How to Make Chilli Wontons - Recipe

Growing up in a Chinese household, wontons (& dumplings) were a common thing. My parents are Shanghainese and so would constantly be folding them on the regular with my sister and I joining in. I’ve probably eaten thousands of wontons (& dumplings) in my lifetime so far and they’re easily one of my favourite dishes to eat. Since moving out, I’ve now got my own wonton recipe, slightly simplifying what my mum would do and focusing on using ingredients that are easily accessible and making it as simple as possible so that anyone can make them!

Fresh wontons are a dream to eat, the texture of the wonton is so soft and full of flavour. Wontons also freeze well as well. Whenever I make wontons, I always make a huge double batch and freeze them for later. With all the practice I’ve had, I actually find folding wontons quite quick so manage to get through them all quite efficiently!

Today I’m sharing with you my recipe for one of my favourite wonton dishes - chilli wontons. I’ll go through my go-to wonton filling recipe, as well as how to fold wontons and of course cook the dish! Read on below to join me on a wonton folding adventure!

Wearing: Spell Imogen Embroidered Gown

RECIPE

Yields approximately 70-80 dumplings (4-6 servings), however I often double this recipe to freeze for later.

INGREDIENTS:

If you have an Asian grocer near you, it’s better to get your Asian ingredients there as it’s much cheaper and you have more choice. I’ve included images below of all the brands I use for reference, in case you’re having trouble finding things.

• Wonton skin (500g)

FILLING:

• 500g extra lean pork mince

• 15 raw prawns

• 2 spring onions chopped finely (I use scissors to cut them, it’s easier)

• 2 tbsp light soy sauce

• 2 tbsp shaoxing wine (Chinese cooking wine)

• 1 tsp sesame oil

• 2 tsp minced ginger

• A few shakes of ground white pepper

SAUCE:

• 1 tbsp light soy sauce

• 1 tbsp black vinegar

• 1/2 tsp minced garlic

• 1/2 tsp chilli oil (I use Lao Gan Ma brand)

HOW TO MAKE:

1. Chop the raw prawns into very small pieces.

2. Place all the filling ingredients together in a large bowl and mix thoroughly with a spoon.

3. Let sit in fridge for 1 hour so the flavours soak in.

4. Take the bowl out of the fridge and prepare your wonton wrapping station. You’ll need your bowl of filling, a small bowl of water and your wonton skins. It’s time to fold wontons!

How to Fold wontons

There are plenty of different ways I’ve seen people fold wontons but today I’ll be showing you a more traditional way to fold wontons. This is the way my family folds wontons and it’s what I always go for too.

1. Place a small teaspoon size of wonton filling in the middle of the wonton skin.

2. Dip your finger in the water bowl and wet half the border of the wonton skin with water (see picture below).

3. Fold the wonton skin in half to create a rectangle shape and press firmly so that the wonton skin sticks onto itself, enclosing the filling.

4. Wet one corner of the wrapper, where the fold is.

5. Watch carefully! Using your two thumbs, hold the top two corners of the wonton & fold the top of the wrapper into the filling whilst pulling the bottom two corners together. Place the dry corner on top of the wet corner and press down firmly so it holds. Anddd you’ve made a wonton!

Here’s a step by step diagram for another look:

6. Continue folding wontons until you are out of filling (or wonton skin). I normally set up a bit of a production line, filling and folding a number of wontons at a time.

TIP: If you have leftover wonton filling, you can stir fry it and eat it with rice.

TIP: If you have leftover wonton skin, you can cut them up and use them as noodles.

COOKING THE CHILLI WONTONS

1. Bring a pot of water to boil on the stove.

2. Meanwhile, prepare your sauce by mixing all your sauce ingredients together in a small bowl.

3. Once the water is boiling, put your wontons in the pot and stir gently to prevent them from sinking to the bottom and getting stuck to the bottom of the pot.

4. Stir occasionally. After around 5 minutes, your wontons should float to the top of the surface. This means they’re done! If you’re not confident, just cut one in half to double check.

5. Remove wontons from water and serve with sauce.

TIPS:

• I normally make a big batch at a time and then freeze to enjoy later. When cooking frozen wontons, you can plonk the frozen wontons straight into boiling water and just let it cook for longer until it floats to the top.

• You can also omit the prawns and make plain pork wontons too!

• I’m normally not too precise with the ingredients and kinda just pour my sauces without measuring. There’s no need to be too precise and you can adjust each time you make if you feel like you want them more salty (add more soy sauce) or less gingery (add less ginger!)

• I also love using wontons as part of a soup dish and will try and share this recipe soon.

I hope you enjoyed this post as much as I enjoy eating wontons!