Chile Oil Wontons
Updated Jan. 28, 2025
- Total Time
- 1½ hours
- Prep Time
- 15 minutes
- Cook Time
- 1¼ hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1pound ground pork or ground chicken
- ¼pound large peeled and deveined shrimp, chopped into ¼-inch pieces
- 1tablespoon sesame oil
- 1tablespoon soy sauce
- 1tablespoon Shaoxing wine or sherry (optional)
- 1teaspoon ground white pepper
- Kosher salt (such as Diamond Crystal)
- Cornstarch, for dusting
- About 50 homemade or store-bought wonton wrappers (from one 12- to 14-ounce package), thawed if frozen
- 6garlic cloves, smashed and coarsely chopped into ¼-inch pieces
- 2scallions, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 3tablespoons crushed red pepper
- 2tablespoons white sesame seeds
- 1bay leaf (dried or fresh)
- 1whole star anise
- ⅔cup vegetable oil
- 1tablespoon sweet soy sauce
- 1tablespoon dark soy sauce
- 1tablespoon rice vinegar
- 3tablespoons roasted, unsalted peanuts, finely ground or chopped
- 1tablespoon finely ground Sichuan peppercorns (optional)
- 4scallions, thinly sliced
For the Wontons
For the Sauce
For Serving
Nutritional analysis per serving (50 servings)
156 calories; 6 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 19 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 6 grams protein; 244 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Make the wontons: Combine the pork, shrimp, sesame oil, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine (if using), white pepper and 1 teaspoon kosher salt in a large bowl. Mix with a spatula until the ingredients are thoroughly combined.
- Step 2
Prepare your tools for wrapping the wontons: Dust a large rimmed baking sheet or large platter with cornstarch and fill a small bowl with water.
- Step 3
Assemble the wontons: Hold a wonton wrapper in your hand and rotate it so it sits like a diamond, with a tip at the top. Spoon about 1 scant tablespoon of the filling in the middle of the wrapper. Dip a finger into the water and dab the top triangle of the diamond and fold in half, lifting the bottom corner to meet the top corner and aligning the wrapper edges so you get a triangular shape, then press firmly to seal. Dab some more water on one corner of the triangle and then press the opposite dry corner on top to seal. Set the wonton on the cornstarch-dusted tray or platter and proceed with the rest of the filling and wrappers, making about 50 wontons.
- Step 4
Cover the wontons with plastic wrap and place in the fridge while you prepare the sauce. (See Tip for freezing instructions.)
- Step 5
Make the sauce: Combine the garlic, scallions, crushed red pepper, sesame seeds, bay leaf and star anise in a medium heat-proof bowl. Heat the vegetable oil in a small pot over medium-high until it is very hot and almost smoking, 4 to 5 minutes. Carefully pour the hot oil into the bowl over the garlic mixture. Allow the sizzling to subside and then add the sweet soy sauce, dark soy sauce and rice vinegar. (You can make the sauce up to 3 days in advance; keep it covered and refrigerated.)
- Step 6
Make the garnish: Combine the ground peanuts, Sichuan peppercorns and ½ teaspoon kosher salt in a small bowl.
- Step 7
Boil and serve the wontons: Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Cook the wontons in batches, depending on the size of your pot. Gently drop the wontons in the boiling water and cook over medium heat until they float to the top, 5 to 6 minutes. Remove the wontons with a slotted spoon or a spider, making sure to shake out the water with each removal and transfer them to a serving bowl right away.
- Step 8
Spoon the sauce over the hot wontons and sprinkle with the ground peanut mixture and scallions.
- If you are not ready to boil the wontons right away, tightly wrap the wontons in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months. To boil from frozen: Follow the cooking instructions in Step 7, cooking the dumplings until they float to the top, 6 to 7 minutes.
Private Notes
Comments
Wait. 15 min prep time for 50 wonton? More like 15 min cook time, 1 hour prep time.
Aloha Sue Li! I'm planning to make this delicious dish you shared. Quick question. What brand of sweet soy sauce do you use? I see ABC Kecap Manis but I'm thinking you use something else. Hope to know which brand you use. Also dark soy sauce, can I use Kikkoman regular soy sauce? I'm allergic to shellfish so will have to leave out the shrimp.
I would like more info on "sweet soy sauce." Was this discussed already as part of dumpling week? I have ABC sweet soy sauce, which is Indonesian. Will this work? There are so many types of soy sauce, with different names. In Japanese cuisine, "dark soy sauce" refers to the everyday common soy sauce such as Kikkoman, which is by far the most common type found in American homes. Perhaps the New York Times cooking team could put together a comprehensive guide the recipe writers could link to.
Another tip: The chili oil is FANTASTIC and keeps for at least a week. I put in on everything...chicken, beef, pork. Also i had some leftover wontons and made them the other night for some older freinds whom I though might find the chili oil too spicy...don't be afraid to thin it down a bit with some soy or tamari. Finally, I have a new favorite meal. Saute the sauasage/shrimp filling, then toss it with some rice noodles and the chili oil...delish!
Made these before and made the again last night. Always a hit. A couple of tips: you can totally do the chili oil ahead…2-3 days. You can make the wontons in the morning or a few days before and freeze. But my only negative comment (as always with the recipes here) is please don’t tell us you can make 50 wontons and the chili oil in 15 minutes…more like a couple of hours!
Wonderful recipe! Thank you! I made this vegetarian style, which for me means that I made the filling with mixture of mirepoix and beyond burger and I cooked them together in advance before filling the wontons.