Why is Molo soup also known as pancit Molo (for non-Filipinos, pancit translates to noodles)? I read somewhere, I don’t anymore remember where, that because the dumpling (wonton) wrappers are made with basic noodle ingredients (i.e., flour, salt and water), the presence of the wrappers in the soup somehow qualifies it as a noodle soup.
To make Molo soup, start by mixing chicken, shrimps, garlic, shallots, salt and pepper. Use a teasponful of the mixture for every piece of wonton wrapper. If you end up with excess filling, don’t worry about it because that will be added to the soup later.
Boil chicken broth with sliced shallots and crushed garlic cloves. Season the broth with fish sauce and pepper. Drop in the dumplings one by one.
Take any leftover dumpling filling, break into small pieces and drop into the broth so that it will cook at the same time as the dumplings.
Minced chicken and shrimp filling takes a shorter time to cook than filling with pork. Six to seven minutes of simmering and the dumplings should be cooked through. Do not overcook to the point that the wrappers split and the fillings fall out.
Molo soup
Ingredients
Dumplings
- 250 grams chicken thigh fillets (skin on) minced
- 200 grams shrimps peeled, deveined and minced
- 1 clove garlic peeled and minced
- 1 shallot peeled and minced
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 24 small wonton wrappers
Soup
- 6 to 8 cups chicken broth
- 3 shallots peeled and thinly sliced
- 4 cloves garlic peeled and crushed
- fish sauce to taste
- ground black pepper to taste
To garnish
- thinly sliced scallions
- fried shallots
Instructions
Make the dumplings
- Mix together all the ingredients (except the wonton wrappers) for the dumplings.
- Place half a teaspoonful of filling at the center of a wrapper, gather the edges together and press the edges to seal.
- Repeat until all the wrappers have been filled.
Cook the dumplings
- In a pot, boil the chicken broth, sliced shallots and crushed garlic. Season with patis, as needed, and stir in the pepper. Allow to boil gently for five minutes.
- Drop in the dumplings one by one.
- If there is leftover filling, break up any large clumps and drop into the broth as well.
- When the broth comes to a boil, set the heat to low, cover the pot and cook the dumplings for six to seven minutes (see notes after the recipe).
- Taste the broth, adjust the seasonings then stir in the scallions.
- Ladle your Molo soup into bowls, sprinkle in more scallions and top with fried shallots.
