Classic Thai Wonton Chicken Noodle Soup

For the broth, place the garlic, ginger and black peppercorns in a mortar. Use a pestle to pound the aromatics to a rough paste. Set aside.

Add the vegetable oil to a large saucepan and place over medium-high heat. Add the garlic paste and cook gently, stirring, for a minute or until fragrant (be careful not to burn the garlic here). Next, add the chicken wings and give everything a stir to mix all those flavours together. Throw in the star anise, then pour in the chicken stock, followed by the soy sauce. Bring the mixture to a simmer, then turn the heat down to low and let it all bubble away gently, occasionally skimming off any scum from the surface, for 30 minutes.

In the meantime, for the wontons, combine the pork mince, spring onion, white pepper, cornflour, sesame oil, salt and 1 tablespoon of water in a large bowl. You want to mix it all together (I like to stir it with a pair of chopsticks) until the mixture forms a single ball – a bit like dough coming together. Next, grab a wonton wrapper. Place a heaped tablespoon of filling mix in the centre of a wonton wrapper. Bring in the sides around the filling, pressing to seal – it should look a little like a comet shape, but there’s no fancy technique involved here. Place on a large tray lined with baking paper, then repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling.

Back to your broth. Strain it into a large bowl and discard the solids (or do as I do and eat the chicken wings with a large dose of chilli sauce!). Keep the broth warm.

Now it’s noodle time. Cook your noodles in a large pot of boiling water (use a separate pot of water and not your broth, as otherwise you’ll make your beautiful soup go cloudy) until al dente, then scoop them out with a spider strainer and transfer to serving bowls. Add your wontons to the same pot of water, cooking for 3–4 minutes or until cooked through. Transfer to serving bowls. 

Top the noodles with the Chinese BBQ pork, if using. Sprinkle over spring onion, then ladle over the warm broth.