Chef Nick Liu’s turkey wonton noodle soup

A nostalgic Lunar New Year dish from the acclaimed Wall of Chefs judge

Image for Chef Nick Liu’s turkey wonton noodle soup
Photo credit: Chef Nick Liu for ThinkTurkey.ca

When it comes to celebrating special occasions with festive food and drink, serving your friends and family something you’ve made from scratch can often make the experience all the more memorable. 

Lunar New Year is no different. That’s why acclaimed chef Nick Liu recently joined forces with Think Turkey to offer Canadians a unique and easy-to-follow recipe inspired by his childhood as a son of Hakka parents in Canada. 

According to the Wall of Chefs judge, making dumplings at his grandparents’ house helped to form the basis of the New Asian style of cooking he showcases at his celebrated eatery, DaiLo. In this turkey wonton noodle soup recipe, chef Liu combines traditional Hakka dumplings with the warmth of a classic turkey noodle soup, which makes it a perfect accompaniment for almost any winter celebration.

If you’re located in the GTA and would prefer to leave the cooking to the award-winning chef and his talented culinary crew, DaiLo will be featuring a one-day-only tasting menu that will be available for takeout and in-house dining on February 1.  

Image for Chef Nick Liu’s turkey wonton noodle soup

Turkey Wonton

½ pack wonton skins
1 lb minced turkey
¼ tbsp soy sauce
¼ tsp minced garlic
¼ tsp minced ginger
2 tbsp cornstarch
¼ tsp sugar
1 egg white
¼ tsp pepper
¼ tsp salt

Filling 

In a large bowl combine all ingredients together, except for the wonton skins, and mix well. 

Making Wontons 

Place a wonton skin on a clean surface so it looks like a diamond. Place a small amount of wonton mix in the center. Wet the bottom corner of the  wonton skin with water and fold it up to the opposite corner. Press the edges to seal. Wet the two side corners with water and bring them together and press firm to join. Repeat above until all your wonton mix is used up. Place wontons on a lined baking tray and place in freezer.  

Cooking Method 

Place a large soup pot of water on the stove top and turn the heat to high. Bring the water to a boil. Carefully put your wontons in the boiling water, stir after 2 min, cook for 5-7 min.

Stating the obvious—only cook the amount of wontons you want to eat. This recipe makes enough dumplings for you to use multiple times for many different applications. Place the remaining dumplings in a ziplock bag and store in the freezer for another  day. 

Remove wontons from boiling water with a slotted spoon and place in a stainless steel bowl. Put aside until needed.

Turkey Wonton Noodle Soup

4 bundles wonton noodles
4 pc yu choy
4 cups turkey or chicken broth
16 cooked turkey wontons
4 tsp chili oil
coriander leaves, for garnish
4 deep soup bowls

Place the wonton noodles in a stainless steel bowl and cover with boiling water. Set aside until needed. 

In a soup pot, bring the broth up to a boil. Blanch the yu choy in the stock for 1 minute then transfer each piece into a soup bowl. 

Strain the noodles through a colander and place in the boiling broth. Cook for 1 minute and remove from broth, with tongs place 4 bundles of  noodles, in the 4 soup bowls with yu choy. 

Place the cooked wontons in the boiling broth to reheat, 1 minute and transfer 4 wontons to each bowl of noodles. 

Top each soup bowl up with the broth until it just covers the noodles. Place some coriander leaves and a teaspoon of chili oil on top for garnish and  enjoy!