🍽️ Wonton Noodle

Shrimp wontons with alkaline noodles.

Wonton Noodle is the soul food of Hong Kong's cha chaan teng and noodle shops. It centres on fine alkaline noodles made with the bamboo-press method — yellow, springy and firm — and shrimp wontons wrapped thin enough to show the pink prawns through the skin, each with a tail flapping up. The stock is simmered from dried flounder, pork bones and shrimp roe until sweet and full-bodied. A bowl usually holds five or six wontons atop the noodles, finished with yellow chives. The ritual is to sip the broth first, then toss and eat while hot. Bouncy prawns, springy noodles and sweet, deep broth are exactly what Hong Kong people expect from a perfect bowl.