By Abby Mudd, Jacqueline Tang, Adhi Muthukumar, and SimonBrown (VRG interns and volunteers)
If you’ve ever frequented an Asian eatery, you may haveindulged in those delicious wonton strips that are often included with soups orchow mein, and are occasionally served as small bites. These deep fried, crispynoodles have been a topic among the vegan community. We were recently asked bya reader if the noodles were vegan and whether alternative healthier optionsexisted.
The answer varies,since every Asian restaurant differs in their production or sourcing of thesewonton strips. The strips typically include egg and may be cooked in animalfat. However, it is possible to make them without using animal products, andone company, Wonton Food Inc., makes a vegan-friendly version (which theycall ‘All Natural’), and these are available for restaurants to buy in bulk ifthey choose.1 We have also included some vegan recipes for makingyour own wonton strips, as well as some healthier cooking methods.
When ordering dishesthat are likely to include these strips (especially soups) but otherwise lookvegan, it may be worth confirming directly with the restaurant whether theyinclude these strips, and if so whether they include egg or have been cookedwithout animal fats. Activists may want to work on getting more localrestaurants who cater to vegans to either make their own crispy wonton stripsusing only vegan-friendly ingredients or to order vegan-friendly crispy wontonstrips from Wonton Food Inc.
A lot ofrestaurants in your area may have only non-vegan wonton strip/chip optionsbecause they tend to order ingredients from suppliers. Many companies use eggs,especially for packaged dry noodles, to help preserve texture and color. Ifeggs are not used, the strips are often cooked in the same deep fryer as meatproducts. We contacted a number of Chinese or Asian Fusion restaurants whichserve meat but also have vegetarian/vegan options (6 restaurants in MD, 5 inKY, 1 in IN, 1 in TN). All but one ofthese either obtain their noodle strips from a distributor who use egg, or makethem directly in house using egg. Furthermore, most cooked them in the samedeep fryer as meat products. The all-vegan Asian restaurants we contacted (5 inNY) said they do not serve wonton strips. Just one restaurant with a sizeablevegetarian/vegan menu, Mr ChanRestaurant in Pikesville MD, confirmed both that theysell these strips (they include them with all of their soups), and that theyare suitable for vegans. They stated that they make them from scratch (withflour) without egg.2
We also contactedsome of the largest chains about their policies on crispy wonton strips. PandaExpress told us that they do not sell Crispy Wonton Strips, but do sell CrispyNoodles in separate bags often displayed by the register: you can check theingredients on the bag for egg and other animal products. They also pointedout, however, that most of their menu is not suitable for vegans in any case.3Neither P.F. Chang’s nor Pei WeiAsian Kitchen responded to requests for information, but both have allergenslists on their websites giving information about which dishes contain egg andother non-vegan ingredients (hereand here). In 2017, Pei Wei did talk with VRG abouttheir menu at the time, and said that their Edamame Hummus was not veganspecifically because it included wonton chips, which included egg. However,this dish no longer appears on their menu.
If you are lookingto enjoy these crispy wontons strips at home, try making them yourself! Theyare easy to make and suitable for any level of cooking experience. To start,you can either make the vegan wonton wrappers homemade or pick up a vegan brandat the store, like Nasoya Wonton Wraps. The homemade option uses just a fewingredients (flour, warm water, salt, and cornstarch) and takes about 30minutes to make. After you purchase or make the wrappers, you should cut theminto smaller pieces and prepare to either bake or fry your wrappers. If youwant to bake the wrappers, add some cookingspray and seasoning of your choice and place this into an oven preheated to 400Fahrenheit for 6-8 minutes or until brown. This method will be slightlyhealthier than frying since it uses less oil. You can also fry the wrappers on a pan with anytype of oil. Fry them until they are crispy brown
References:
1. Xiaojing Zhou, the R&D/QA manager of Wonton Food Inc.,confirmed by email on 7/1/2020 that the ‘all natural’ wonton strips are vegan,and contain only wheat flour, Non-GMO canola oil, and salt. On 08/17/2020 theyconfirmed that while they continue to make efforts to expand their business in‘all natural’ products into the mainstream foodservice marketplace, most oftheir ‘all natural’ products are currently sold as a component in salad kitslike one might see at local grocery stores rather than to restaurants.
2. Phone call to (410) 484-11000, 08/16/2020. Also asked another time while picking up a takeout order.
3. Email from Panda Guest Care, 08/04/2020, Reference #1171766.
The contents of this posting, our website, and our otherpublications, including Vegetarian Journal, are not intended to providepersonal medical advice. Medical advice should be obtained from a qualifiedhealth professional. We often depend on product and ingredient information fromcompany statements. It is impossible to be 100% sure about a statement, infocan change, people have different views, and mistakes can be made. Please useyour best judgment about whether a product is suitable for you. To be sure, dofurther research or confirmation on your own.
You may also be interested in these sources of ingredients,and if vegetarian or vegan. See:
https://www.vrg.org/ingredients/index.php
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