HCS Chili Oil Wontons (红油抄手)
Wontons are a great as an appetizer and can definitely be a meal itself. In this recipe, I'll walk you through how I typically make wontons at home! I have included some links to Amazon for examples and purchasable products. As a short disclosure, I do receive some compensation if you decide to use the link. This compensation is used toward business improvements and advertisements.
Chili Oil Wontons ( 红油抄手)
Prep time: 60 minutes (includes preparing filling and wrapping)
Marinating time: At least 30 minutes
Cook time: 10-15 minutes
Ingredients:
Fillings
16 oz Ground Pork
8-10 Dried Shitake Mushrooms https://amzn.to/3otSEVG
1/2 cup Dried Wood Ear Fungus https://amzn.to/35lrfxB
3 stalks Green Onion
8 oz Shrimp
2 eggs
Marinade
2 tsp Sea Salt https://amzn.to/2Xq9adl
1 tsp Cane Sugar https://amzn.to/2XsziUM
1/2 tsp White Pepper https://amzn.to/3i1ve7I
1/2 tsp Dried Ginger Powder https://amzn.to/38qz5YB
1 tbs Light Soy Sauce https://amzn.to/2K3Ypue
2 tsp Dark Soy Sauce https://amzn.to/2MSs2Ql
1 tsp Sesame Oil https://amzn.to/3qhNYCT
1/2 tsp Mirin https://amzn.to/2MSs2Ql or Cooking Wine https://amzn.to/2Xp7LDZ
Wrapper
16 oz Wonton Wrapper (HK Style) https://amzn.to/2JYow5B
Sauce
3 tbs HCS Chili OIl https://www.hcsfoods.com/product-page/chili-oil-bottle
1 tsp HCS Essential Cooking Sauce https://www.hcsfoods.com/product-page/essential-cooking-sauce
Garnish
1 stalk Green Onion
Directions:
1) To prepare the filling, rehydrate the dried shitake mushroom and wood ear fungus in cool water for 4-6 hrs, preferably overnight. If dried shitake mushroom is difficult to find, you can use fresh; however, the texture may be a little different as dried is a bit more chewy.
2) After the mushrooms and fungus are rehydrated, mince into small cubes. You may also thinly slice the mushroomsif you prefer. I typically mince into cubes for optimal surface area absorbing all the marinating ingredients.
3) Finely chop the green onions into small circles. Save some for garnishing the wontons later.
4) For the shrimp, clean, devein, and chop into small pieces. Some prefer large pieces so that each wonton they wrap has a good mouthful. I usually cut them into smaller pieces so that it is incorpated into the filling a bit more evenly.
5) Next take the ground pork and incorpate all the other ingredients into a bowl. Note: if you'd prefer to do this the oldschool way, you can buy pork loin or country loin and use a knife and pound it out. The chinese chef knife does wonders. Just make sure you have a pretty thick chopping board!
6) Time to add all the marinade into the wonton filling ingredients. I like to incorporate all the marinade ingredients into a bowl first before adding it to the wonton filling. You can choose to do it ontop of the wonton filling if you prefer.
7) Let the filling marinade for a minimum of 30 minutes in the refrigerator. I prefer to marinade for at least 2 hours but have found 30 minutes is enough in a pinch! Some people like to cook a little of their filling to make sure it taste good. I often don't but if you decide to, microwaving can be a quick and dandy way to cook it!
8) Once the marinating time is complete, its time to prepare for the wrapping session. You'll need a small bowl with some room temperature water, a knife or spoon, and the storebought wrappers.
9) When you are ready to wrap, crack two eggs into the wonton filling and mix well. You can now start to fold the dumplings! Use the room temperature water like a glue. When you want to fold the wonton wrapper together, dip your knife or finger with a little water and spread it along the wrapper corner. Press together the corners and seal! There are many different shapes and sizes. Below is the way I was taught by my father.
10) Once you have wrapped enough wontons, boil a pot of water that is at least 3 qts in size. I usually use something at least 6 qts to boil vegetables in it too~You can also start boiling the water when you start wrapping to save some time! You will also need a small bowl of cool water to bathe the hot wontons in.
11) When the water comes to a rolling boil, add 8-10 wontons. Make sure not to crowd the pot. Let it boil without a lid until the wontons are floating. They will be translucent and look like miniature clouds; hence, the Chinese name of cloud swallow by Southern Chinese. These dumplings were meant to be eaten in one bite.
12) While the wontons are cooking, prepare your serving bowl and fill it with chili oil and essential cooking sauce.
13) Remove the boiled dumplings and dip them into cool water. This will stop the process of cooking the wonton wrapper and also get rid of some of the starch. Immediately after, place them back in the hot water to warm back up. Scoop them up and strain as much water as you can. Gently slide them into your serving bowl, top with chopping green onions, and enjoy immediately!
TIP: Wontons can be frozen and enjoyed at a later date. Place them on a nonstick tray and make sure they aren't touching each other. Place them into the freezer and let them freeze for about 2 hours. Once they are hard, remove from the tray and place in zip lock bags. Frozen wontons should be eaten within the month!
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