Pork wontons is one of my favourite meals when I’m feeling lazy and don’t want to cook. The great thing about it is that I can freeze ahead of time and just take it out when I want to eat. The wontons are filled with ground pork and spices, and this recipe is something I’ve been making since I was young with my mom. Pork wontons, like dumplings is very versatile that you can make any type of filling you want. This gives you a lot of freedom to play around with the filling to suit your taste. In my household, wontons are also usually served in a seasoned soup or chilli oil.
For this recipe, my filling of choice is pork. This is the usual protein that I put into my wontons dumplings and baos. However, you can make it with chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, shrimp or completely vegetarian. The important part of the filling is how you season the filling. Depending on the type of filling you use, you need to make changes in the seasoning to complement it.
Type of wrappers
I don’t make the wrappers (although you can!), I usually buys them from the Chinese supermarkets. Wonton wrappers are usually square where the dumpling wrappers are usually round in shape. Make sure to buy the right one!
Hard part is folding the wrappers!
The hardest part I found finding good ways to fold my wrappers that is quick but stays together after cooking. The problem I have with store bought wrappers is that they are hard to stay together so you would have to use some water to get the edges to stick. You just have to spend some time pinching the ends before cooking. This is something that I used to do with my mom when I was young and she would be making these to eat later on. Meal prep!
How to eat wontons
There are couple of ways to eat your pork wontons. If you went to AYCE Japanese restaurant or Chinese restaurant in Canada or US, you might find fried wontons with cream cheese filling. While I love that version, I usually prefer my pork wontons in soup. It’s such a quick and comforting meal when I’m feeling lazy or under the weather. Wonton soup is also a common breakfast food and late night snack in different parts of China as well. Each region will have slight variation but the one I’m showing you is the one I grew up eating and still eat to this day. There is no fancy soup stock, it’s just the water you boil the wontons in. All you need is a bit of cilantro, green onions, dried baby shrimp (if you have it around), soy sauce and sesame oil.
Pro Tip
- use a seasoning water to make the filling and it will make the pork filling a lot softer and juicy. You will notice that I put in green onion stalk and green onions. The onion stalks are for seasoning water, the rest can be put into the pork filling along with 3 other green onion stalks.
- When seasoning the filling, make a couple of wontons and cook them to taste them and adjust the seasoning to your liking.
- Pinch the the wontons to make sure the filling is sealed in
- Place the wonton onto a baking sheet with flour to prevent sticking
- Freeze it in the baking sheet so they don’t clump together.
- I also have a video at the end of the recipe showing you how to fold it. Make sure to check out that one if you are unsure how to fold the wonton.
Pork Wontons
Ingredients
- 2 tsp Sichuan Peppercorn
- 2 green onion stalks
- 2 bay leaves
- ¾ cup water
- 3 green onion
- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- 4 tbsp heated oil
- 2 lbs ground pork
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp chicken powder
- 2 packs 200g wonton wrappers
Soup base for 2
- 2 handful green onions
- 4 tsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp sesame oil
Instructions
Make the seasoning water
- Boil water. Put green onion stalks, sichuan peppercorn, bay leaf into a measuring cup. save the greens to be cut and put into the fillings.
- Once water is boiled, pour 350 ml water into measuring cup with all the spices, steep for 5 minutes
Pork filling
- chop 3 green onions plus the greens left over from the seasoning water and set aside
- Put the ground pork into a mixing bowl with green onions , pour the spiced water little by little. Use a fork or chopstick to mix by moving in one direction (i.e. clockwise or counterclockwise). Mix until all the water is mixed in.
- add soy sauce, salt and chicken powder into the ground pork
- Pour the oil into a small pot, heat on medium heat until it starts to have small bubbles. Take it off the heat and pour onto the pork mixture, stir quickly.
- Put the pork mixture into the fridge for 30 min before taking it out to use
Version 1 Folding method
- Put the wonton into the middle of the wonton skin, put some water along the sides of the skin
- Fold the wonton skin in half by folding the 2 diagonal corner together to form a triangle
- Then crease one side of triangle towards the center tip of the triangle
- Repeat on the other side
Version 2 Folding method
- Put some filling on one end of the wonton wrapper
- Put some water on the sides and the edge closest to you
- Fold the wonton width wise
- Then fold it again
- Put some water on either ends and pinch it
- Then rotate the ends and pinch them together
- Place the wontons onto a floured baking sheet
How to cook wontons
- In a bowl, put some seaweed (optional), green onions, 2 tsp of soy sauce, 1tsp of sesame oil, set aside
- In a large pot, boil some water, as the water comes to boil, put the wonton into the pot
- use a ladle to stir around so the wontons won't stick to the bottom
- Once it boils again, add some water and wait for it to boil
- Once it boils, repeat the last step one more time. The next time it boils you can take the wontons out.