Shrimp and Pork Wontons in Vinegar and Chili Oil Sauce

Thanks to the noodle stand vendor, after all these years I just learnt that wonton skins can be stored in the freezer. I guess because family and friends always use fresh wrappers on the day of purchase, so I never thought that such delicate wrap can withhold its original texture once defrosted.

Therefore, I bravely bought about 50 wonton skins, more than I needed, and decided to make a small batch of shrimp and pork wontons, serve with chili oil sauce similar to Din Tai Fung's version. Should be very delicious.

Shrimp and pork wontons in vinegar and chili oil sauce - 

Ingredients (about 30 big wontons or 50 small ones)?

• 500 grams ground pork (with some fat)
• 300 grams shrimps
• 30 big or 50 small wonton skin
• 1 small chunk young ginger
• 1 big stalk scallion
• 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon white pepper powder
• Some dried nori sheet or threaded nori (optional)

Vinegar and chili oil sauce (for one serving):

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon black vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon chili sauce
• 1/4 teaspoon granulated sugar

How?

Add all the ingredients listed under the "vinegar and chili oil sauce" section to the serving bowl. The amount of ingredients listed here is good for one big serving, about 12 big wontons.

Peel and devein the shrimp if needed, then cut the shrimp into smaller chunks. Add that to a big mixing bowl together with ground pork. 

Scrape the skin off the young ginger. Grate the ginger, about 1/2 teaspoonful and add to the mixing bowl. Destem and chop the scallion, also add to the bowl.

Add 1/4 teaspoon of sesame oil, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, and 1/8 teaspoon of white pepper powder to the bowl. Give everything a good mix till evenly combined. Put a spoon there for scooping the filling.

Prepare your work station. I'd like to add some drinkable water to a small bowl, also prep some tissues on the side just in case I need to clean my finger tips once a while. 

Also have some empty plates ready to hold the wontons. Aim for plate that can fit into the freezer without tilting, so that once the wontons are ready, you can transfer the whole plate to the freezer and wait for the wontons to harden a bit before storing them in a Ziploc bag.

To make the wontons, the basic idea is to take one wonton wrapper on your palm, dip some water with your finger and tap along the edge of the wrapper. Then spoon some fillings in the center, fold and seal the wrappers tight.

Of course there are many ways to wrap the wontons. In fact, I have a picture below showing the steps. The sequence should start from the middle to the bottom then to the top, meaning beginning to the end result.

First I wrap the wonton to rectangular shape, then I wet the bottom right corner, the back side of it with more water. Parallelly pull that wet corner to meet with the front of the bottom left corner.

In order to do so, the upper edge of the wonton skin will have to fold-in a bit, thus creating a cute gold ingot look known as yuanbao in Chinese. There're many other ways to fold the wontons, you can easily find some videos online, just pick and choose what attracts you the most or what's the easiest if you're doing it for the first time.

On a side note, I was too greedy and put too much fillings for the wontons, so the shape doesn't really hold after cooking. It's no big deal though, I find it much more enjoyable to have fuller meaty bite over looks.

Once you filled up the plate with wontons, transfer to the freezer for at least 30 minutes before moving the wontons to the Ziploc bag for easier storing.  

But do save the wontons you're going to cook right away. Have a pot of water and bring to a boil. Add in the wontons and cook till they float to the top, about 4 minutes. 

Once ready, drain and transfer the wontons to the serving bowl that have been filled with the sauce mixture. Remember, the sauce ingredients I listed should be good for around 12 big wontons.

Use threaded nori or tear the big nori sheet into smaller pieces and add to the top of the wontons.

Serve immediately, let the diners carefully mix the wontons with the sauce on the bottom. 

The nori sheet can really boost up the flavors, which is a trick I learnt from a local wonton stand. That's one thing when dining out, take what others do better and try to recreate at home. 

The noodle stand vendor also informed me that for unused wonton skins, just make sure to seal the container or the bag tight then store in the fridge. However, when next wonton making time comes, remember to defrost the wonton skin the day before "in the fridge." Let the wonton skin slowly defrost in low temperature.

So after 30 big wontons I made, I'm still left with like 20 or so wonton skins to use. Perhaps next time I'll make a fried version instead, with cream cheese filling inside. Oh I'm getting excited here, such combo sounds so yummy.