Char Siu Wonton Mee - Kon Lou Wantan Mee
Have you tried combining char siu and wontons with noodles? This vegan char siu wonton mee or more commonly known as Kon Lou Wantan Mee in Malaysia is a very popular breakfast food.
Servings: 2
Ingredients
- 2 servings of fresh noodles
- 1 large shallot 75g thinly sliced
- 3 tablespoons cooking oil
- 1 cup of yu choy (choy sum)
Noodle sauce (see notes)
- 2 tablespoons shallot oil from above
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons vegan oyster sauce
- 2 teaspoons thick caramel sauce or dark soy sauce
- splash of toasted sesame oil
- ground white pepper to taste
Tofu Char Siu
- 16 oz firm tofu drained
- ¼ cup cornstarch
- oil for cooking
Char Siu Sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon vegan 'oyster' sauce
- 1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup
- ½ tablespoon sesame oil
- ground white pepper to taste
- ⅓ cup water
Wonton
- 30 wonton wrapper
- 2 cups chopped cabbage
- 2 dried Shiitake mushrooms softened
- ½ cup chopped carrots
- 3 oz firm tofu
- ¼ teaspoon mushrooms or umami seasoning
- salt and white pepper to taste
Instructions
Prepare the vegan Char Siu (BBQ Tofu)
- Combine all the char siu sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.
- Cut tofu into 3 slabs, lengthwise. Rub all sides with cornstarch.
- Heat a non-stick pan and add in a tablespoon of oil. Using low-medium heat, pan-fry the tofu until golden brown on all sides. Tip: Do not flip the tofu until a crust is formed.
- Once the tofu is ready, add in the sauce. Coat each side with the sauce until the tofu has a nice glossy sheen. This process takes a little bit of time as you need to turn and coat each side evenly.
- Remove the tofu from the pan and let them cool down completely before slicing it into slices.
Prepare the wontons
- Heat a large non-stick pan and add in a tablespoon of cooking oil. Sauté mushrooms and carrots until fragrant.
- Then add in the cabbage and cook for a minute or so (increase the cooking time if you prefer softer cabbage. Season with some salt and pepper.
- Transfer the mixture to a food processor and add in the tofu. Pulse to chop the vegetables and tofu into smaller bits.
- Transfer the mixture to a large bowl and season with salt, white pepper, mushrooms seasoning (if using), and sesame oil.
- Mix everything together until well-combined and let it cool completely.
- Now, wrap the wonton (please refer to the video for visual instruction). Take a wonton wrapper and place it on your palm or flat surface. Add a teaspoon of filling in the middle.
- Then, bring the edges together and tuck them in between your thumb and index finger. Using some pressure, press the wrapper together while slightly pushing in the filling in. This will create a tail-like dumpling with a plump filling at the bottom. Continue until you're done with the filling. You can freeze the wontons at this point or skip to the next step*.
How to put them together
- Next prepare the shallot oil: Heat a small saucepan with 3 tablespoons of oil. Add the shallots and stir-fry until the shallots turn slightly golden.
- Remove the pan from heat and set aside until ready to use or store the oil in a cleaned jar. Please note that the hot oil will continue to cook the shallots so turn off the heat as soon as the shallots are fully cooked through.
- Divide the noodle sauce equally into two large bowls. Set them aside.
- Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. Add a drizzle of oil.
- Slowly drop the wontons in and let them cook until they float up. Let the wontons stay afloat for a few more seconds. Dish out the wontons and place them into the bowl.
- Using the same pot, cook the noodles as directed. I rinsed mine in cold water to give it a springy texture.
- Now, cook the vegetables for about 30 seconds, then add the noodles back into this hot water.
- Remove both ingredients and transfer them to the bowl with sauce. Mix the noodles with sauce and then top with wontons and char siu. Serve warm with pickled chile.
Video
Notes
- This recipe is a combination of the char siu and wonton in red chile oil recipe. I added them all here for easy reference.
- Please note that the wonton is wrapped slightly differently than the previous post, so choose your favorite pleating method.
- The noodle sauce is for 2 servings of noodles. I highly recommend separating the sauce into two bowls and cook the noodles in 1 serving.
- *Typically, wonton mee is served with 3-4 wontons either on top of the noodles or separately along with a bowl of soup.