Homemade Wanton Noodles (Dry and mainly Ketchup based)

Mom decided to cook wanton noodles for the family on a Saturday afternoon, which was prompted much by her impulse. It was a pleasant surprise to us anyway since her culinary standards are known to be slightly above average than other homemakers, in my humble opinion. The impressive thing about mom is she can reproduce the dish when she sees stalls selling it. Taste wise, though not exactly the same, her efforts are still worth commending. If at first she doesnt succeed, she will try again multiple times till the taste is almost right. Some of the dishes that mom cooked include: laksa, chicken rice, rice dumplings, ang ku kueh, suan pan zi (teochew dish), braised pig trotters and the list goes on. Over the years due to the aging process, her taste buds have become less sensitive. Thus, her dishes have become more salty. Hence, we do our part by asking her to go low on her seasoning. My sister says I should compile a list of mom's recipes so that we can pass down some of her dishes down the generation. Yep, probably I should really do so!  Eh, but probably for those food that I like! Haha.

 A must-have for wanton noodles: slices of char siew (pork). This was purchased from a stall in the coffee shop. Mom cant prepare her own char siew yet! Haha. She isnt that skilful a cook la. I hate char siew or anything with a distinct porky smell. That doesnt mean I stay off pork totally though. Dim sum is still my weak point. Heh.

Green leafy chye sim to adorn the dish. These vegetables were slightly boiled for a minute or two so as to preseve their original crunchiness and to retain their vitamins.

Mom's special homemade gravy for the wanton noodles. Made of shallots, ketchup, oyster sauce, chili sauce, sesame oil.

 The finished product. Ta daa.. Does it look delectable to you? Oops, I forgot to take a photo of the wantons!

Recipe is as follows.
Wanton Noodles (for 4 pax)
Ingredients
1 packet of chye sim
$2 worth of char siew from the coffee shop
$2 worth of minced pork 
1 packet of wanton skin ( if you are lazy, can get ready made wantons)
minced meat
1 small bottle of pepper powder
1 teaspoon of light soya sauce
a pinch of starch powder
2 small onions
a pinch of salt
2 to 3 drops of sesame oil
1 to 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
3 tablespoons of ketchup 
half a cup of water
300 g of egg noodles/ kolo mee (my mom used the latter and she got that from Malaysia)  It is preferred cuz it isnt that bitter like other yellow noodles.

Procedures 
1. Wash and cut chye sim and onion
2. Cut char siew into thin slices 
3. Then to prepare the wanton filling, mix the minced meat with a pinch of salt, 1 teaspoon of pepper powder, 1 drop of sesame oil, a pinch of starch powder  and 1 teaspoon of light soya sauce.
4. Scoop a portion of the meat and wrap the wanton using wanton skin
5. After the wantons are prepared, boil both the chye sim and wantons. Add wantons first before chye sim to prevent the chye sim from turning yellow. Drain the chye sim and wantons.    
6. Turn up the stove to low heat. After the wok heats up, stir fry the sliced onions until they turn golden brown to resemble shallots.
7. Then add in 3 tablespoons of ketchup, 1 to 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce, 2 to 3 drops of sesame oil  and half a cup of water. (the thickness of gravy should resemble the photo, if not do not add in water all at one go, add and observe)
8. Stir the mixture and slowly simmer for 1 to 2 mins. Then turn off the heat. 
9. Then in another pot, scoop a portion of the noodles and quickly dip it in boiling water for 1 minute.
10. Drain the noodles, run running water over them. Then dip the noodles in boiling water quickly then drain.
11. Noodles are now ready to serve. Pour a few tablespoons of the gravy over the noodles. Mix well.
12. Place wantons, char siew and chye sim on the noodles and it's done!    
                
Anyway, photos of this size will be uploaded in the future because I have received a few requests to upload larger photos! Eh, maybe it makes food look more appetizing... But I have no DSLR camera leh, which explains for the poor photos. Or is it just my lack of phototaking skills! Haha. Of course, being a foodie at heart, this request is nothing to me and I'll be glad to comply.