Welcome to the first official Street Food Monday! The first unofficial street food Monday happened last week with these Hotteok, which are definitely worth a look if you missed them.
From now on, every Monday I’ll be delving into the delicious, sticky, chewy, slurpy, crispy and sometimes dicey world of Street Food, and sharing a recipe that I can’t get enough of with you. This week we’re internet-traveling to Malaysia for a steaming, savoury bowl of Wantan Mee – get excited!
Wantan, wonton, wanton, there are as many different spellings for the word, as there are ways to make and eat this dish. Indeed, the same dish can be totally different depending on which country you’re in. Today, we are in Malaysia.
Wantan Mee in Malaysia can still mean a lot of different things, but from what I’ve read there are a few non-negotiable parts. Firstly, the mee; aka the noodles. Thin, delicate egg noodles tossed in a salty-sweet, black sauce are what the whole dish is based around.
Secondly, obviously, the wantans! My recipe today is for a delicate, aromatic pork wantan. But just as common is a prawn wantan, or a pork AND prawn wantan. The only important point is that you must have wantans.
The next most essential part of the wantan mee experience are the greens. On this item, I think you can use whatever is in season and available to you; I’m sure that’s what the hawkers stalls in Malaysia are doing. I happen to love bok choy and it grows brilliantly in Queensland, so that’s what I’m using!
The final, non-negotiable item on any bowl of wantan mee (as far as I’m concerned) are the pickled chillies. Sweet heaven, those chillies. They are off the charts. Sliced long red chillies, macerated in sugar, salt and rice wine vinegar turn into an absolute flavour bomb, and they’re what makes each mouthful taste as vibrant, bright and exciting as the last.
They add sharpness, sweetness, and heat, and are totally, utterly and completely delicious. And they take about 5 minutes to make. I have made these chillies three times in the last week, because I’m eating them on everything now!
Wantan mee is very often served with char siu pork slices as well. And I won’t lie to you, a little pile of sticky, charred pork would go down a treat. I’ve also seen wantan mee served with braised chicken feet (I’d try it), and often with the wantans served in a bowl soup-style off to the side of the noodles.
This recipe is a totally basic, easy starting point. But you WILL NOT BELIEVE how good it tastes, or how satisfying a meal this is. The sauce on the noodles is magically addictive, the wantans easier than you would ever dream of to make, and those pickled chillies are going to be your new best friend. Try it, I bet you love this!
xx Sarah.
- 4 long red or green chillies (red are prettier and sweeter)
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- rice vinegar (or just regular old white vinegar) to cover
- ½ pound (250g) minced pork (free-range or organic if you can!)
- 2 scallions, finely sliced
- 1 tsp grated ginger
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- pinch of white pepper (optional)
- wonton wrappers (you will need about 20)
- 2 tbsp peanut oil (or any other flavourless oil)
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
- 4 tbsp oyster sauce
- 4 tbsp kecap manis (indonesian sweet soy sauce)
- 14 oz (400g) thin egg noodles (fresh or dried)
- Your choice of greens
- Ideally, make the pickled chillies the day before you want to eat, but they are still delicious if you can only give them an hour or so. To make them, simply slice the chillies into thin rounds, and then mix together with the salt and sugar, and pour over enough vinegar to cover.
- Next, make the wantans. Mix together the pork mince, sliced scallions, ginger, soy and white pepper (if you don't have white pepper, just leave it out). Lay out about 20 wonton wrappers on a clean surface, and place a heaped teaspoon of filling into the centre of each one.
- To fold the wantans, brush two edges of the wrapper with water. Fold one corner of the wrapper over the filling diagonally to make a triangle. Gently push the air out from around the filling, and press the edges to seal. Now, with the longest edge facing you, bring the two corners together, and press them to seal. The wantan will look like it's hugging itself. They don't have to be perfect - the important thing is that the filling gets sealed in.
- To make the sauce, place the oil, and the thin slices of garlic into a small pan. Place over a low heat, and cook until the garlic turns golden brown. Remove the crispy garlic chips and set them aside. Place the now garlic-infused oil into a mixing bowl and add the oyster sauce and kecap manis and mix everything together.
- When you're ready to eat, get a big pot of boiling water on the stove. Add the noodles and cook as per the instructions on the packet. Remove the noodles from the boiling water and place them into the mixing bowl with the sauce. Add the wantans and your chosen greens to the boiling water - once they float to the surface, they need about 2 minutes to cook through, but cut one open if you're not sure. When the greens and wantans are ready, toss the noodles with the sauce and divide between four bowls. Top each bowl with some greens, some wantans, a sprinkle of pickled chillies, and some of those crispy garlic chips. Add more pickled chillies as you eat, and ENJOY!
Holy SUGARHIT!!! I am making this pronto. I am so keen on your new street food Monday. I have to admit, every easy Asian recipe you’ve posted has gone on to my regular rotation, I can feel in the waters this will be another. Thank you for bringing this deliciousness to my life.
I am SOOOO excited! These look so tasty – looking forward to seeing the rest of the series!
This just made Mondays totally worth waking up for! SO awesome!!
This looks seriously incredible! SO pumped for this series!!
this sounds delicious!! Would love to give this a try. The pickled chilies sound like they would be my jam!!
I need this in my life RIGHT. NOW. Street Food Mondays just made my Monday mornings so much better. (But also hungrier.)
Girl. DO MORE ASIAN RECIPES. This is bomb!! Totes making it!
I could totally kill an entire bowl of this, RIGHT NOW!
And, random, I’m just realizing that you are in Queensland–as I know absolutely zero about Australian geography–one of our dogs is a Queensland or Red or Strawberry Heeler (as we’ve been told by random people and the rescue we got her from, we really don’t know).
No way! I’ve heard that those puppies are part dingo – but that could be typical Australian nonsense. They’re VERY popular in my part of town, particularly with tradies (is that a word in America? It means, like, builders and plumbers?). Super cute dogs though.
Those pickled chilis are already my new best friend, and I haven’t even had them yet. Hello, lovelies.
I just keep looking at this and drooling.
I wantan eat this everyday! I’m excited for this new blog feature! Street food is the best food!
I love all of this. Fab stuff.
Omg. I. Love. Noodles. And this. Is. Awesome. Surprisingly, there is no Malaysian food in San Francisco, at least none that I can think of off the top of my head. Is it more common there?
I wouldn’t say that it’s SUPER common, but it’s definitely on people’s radar. Seeing as we’re so close to Malaysia itself, it’s a pretty popular holiday spot, and it’s not uncommon to have or to know someone who has Malaysian heritage. I couldn’t live without Laksa, for example.
I just found your blog and OMG I am hooked. I doubled the wanton recipe, and froze most of them with the intention of pan frying and a quick steam. The noodles and wantons were off the charts! Also, the pickled peppers are super good on top of everything. including but not limited to cottage cheese, grits, Morning toast with smashed avocado, pizza, bagel with cream cheese and this delicious recipe!
Thank you so much Melissa. I’m so glad you tried it, and liked the recipe! And I know what you mean about the chillies, I have had a batch in my fridge ever since I posted that recipe, they’re so good!
xx
Sarah
I tried this recipe (well outside my comfort zone) tonight because my husband saw the pictures and said, “I had something like that in Japan and it was AWESOME.”
So in good ol’ Texas, I gave it a shot! None of the grocery stores around here had the kecap manis, so I tried subbing teriyaki sauce. Never having had any authentic wantan mee myself, I can’t say whether it was a good substitute!
But I CAN say that this recipe was a hit with the Hubs! And it was a fun experiment for me!
(And yes, the pickled chilies are AWESOME. And so easy to prep!)
That is awesome Beth! So glad you tried this and it was a hit! xx