Description
If you've ever visited Chengdu, China you know how delicious these wontons are! This wonton recipe shared with me by my friend Vivian (her English name), was my absolute favorite of any wontons I ate anywhere (including in restaurants and friend's homes). They're incredibly easy to make and they taste exactly like you'll eat in Chengdu. If you use store-bought wrappers, they're ready in just 30 minutes.
Ingredients
Units
- Wonton Filling Ingredients
- 1 (16-ounce) package wonton wrappers (250g) (or use homemade wonton wrappers)
- 8.85 ounces marbled pork collar or pork shoulder, minced (250g) (sub fatty 70/30 pre-ground pork)
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, diced into matchsticks (10g)
- 1 scallion (optional but delicious)
- 1/4 cup + 2 3/4 tablespoons of cool water, (100g)
- 1 large egg, white and yolk separated (50g)
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce (14g)
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (3g)
- dash of white pepper
- Crispy Fried Pork Topping Ingredients
- 3 1/2 ounces fatty ground pork (100g)
- 1 garlic clove, smashed
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- Wonton Sauce Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce (30g)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Zhenjiang Chinese black vinegar (6g)
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon peanut butter (20g) (sub Chinese sesame paste or tahini)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Chinese sesame paste (6g) (sub tahini)
- 2 to 3 teaspoons homemade Sichuan chili sauce oil, or more to taste (8g-14g)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons coarse raw sugar (7g) (sub 1 teaspoon granulated sugar or to taste)
- 1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil (2g)
- 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon Sichuan green flower pepper oil (teng jiao oil) (0.5 to 1g)
- 1/4 teaspoon mushroom soy sauce (1g) (sub dark soy sauce)
- dash of white pepper
- 1 tablespoon finely sliced scallions (green parts only) for garnish
- finely sliced fresh red chili for garnish
- Other Optional Toppings
- cilantro leaves
- crispy roasted or fried peanuts, crushed
Instructions
- Infuse the water with ginger (and scallions if using). Cut the ginger into matchsticks and press on them to crush them with the side of a chef's knife. If using scallions, cut them into 3 to 4 pieces and crush them with the side of the knife as well. Add the ginger (and scallions if using) to a bowl with cool water and set aside to steep for at least 30 minutes and up to 1 hour.
- Mince the pork meat. Skip to step #3 if using pre-ground fatty pork. Chill the pork shoulder (or collar) meat in the freezer for 20 to 30 minutes until firm but not frozen. This makes it easier to dice the meat into 2-inch pieces. Place the diced meat back into the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes to slightly firm up. When firm but not frozen, grind the meat using the Kitchen Aid meat grinder attachment using the smallest die (or another meat grinder). After the meat has been ground, use a cleaver or two chef knives to chop it even finer (see step-by-step photos) and add it to a mixing bowl. *Alternatively, you can just use a cleaver or two chef knives (one in each hand) to mince the pork without first grinding it.
- Make the pork filling. Add the egg white (or the whole egg for extra richness), light soy sauce, sesame oil, salt, and white pepper, and stir vigorously to combine. Next, add the ginger water in 3 stages mixing completely and fully after each addition to hydrate the meat for about 10 minutes. The mixture should be pasty and jiggly when it's finished (see photos). Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 1 hour.
- Fill the wontons. Place a wonton wrapper in the palm of your hand and add a small amount of filling (about 1 teaspoon) to the center. Using water or a cornstarch slurry, lightly wet one entire L-shaped corner of the wrapper and fold the wrapper in half to form a triangle. Seal the wrapper closed pressing down gently around the filling all the way around the wonton to press out any air. *If you don't press out the air, the wontons will open up while boiling and be ruined. Make an indention in the middle of the wonton using your finger to crease it. Bring one of the hanging "side flaps" over the top of the other "flap", add a dot of water or slurry, and press the two "flaps" together to seal. Place sealed wontons on a parchment-lined baking tray lightly dusted with cornstarch so they don't stick together. You may place the wontons directly into the freezer at this point while you make the crispy pork and heat the cooking water.
- Make the crispy fried pork. Add a smashed garlic clove and the ground pork to a preheated skillet with a small amount of oil. Cook the pork until it begins to brown and crisp up (about 12 minutes). Add about 2 teaspoons of soy sauce to the skillet and stir to combine and continue cooking until desired crispiness is reached. Remove the pork to a plate and discard the garlic or reserve it for another use.
- Make the wonton sauce. While the pork mixture is cooking, mix together all of the wonton sauce ingredients except the Sichuan chili oil) directly in the dish you're serving the wontons in. Stir everything well to combine and set aside.
- Cook the wontons. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add the wontons and gently stir them around the pot so they don't stick. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes until the wrappers look translucent and the filling is firm. Alternatively, if you prefer a more al dente cooked wrapper, after 2 minutes of cooking, you may add 1 cup of tap water to the pot to slow the cooking down but still allow the wontons to cook through. Remove the wontons to the serving dish with the sauce, top with crispy fried pork, scallions, and Sichuan chili oil, and serve immediately, and Enjoy!
Notes
- If using pork shoulder that doesn't look very fatty, you may substitute one 1/3 of the shoulder meat with ground pork belly to help fatten it up. This is what I do sometimes to help plump up the pork and make it even tastier.
- Always stir the pork mixture (or any dumpling or wonton filling) in one direction only either clockwise or counterclockwise. This helps tenderize the protein and break down the fibers which allows the meat to better absorb the liquid resulting in very tender, juicy cooked wontons.
- If you don't have mushroom soy sauce, you may substitute dark soy sauce.
- Do not over-fill the wontons. It's tempting to want to load up on the filling, but these are different than dumplings and should be filled with less pork mixture. One package of 16-ounce wonton wrappers has anywhere between 60-67 wrappers. You should fill each one with just about one teaspoon of pork filling. That said, if you want to add just a bit more filling, don't add more than 1 1/2 teaspoons per wrapper which will yield about 40 or so wontons.
- I like to use a cornstarch slurry to seal wontons, but you can also just use water. For the slurry, add 1 tablespoon (10g) of cornstarch to a bowl with 1 1/2 tablespoons (17g) of water, and stir. Do not wet more than one half of the wonton wrapper (the "L" shape) because it may become too wet and make them tear.
- When removing the cooked wontons from the hot water, be sure to leave them just slightly wet so that when you add them to the bowl with sauce, just a tiny amount of starchy water gets mixed into the sauce. Do not allow too much water to get added to the sauce or you'll dilute the flavor which would be really sad because it's delicious.
- For all the other tips and techniques, see the main post.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 4 minutes
- Category: Appetizer, Dim Sum, Dim Sum + Dumplings, Dinner, Dumplings + Dim Sum
- Method: Boiled
- Cuisine: Chinese, Sichuan Chinese
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 10 Wontons
- Calories: 345
- Sugar: 2g
- Sodium: 972mg
- Fat: 18g
- Saturated Fat: 6g
- Unsaturated Fat: 12g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 29h
- Fiber: 0.9g
- Protein: 16g
- Cholesterol: 70mg
