Cherry & Dennis Helper Habitat
Filipino Pancit Molo Pork Wonton Soup
菲律賓雲吞湯
Recipe overview
Pancit Molo is a home-style soup from Iloilo in the Philippines, with seasoned pork wontons cooked in ginger-scented chicken broth and finished with crisp garlic and spring onion.
01
Ingredients
Main ingredients
- 320 g Minced pork
- 28 Square wonton wrappers
- 1.2 L Unsalted clear chicken stock
- 60 g Peeled water chestnuts, finely diced
- 100 g Onion
- 5 cloves Garlic
- 15 g Ginger
- 3 Spring onions
Wonton filling seasoning
- 2 tsp Light soy sauce
- 1 tsp Fish sauce
- 1 tsp Sesame oil
- 1/8 tsp White pepper
Soup seasoning
- 2 tsp Fish sauce
- as needed, up to 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1/8 tsp White pepper
Garlic frying oil
- 1 tbsp Cooking oil
02
Tools
- Two chopping boards and chef’s knife
- Large bowl and teaspoon
- Lidded soup pot
- Small frying pan and slotted spoon
- Probe thermometer
- Clean soup bowls
03
Steps
Step 1
Separate raw and clean areas
Wash your hands, use one board for minced pork and another for vegetables, and set out a clean tray reserved for the folded wontons.
Step 2
Cut the aromatics
Finely dice the water chestnuts and onion, thinly slice the garlic and ginger, then separate and finely slice the white and green spring-onion parts.
Step 3
Mix the wonton filling
Combine pork, water chestnuts, half the onion, half the spring-onion whites and all filling seasonings, stirring in one direction for 1 minute until tacky.
Step 4
Fold twenty-four wontons
Place about 2 teaspoons of filling in each wrapper, brush the edges lightly with water, fold and press out trapped air; make 24 without overfilling.
Step 5
Cut wrapper noodles
Stack the remaining 4 wrappers, cut them into narrow strips, gently separate them and keep covered; these strips give Pancit Molo its noodle-like texture.
Step 6
Fry the garlic
Heat the oil in a small pan over medium-low heat, fry garlic for 1 to 2 minutes until pale gold, then lift it out at once because residual heat darkens it.
Step 7
Build the clear broth
Put stock, ginger, remaining onion and spring-onion whites in the soup pot, bring to a boil, then cover and simmer gently for 8 minutes.
Step 8
Cook the first wonton batch
Keep the broth at a gentle simmer, lower in 12 wontons one by one, nudge them apart and cook for about 5 minutes without vigorous stirring.
Step 9
Check the pork filling
Insert a probe through the side of the thickest wonton; the centre must reach 75°C. Lift out the first batch and cook the other 12 the same way.
Step 10
Cook the wrapper strips
Return all cooked wontons to the pot, add the wrapper strips, gently separate them and simmer for 1 to 2 minutes until tender without clumping.
Step 11
Balance the soup
Add the soup fish sauce and white pepper, then taste with a clean spoon; add salt only in small amounts if the chicken stock is not already salty.
Step 12
Finish each bowl
Place 6 wontons and wrapper strips in each bowl, ladle over hot broth, scatter with spring-onion greens and crisp garlic, and serve with clean utensils.
Common mistakes
- Overfilling wontons or trapping air inside makes them burst during cooking.
- A rolling boil or hard stirring tears the wrappers and clouds the clear broth.
- Waiting until garlic is dark brown before lifting it out lets residual heat burn it bitter.
- Treating floating wontons as proof of doneness does not replace checking the pork filling at 75°C.
Tips
Cover unused wrappers with a barely damp cloth so they do not dry out, and leave space between folded wontons to stop them sticking. To prepare ahead, freeze uncooked wontons in one layer before bagging; cook from frozen for longer and still verify 75°C at the centre.
