!
Its signature flavor is in the broth. Simmered low and slow with dried shrimp, there’s a deep savory taste that starts from the moment you take that first sip to the very last mouthful.
This is also complemented by the silkiest noodles you’ll ever know. Wonton wrappers make fantastic noodles because they slide in incredibly easy with each slurp and they’re soft enough that you don’t even have to chew!
So yes – it’s delicious for adults AND child-friendly.
Time to satisfy the family with this recipe soon!
Why this recipe works
- Using store-bought wrappers keeps the dish easy and fuss-free.
- Adding dried shrimp to the stock takes only one step but deepens the umami.
- Cooking pork spare ribs in the broth adds flavor and also becomes a great topping.
What you’ll need
For the soup
About the shrimp
We use dried shrimp, which you can find from Asian grocery stores. They come in bigger or smaller varieties and any will work.
For the toppings and garnish
About the ingredients
Aside from the wrappers themselves, all of the other toppings can be added to preference or based on availability.
How to make this recipe
Bring the stock to a boil and add the dried shrimp into the broth. Let it simmer on a low-medium heat as you’re cooking the stock.
When the stock has simmered for a least 2.5 hours, bring the stock back to a boil and add the pork spare ribs in to cook for 30 minutes or until just cooked. Make sure it cooks over a low-medium heat.
When cooked, take the ribs out and cut them into 2cm (0.8″) chunks. Set them aside in a bowl to serve later.
Note: If you plan on adding blood jelly as a topping, you can start cooking it now. Once they’re cooked, add them into the stock to absorb the stock’s flavor.
Turn the heat up to high and season the broth with the fish sauce, rock sugar, salt and chicken bouillon powder. Let it simmer for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil and add about 10 wonton wrappers in at a time. Let them cook for 3 minutes or until just cooked.
Pro Tip: Peel them apart as you drop them into the boiling water so they don’t clump up as they cook. Also stir the base every 30 seconds so they don’t stick to the bottom.
Scoop the skins out into a bowl of cool water.
Start cooking the next batch of skins, then scoop the cooled batch into a colander to drip dry.
To serve, put the cooked wrappers into a bowl. Then top it with the pork spare ribs and scoop the soup over the top along with the blood jelly.
Garnish with spring onions and coriander, pepper and a yaotiao!
Recipe FAQs
If you can’t find these in store, the best options would be to use the wrappers for siu mai or spring rolls. You’re after ones with an eggy taste as it’s a simple dish, so each ingredient’s flavor needs to shine.
Certainly! Mince or chicken drumsticks [like we use in our Vietnamese Chicken Tapioca Noodle Soup (Bánh Canh Gà)] would have a similar flavor profile in that they’re not overpowering cuts of meat.
The bulk of the aromas for our Wonton Skin Soup will come from the dried shrimp, so if you can’t get your hands on any, then dried squid is an alternative you can try. Otherwise, just skip it altogether and keep it a simpler noodle dish.
Tips for the best results
- Cook the skins as you go. Once the wrappers are cooked and cooled, they’ll start to stick together and clump up. Ideally, cook a small batch as you serve so they’re fresh.
- Test the wrappers beforehand. Some brands have an eggier taste and some taste more like a dough. I find that Chinese branded ones are typically on the eggier side, which works well for this Wonton Skin Soup recipe.
- Avoid leaving the pork spare ribs in the stock for too long. The longer it cooks, the softer it will become. If it’s left in there for too long, the meat will fall apart.
More noodle soups to love
- Miến Gà (Vietnamese Chicken Glass Noodle Soup) – Another simple and easy family dish, this is the perfect way to enjoy a good slurp without all the extra labor.
- Bò Kho (Vietnamese Beef Stew) – Deep, hearty and bold, you can enjoy the beefy flavors with a crusty baguette or with silky rice noodles. You can also now watch the video version!
- Cà Ri Gà (Vietnamese Chicken Curry) – If you love a rich coconut curry aroma, this is your go-to. It’s complemented by fall-off-the-bone chicken that works wonders in this recipe.
- Oxtail Hot Pot (牛尾煲) – Served around the table with the family, dive into a robust sate-based soup that’s packed with a spicy kick.
- Phở Chay (Vegetarian Phở) – Mum doesn’t skimp on taste or ingredients when she makes her meatless Phở. It promises all the flavor you know and love from the beef version!
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Wonton Skin Soup
Equipment
- Colander
- water bath (cool water in a large bowl to cool the wrappers)
- slotted spoon (for scooping the wrappers)
Ingredients
For The Stock
- 5 L chicken and pork stock
- 1/2 US cup dried shrimp
- 8 tbsp fish sauce
- 2 tsp salt (or to taste)
- 60 g / 0.13 lb rock sugar (or to taste)
- 1 tbsp chicken bouillon powder
For The Toppings and Garnish
- 1 kg / 2.2 lb pork spare rib
- 1 box blood jelly
- 2 packet wonton wrapper (we get it in the fridge section of Asian supermarkets)
- yaotiao (Chinese donut sticks)
- coriander (finely chopped)
- spring onion (finely chopped)
- pepper (optional)
Instructions
- Bring the stock to a boil and add the dried shrimp into the broth. Let it simmer on a low-medium heat as you're cooking the stock.
- When the stock has simmered for a least 2.5 hours, bring the stock back to a boil and add the pork spare ribs in to cook for 30 minutes or until just cooked. Make sure it cooks over a low-medium heat.
- When cooked, take the ribs out and cut them into 2cm (0.8") chunks. Set them aside in a bowl to serve later.Note: If you plan on adding blood jelly as a topping, you can start cooking it now. Once they're cooked, add them into the stock to absorb the stock's flavor.
- Turn the heat up to high and season the broth with the fish sauce, rock sugar, salt and chicken bouillon powder. Let it simmer for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to a boil and add about 10 wonton wrappers in at a time. Let them cook for 3 minutes or until just cooked.Pro Tip: Peel them apart as you drop them into the boiling water so they don't clump up as they cook. Also stir the base every 30 seconds so they don't stick to the bottom.
- Scoop the skins out into a bowl of cool water.
- Start cooking the next batch of skins, then scoop the cooled batch into a colander to drip dry.
- To serve, put the cooked wrappers into a bowl. Then top it with the pork spare ribs and scoop the soup over the top along with the blood jelly.
- Garnish with spring onions and coriander, pepper and a yaotiao!
Notes
- Cook the skins as you go. Once the wrappers are cooked and cooled, they'll start to stick together and clump up. Ideally, cook a small batch as you serve so they're fresh.
- Test the wrappers beforehand. Some brands have an eggier taste and some taste more like a dough. I find that Chinese branded ones are typically on the eggier side, which works well for this Wonton Skin Soup recipe.
- Avoid leaving the pork spare ribs in the stock for too long. The longer it cooks, the softer it will become. If it's left in there for too long, the meat will fall apart.
- We use dried shrimp, which you can find from Asian grocery stores. They come in bigger or smaller varieties and any will work.
- Aside from the wrappers themselves, all of the other toppings can be added to preference or based on availability.
Hi
I’m really enjoying your recipes. I married a Vietnamese guy back In the early eighties and watched on eagerly as my mother-in-law and sister-in-law taught me almost all Vietnamese dishes. We also did won ton skin soup we would add dried shiitake mushrooms ( soaked In water before use) and add the won ton skin one by one to a small amount of
the stock soup once that were all soft spoon into a bowl add dried turnip, fried shallots and garnish with chopped spring onions and coriander and pepper. To this day my kids ( now in their 30’s) and I still love this dish and I make big batches of stock and freeze in batches to give to them when they visit.
It really is the perfect soup!
Thanks for sharing your family’s recipe and many others
Sometimes I can’t remember all the ingredients of some of my favourite dishes so finding the recipes you post is fantastic and so much like the way my mother-in-law (now passed) once made them.
Hi, Karen! You made my heart warm up so much! This is exactly why I love sharing my family’s recipes. It’s so that everyone can connect with those amazing memories they have. Well done for continuing on the legacy and passing it onto your kids too! They’re very lucky to have you as their Mum. The wonton skin soup version you’re telling me sounds sensational! Enjoy more recipes to come <3 Thanks for such a lovely message, Karen!