Is wonton soup a 'mess' dish?

In Vietnam, wonton noodles have two main names: hoàn thánh (Southern Vietnam) and vằn thắn (Northern Vietnam). This dish originates from China, transliterated from the Cantonese pronunciation of the words vân thôn (雲吞, wan4 tan1) and hồn đồn (馄饨, wan4 tan1).

In the book "Fangyan" (方言) written by Yang Xiong during the Western Han Dynasty, there is mention of a type of pastry called "dun," which is a steamed bun (bing wei zhi dun/饼谓之饨). Ancient Chinese people described it as a sealed bun called "hundun" (浑沌), later called "hundun" (馄饨). At that time, "hundun" and steamed bun were indistinguishable. It was only from the Tang Dynasty onwards that the names of "hundun" (wonton) and steamed bun were officially distinguished.

There are two theories about the origin of wontons:

a. From Taoism: On the winter solstice, all Taoist temples in the capital would hold a grand ceremony. Taoist priests would recite scriptures and set up tables to celebrate the birthday of the Three Pure Ones (the three supreme deities in Taoism). Taoism believes that the Three Pure Ones symbolize the first century when the world was still chaotic and the Taoist energy had not yet manifested. The work "Yan Jing Sui Shi Qi" mentions that the shape of wontons resembles a chicken egg, quite similar to the chaos of the world. Therefore, on the winter solstice, Chinese people have the custom of eating "hundred wontons." Because "hundred wontons" (馄饨) and "chaos" (混沌) are homophones, folk belief holds that eating wontons breaks through chaos and opens up the world. However, later generations no longer explained the original meaning of this dish, only spreading the saying "Winter solstice wontons, summer solstice noodles." In reality, this saying simply refers to a dietary regimen.

b. The Origin of Xi Shi: According to legend, at a banquet during the Spring and Autumn period, the beautiful Xi Shi prepared a dish to entertain the King of Wu. The king ate it, nodded, and asked, "What is this delicious dish?" Xi Shi, thinking the king was infatuated with her, calmly replied, "Chaos" (混沌). From then on, the people of Suzhou used "chaos" as a delicacy for the winter solstice festival.

Each region in China has its own way of preparing wontons, creating variations, hence the dish has many different names: huntún (馄饨, húntún); chāoshǒu (抄手, chāoshǒu); bāo miàn (包面, bāo miàn); shuǐjiǎo (水饺, shuǐjiǎo); bāofú (包袱, bāofú); biǎnshi (扁食, biǎnshi) and biǎn ròu (扁肉, biǎn ròu)…

In Guangdong, because the word "hundred donuts" is relatively rare, people often write it as "yuncun" (云吞) for convenience, as this word is pronounced similarly to "hundred donuts" (馄饨) in Cantonese. Hundred donuts were introduced to Guangdong during the Tang and Song dynasties.

On December 1, 2017, the Chinese government issued a regulation establishing the standard English name for wonton as wonton, derived from the Cantonese word wan4 tan1 (云吞); or huntun, derived from the Mandarin word húntún (馄饨).

In China, wontons come in many varieties: puffed meat filling, fried, shrimp and fish filling, etc. This dish was introduced to Vietnam in the 1930s, and although it still relies on the original preparation method, some ingredients have been changed to suit the Vietnamese palate.

Source link: https://thanhnien.vn/lat-leo-chu-nghia-hoanh-thanh-la-mon-hon-don-185230901190548636.htm