These ‘Bubble Wontons’ Burst in Your Mouth

Bubble wontons are a specialty of Suzhou, a city in eastern China. They’re called that because they float like bubbles and contain so little meat that soup bursts out when you bite into one.
We went to Chenji Wonton, a famous bubble wonton shop in Suzhou, to see how they’re made.
0:00 What is a bubble wonton?
0:38 How it’s made
2:35 What makes a wonton different from a dumpling?
3:42 Why doesn’t it have more meat?
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If you liked this video, we have more stories about wonton, including:
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Producer: Clarissa Wei
Narrator: Nicholas Ko
Videographer: Shirley Xu
Editor: Joel Roche
Music: Audio Network
#wonton #chinesefood #streetfood

[@user-fz7xs2xl8s]

To everyone saying it doesn’t have enough meat: He explained it in the video. If you want more meat eat somwehere else. You’re so used to eating wontons with more meat in it, and that’s fine. I am from there and what he’s saying is correct. In that place it’s mostly water and people’s diets were leaning towards the vegetarian side, but of course there are other shops with more meat in it, I guess this is the more traditional way. Do stop complaining when you haven’t even ate the dish. The whole entire purpose of less meat is so it floats and you can feel the pop sensation, wonton skin is thin, and the dish is good. You don’t need a lot of meat for whatever your eating to be good. This is just a specific type of wonton, regular Chinese wontons have way more meat than this.

[@SilvaDreams]

It's likely more along the lines of "It was poor people's food so we had to make the meat stretch as far as we could." but because it has become popular the excuse quickly changes to "We're more refined here" Kind of like how Lobster and oysters were considered a poor man's food not even 100 years ago and here in the US there are even letters from prisoners in Alcatraz complaining about getting fed lobster more than twice a week and how it was cruel and unusual punishment.... Yet now? Lobster and oysters is the food of the rich!

[@user-fz7xs2xl8s]

@@SilvaDreams Maybe, I’m not sure.

[@ronniechew6566]

In my country Malaysia, our wonton have a lot more meat. This one needs a magnifying glass to find the meat. Our wonton comes with noodles in the first place so we don't rely on the wonton as a noodle replacement.

[@user-fz7xs2xl8s]

@@ronniechew6566 I know, regular Chinese wontons have a lot of meat too. This is a type of wonton from Suzhou.

[@Zvroth]

@@ronniechew6566 lol your wonton is just a regular Chinese wonton. I like Malaysian or Malaysian Chinese food but there is no special wonton in Malaysia. This wonton in the video is called bubble wonton. It's not a normal wonton, in fact most Chinese (including myself) don't even know that it exists until this video.

[@jairuslirazan6317]

This looks perfect when you're sick and want something nice and warm

[@whydoimevenhere]

My tastebuds all the time

[@duong-tb4wv]

Da puzzy

[@teebo5298]

@@wondermifflin1737 yep comfort for the pockets and wallet

[@user-np6gq2ht4x]

Specially when you have corona

[@drawnwithlove3499]

@@duong-tb4wv second best alternative

[@wy4553]

As a kid, I only liked eating wonton skin, not the minced meat so I would've absolutely LOVED this back then. I've grown to appreciate the meat filling now, but I will still happily eat these bubble wontons today though.

[@momoware]

Your transition is opposite of what most people go through lol (preferring simpler food as they age).

[@mike7546]

@@momoware lmao true, i never liked the meat thi

[@Wings012]

My little niece would only eat the skin of some types of dim sum - har gau mainly and leave the filling behind.

[@carsonzhang5014]

Try to bulble air inside only and eat them.

[@adamkee97]

I will always eat the meat and then the rest of the wonton skin, until this day. I can't leave the meat behind though, as my parents will get mad for being picky.

[@pontian16]

I got it.. It's like how Italian enjoy their pasta, and Indian enjoy their roti.... It's not the meat that is matter here. It's the taste, texture and fulfillment feelings of it.

[@NightcorEDM]

If you go to Endia you'll see lots of dirty disgusting stinky slums

[@riddhikhilnani5819]

@@NightcorEDM I don't quite know of a country name 'Endia'. Could you please show it to me on the map??

[@christinak2761]

@@NightcorEDM k if u go to your page you see a monster a disgrace and God’s worst fate

[@adamkee97]

You got it. Kudos!

[@Trgn]

Yep. There are many texture and chewiness to dough. Pair it with flavours and the combinations are endless

[@susana.3.]

I mean if it’s 84 cents can’t rlly complain about the dot of meat ur getting

[@yogieyo9935]

price came after products, not the otherwise.

[@Komobear]

You’re paying for the skin essentially. But all that broth and noodles for 84 cents is a steal!! I know places that sell smaller bowls of soup for 4 bucks or more

[@puppypower123451]

I agree! The way he explained it tho was so rude! "We are refined, unlike those northerns who eat chunks of meat" Why put someone else down to explain the reason for how u make the product?

[@Hi-vf9wx]

When you said dot I thought you were being sarcastic. But honestly I wouldn't be mad cause it's kinda like pasta the flavor is in the soup and it's really cheap

[@arson8510]

Wonton is like a soup noodle so it’s supposed to have a little bit of meat

[@Jyoo609]

We use to have a lady that had a stall under our apartment make “little wontons” literally a dot of meat and she’d just scrunch the wrapper up with her fist. Dang they were good.

[@Rin-cj2de]

i wanna try it so badly

[@in_awe5508]

Ohhhhh, is it served with peanut noodles? If it is, I know which wonton you're talking about

[@RegstarRogstar]

Its like noodles with a bit of minced meat really, in terms of ratio. Makes sense, although it is a bit funny seeing a wonton with so little meat lol

[@zohoro96]

Its a DOT of meat......the food is truly for the poor smh 🤦‍♂️

[@ImpetuousPorkus]

Exactly, just think of it like noodles rather than wonton. The meat just helps seal it and isn’t the star of the dish. It’s all about the skin.

[@user-fz7xs2xl8s]

@@zohoro96 😂😂 This has to be a joke.

[@thuantruong501]

well... This is kinda like "leaf wonton", which is "wonton" skin only. The meat itself only to help the noodles hold the "wonton" shapes instead of square noodles shapes. xD It look funny tho.

[@celbismarketing3133]

Its like eating the wrapper only floating from hot broth. If its cheap then its reasonable since i came from poor where im used to eating rice with soup only. If its expensive, i'll pass

[@lhtkid]

My mom told me that her family used to make this kind of wonton during her childhood because meat was quite expensive back then. That's why to this day, my family still makes wontons with less meat than most people would expect since it really is different when you eat wontons to enjoy the skin and wonton soup rather than the meat.

[@briantan2963]

it's like.... just a dot of meat....

[@samhu5878]

It's like that in most of china. Wonton is not really a dumpling but a soup noodle.

[@hc8714]

wonton is never about the meat

[@mdstanton1813]

I want to be beautiful so i'll be sticking with empty wontons and soup

[@orewanell]

What do you expect for an 85 cents bowl of food

[@mike7546]

@@jomsies ive had womtom soup with literally just sheets of wonton and broth nothing else, its cheap and really good!

[@habibainunsyifaf6463]

looking at him fold those wontons make me feel inadequate

[@clee89]

i feel like i could use a bowl like this right now ... it looks like it would make me feel nourished without feeling bloated like with other kinds of fattier dumplings.

[@iolol2023]

I'm from the region and I've been to this stall a couple of times. The whole point is to enjoy the wrappers, so its basically like noodle. If you want more filling just order the regular wonton, it's literally the next thing on the menu.

[@GameaRay]

they weren't kidding about the dab of meat, I hardly noticed it

[@SparkPrincess]

Ohhh. Right up my alley. The skin and soup was always my favorite part.

[@TsunaXZ]

It's basically a soup with noodles from what I see, still if that thing sells that much then the taste of the soup is probably awesome. I'm so hungry right now lmao.

[@NAUT758]

Imagine you have a flu and you get a bowl of that. That feeling will be unbeatable

[@carol458100]

I thought he was putting in a bit of salt in the beginning until the end when I realized that was the meat.

[@AllenHanPR]

Exactly what my ex-girlfriend thought when we did for the first time.

[@paige6029]

@@AllenHanPR i-

[@fhhjgfdhgtd4228]

@@AllenHanPR oh I-

[@jojo-qm7ve]

@@AllenHanPR NOOOOOO

[@hetao9438]

I mean for 85cents for 20 of these things it's pretty reasonable. I guess it's just a way of eating wonton that i didnt know

[@msbrownbeast]

That's one reason why it's only 85 cents. The wheat flour wrapper costs less than meat.

[@BoxintheJack]

this video honestly brought tears to my eyes. every year my family would travel to china to see family members and enjoy the scenery of our beautiful villages but this year we didn't get the chance to. i hope corona goes away soon so i can have my nice bowl of wonton soup :)

[@natureindistress8653]

I've always just loved the skin of the wonton, never really the meat. Half of the time when you bite into one it is just a lava mouthful of burning hot meat. The skin of the wonton deserves to be the star more often, it's like how you eat noodle soup for the noodles [Edit] It's also like how in pizza, it's not the sauce or the cheese that makes it complete. It's the dough that counts. If the dough doesn't have enough attention, then the pizza isn't complete

[@goldscarabbeetle5019]

Yeah there's not much meat but... did you see they said it was 85 cents for 20 wontons???? Crazy cheap for a quick meal. And I'm one of those people who didn't like wonton fillings much but loved the broth and wrapper. This is right up my alley. Going to try to make this.

[@Kirin2022]

In many Chinese regional cuisines, meat is closer to being a garnish than the star attraction.

[@louiegonzalez7502]

The SHADE is keeping me nice and cool my gawwwd! "We're not like northerners.. people here look beautiful.." AHHH!!!

[@katherinevang234]

AHHA funny asllll

[@johnfields7469]

"our food is more refined" *clacks open a fan

[@idiotsays705]

It's pretty sad these people are dismissing their fellow countrymen

[@herzen9857]

This looks like something I'd love! Im sensitive when it comes to fatty foods so a light dish like this would be perfect!

[@gianghuynh9570]

The wonton skin is the best part of wonton. I love it in some noodle dish they fry the skin to a crisp. That thing will soak up all the flavours in the soup and oil and it’s heaven.

[@sallyaltick]

Those look so delicious! Now I want some, really want some! Thanks for the great video! You guys are amazing! 🙏🌸💖🌸🙏

[@jianji111]

Thanks for this video. I’m from Suzhou and I’m oblivious to this amazing wonton shop

[@SimplySheilaB]

This looks so comforting and warm, I’d love a bowl right now 😊💕🍲

[@Kwijiboi]

Having worked in a chinese restaurant before, I said the same thing about the fried wontons. Wheres the meat?!? So tiny compared to a proper wonton. For fried wonton, its explained that the meat is small because when frying, the skin would burn before a large chunk of meat cooked through. This reminds me of that, except they decided to boil it with even less meat! I dont think it started with refinement or any of that marketing stuff. It's just good ol' humble food. Grains are cheaper than pork, hence the tradition to stretch the meat. Think of it as a noodle soup with 20 small dabs of meat for additional flavor and texture. Nothing wrong with that, and the floating makes it interesting to look at. I'd try these if given the chance, but I doubt itd win me over from traditional dimsum. Thanks for sharing Goldthread✌, I never new this existed. 👍

[@hc8714]

wonton is never about the meat, no matter which variant. If the thing has more meat, then its a 餛飩.

[@Kwijiboi]

@@hc8714 and any less, it would be dumpling skins in broth, or square noodles. 😅

[@wen.z533]

Will C To all those who say that there's lack of meat in Wonton, check out Fujian Province Yanpi Rouyan which was similar to wonton but with loads of meat even the skin was made of purely pork mixed with some potato starch pounded to paste. kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3bSdmqhhdyAmac I hope Goldthread could make a episode about the Fuzhounese Yanpi Rouyan because making the meat skin pounded to paste is even more difficult and complicated.

[@kylin3197]

hmmmm would be fun to make!! gotta eat these and visit Suzhou gardens sometime!

[@stjohnbaby]

They look amazing!

[@JustMeAPotatoe]

Reminds me of that times when I was small and helped my parents . My dad scolded me for putting to much meat into the wonton. But I liked a lot of meat in my wonton back than. I started to appreciate the skin when my mom deep fried the wonton. 😂

[@qusjwidcnufimdvoiwmdowd6113]

When ever I made wontons with my dad I would put a very large amount of meat salt pepper and other seasonings but he told me to stop

[@kidrm19]

4:15 That flex against the Northerners tho

[@theTrend7]

😂🤣😂🤣🤣

[@blueraineee]

It has been an ongoing debate for decades. :P

[@Bobbylim323]

@@blueraineee probably closer to centuries or even millenniums

[@wen.z533]

Michey Lol, southern min (Minnan/闽南）province aka Fujianese felt betrayed. To all those who say that there's lack of meat in Wonton, check out Fujian Province Yanpi Rouyan which was similar to wonton but with loads of meat even the skin was made of purely pork mixed with some potato starch pounded to paste. kzbin.info/www/bejne/q3bSdmqhhdyAmac I hope Goldthread could make a episode about the Fuzhounese Yanpi Rouyan because making the meat skin pounded to paste is even more difficult and complicated.

[@user-fz7xs2xl8s]

Northerners are taller.

[@VixxxPhewww]

i have always love wonton skins better than the filling since young, this is like the wontons of my dream💜😍

[@mazemainx]

99% skin 1% meat

[@lyhthegreat]

more like 49% skin, 1% meat, 50% air.

[@checknaexamsmubhe143]

Hence "bubble" wonton

[@lalo6427]

Just like pasta

[@AllenHanPR]

Exactly what my girlfriend thought of my package.

[@arson8510]

Wonton is like a soup noodle so it’s supposed to have a little bit of meat

[@XIngpengify]

oh dam someone made Lay's chips into a wonton

[@gabriella2902]

Atleast its only 85 cents for a bowl..

[@xianlaw]

The first time I had wonton was I got sick in high school and I wanted to have soup but with no rice. My mom bought me wonton noodles. So wonton with noodles, you get the idea. I thought God has touched my soul and healed me. Anyways, I always have wonton whenever I got sick since then. It feels so refreshing.

[@zoenguyen7912]

THAT LOOKS SO GOOD BRO

[@MmmM-bl7ih]

Child: “Hey Dad! You forgot the steak for the steak frites!” Dad: puts on monocle and says “Oh my young child. You don’t understand. My cuisine is delicate and refined.”

[@newgenerationanpanman7870]

I have never seen or earen wontons before but that looks tasty. I can imagine the taste!

[@LortsJailsus]

This looks SO GOOD! I hope to visit China one day so I can eat some of the food I see on YT!

[@ingridl3259]

I love the backstory for not only the dish but also the shop owner :) thank you.

[@coffeefox2k]

These look so delicious and light. Not heavy and greasy.

[@yejiaaa9255]

i love the way he explained how why there isn't more meat and i also loved how when he was explaining it, a pretty girl came in and as soon as she looked at the camera, she turned the other way and went away

[@hokeatseng4094]

Never heard of it......Traditional Wanton is our favorites......thank you for the video,🥺🤔🤔🤔

[@erichalim]

looks delicious i would surely like to try if I visited there

[@ambassador8524]

Those look delicious!

[@tichengng2737]

There’s so little meat in it it’s the dish is in danger of being labelled vegetarian

[@SwordSaint83]

just eat the wrapper skin.

[@sorewasore9730]

The soup isn't exactly vegetarian-friendly though

[@dheblackcat]

lmao

[@Terribads]

It always winds up in the edge of the last fold.. more of a glue in usage?

[@celine97cc]

I crack when you mention "in danger" 😂

[@O2life]

Oooohhhhh I want a bowl of this right now.

[@ronniechew6566]

The meat portion is so tiny I need a magnifying glass to make it look big. Any smaller portion and I would need a microscope 🤣

[@arson8510]

Wonton is like a soup noodle so it’s supposed to have a little bit of meat

[@sexykabuto6368]

Bruh give me a bowl already i want to feel the *pop* inside of my mouth with the soup, that looks good as hell.

[@cr3at1ve-nam3]

Wonton noodle is literally my life and when i saw that my mind evaporated. Thats is i am going there

[@PirikanChan]

In PH we have those, and it has a lot of native name. For example in my province it's called as Pancit Molo same texture same looks but sometimes too much boiling the wrapper with meat does makes it drained and flatten. That's why it's okay that your wrapper drained when served.

[@paoloanacleowong2067]

We called it a molo soup and it's cecill's main dish back in the 90's until the end(recent times)

[@justthatnoodle]

that looks really fun to eat

[@erbiis9961]

I love wonton skin, and this looks amazing. I cant eat pork tho, guess i'll try recreate it without pork sometimes in the future

[@hcb-greatwall]

Love Chinise food. From Pakistan♥️🇵🇰🇨🇳♥️

[@Max-my6rk]

love to Pakistan!

[@cuckncheese8171]

Man seeing this makes me drool.

[@cuevas8405]

does anyone remember putting it in your mouth assuming its not hot, then when it pops, your tongue would be burned by the heat but swallowed it whole anyway?

[@lilblkrose]

From the title, I thought uploader was being pretentious by calling soup wonton as bubble wonton but it actually is a bubble wonton. Never heard of it and now I'm intrigued :0

[@spammusubi1607]

Lmao to the ppl complaining about the lack of meat: the point of the wonton is that is has air in it and is empty which is what makes it unique in comparison to the normal wonton which has more filling like a typical dumpling.

[@onigireee]

If you like the texture of wonton skins, this would be pretty damn good. Kinda wish I could try them one day. :)

[@Max-my6rk]

my mouth is watering.. omg

[@fairlymoon448]

Bubble wonton, food bucketlist

[@kann4709]

the air inside looks tasty!!

[@yyc3491]

First time heard about it as a Chinese. Will try in the future

[@Gwynhafra86]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if I'm not mistaken the bubble wonton mentioned here is 馄饨 (which seems to be a small dash of meat wrapped in thin flour skin, and the selling point is to enjoy the texture of the skin and the soup) while the typical wonton (the one with a lot of meat wrapped in a thicker flour skin) is 云吞. Then again, the difference in term could be due to regional differences.

[@catto5387]

I think it's a regional thing. My Chinese family calls wontons 馄饨 even when they have a ton of meat. I didn't know they were called 云吞 until I went to uni lol.

[@ayshap.5627]

Cute and heart-warming food :)

[@krystlecastle6929]

I agree you don't need big portions of meat when something is ment to be with just a taste of meat. It looks so delicious 😋

[@zaviherawan]

I was shooked when I saw the dot of meat xD But it’s not a problem since I like the wonton skin more than the filling

[@v2cantthinkofahandle]

the skin of a wonton is my favorite part so I would absolutely love this

[@ladywhite79]

Wow that's a generous portion of meat. And the explanation he gave was even amazing delicate and refined...lol

[@hightunnel2723]

My mouth is watering

[@lightronger]

In some parts of China wontons are a soup . For example, the verb used to have wontons is literally 喝馄饨 or drink wontons. In other parts people eat wontons as filling as dumplings and consider it a staple food. Let people eat food how they want.

[@lucyliu2229]

woton is my favorite food. Wonton my loveeeeeee

[@angelxtasy]

Omg sooo yummy I want some.

[@karlestein]

I made wontons once.. because of a novel I read where a shizun would make it for his student whenever he was sick or down. The whole story became kinda sad after that and the wontons became more than just food... I just HAD to make them. It's delicious btw.. perfect for a light meal...

[@snehasinha4976]

These version of wontons are like the chips packet.

[@arson8510]

Wonton is like a soup noodle so it’s supposed to have a little bit of meat

[@libertarianPinoy]

Profit margins must be nice on those things.

[@SamP0rterBridges]

@happy face probably like 75 cents minus labor

[@thuvu5629]

@happy face in China that’s a normal price for a bow of soup, I mean everything is much cheaper there compares to the U.S.

[@valorzinski7423]

@@SamP0rterBridges he gotta pay rent or lease the shop from the government coz you can't own property in China. Overall, people tend to make more money working the factories that selling meal sized food that is under $1

[@AllenHanPR]

That's inflation for you.

[@roseberry-nj2ux]

Americans are making themselves known here, whining about the meat like that. Thats how it’s traditionally made.

[@hochigaming14yearsago90]

They make themselves known everywhere, looking for that o i l

[@bruniipain]

_yeah food is food, enjoy it._

[@serenityann778]

There really is just one piece of minced pork in the wontons.

[@GoodKyn]

I didnt think it was that small amount of meat Lol

[@AllenHanPR]

That's what she said.

[@harryb12993]

lmfao at the girl who heard him talking and left

[@raynawu9390]

I love wonton!!!!!!’nn😍😋

[@yokelyeeha7057]

I love wontons lol

[@HuaWei-qk4vg]

Interesting! So tiny bit of the meat paste for filling. Would love to try it... 😋😋😋

[@the.reall.nikiii]

As a Chinese kid, I love it 🥰 I NEED AT LEAST SOME

[@cookbook800]

I am vegetarian and I truly wish I could try that, it looks so yummy.

[@simfong999]

Dont think its any different if they removed the meat 😂 its barely eanough to feed a bird

[@walterbrunswick]

If you eat it once or twice a month, you will still be vegetarian 😂

[@jennyfatfat1]

It’s almost vegetarian just ask for no filling.

[@dontask4990]

It's not wonton, it's just egg noodles of wonton dough. You just need to buy wonton dough and cook them like noodles for 6-10 min.

[@limxh7272]

this would be the perfect sick day meal

[@leanakate613]

Worker:How much meat should I put sir/ma’am? Owner:yes

[@abbiereynolds8016]

More like:no

[@nimluikham11]

quite the polarizing dish ^_^

[@allier1867]

i would have no problem with this. i like the wanton wrapper

[@ggchiu7400]

dang i've never even heard of this before even tho I live in hk which is south-east china. I wanna eat it so bad. Ugh Chinese cuisine. When I was a kid I preferred western and Japanese cuisine more. But now a teen and growing older, asian cuisines esp Chinese are just so good, better than I could've imagined. i love food..

[@eunicerodrigues1500]

0:04 You know what else is plump, juicy and packed with minced meat? *🅱-roll*

[@arson8510]

Bjfncd

[@blisswkc3344]

Thank y'all so much dearest 🌹 Y'all such an inspiration 🥰 Appreciate y'all from the bottom of my heart 💖 Be Blissful Eternally 🙏👼🌈

[@bitchhunter3118]

pastry can make air as a texture as well

[@SimonLi]

wtf i need these asap.

[@terrorman21]

I figured it out, people just think this is a meal, they ought to think of it of say a bowl of soup. the wonton is a sort of illusion acting as fillness. I mean come on people, for that price what do you expect. If you're unhappy, make your own. He explained it's that easy.

[@greenbanana1001]

In the U.K. it’s -3 I’m freezing I could just eat that now

[@SharapovaFan]

So this like xiao long bao in soup. I want it.

[@bishopc8465]

The salt pork is to imbue flavor alone, like a seasoning. Similar to how the mince pork in mapo tofu is just for the fat and the flavor.