Wontons with all of the fixings.

Recipe: Spicy Wontons Using Por Por’s ‘Hugging’ Wontons

These are a speciality of my grandmother. I adapted them to include some of my favorite toppings used at Sichuan restaurants in the Bay Area.

Ingredients

1 lbs of ground, fatty pork

1 tbsp. Shaoxing cooking wine

2 tbsp. soy sauce

1 tbsp. sesame oil

1 tbsp. grated ginger

1–2 scallions, thinly sliced

1 tsp. cornstarch

1 tsp. white pepper

1 tsp. sugar (preferably rock sugar)

2 garlic cloves

2 tbsp. water

1 package of square wontons, should contain 48–50 individual wrappers

1/4 cup of water in a dish on the side

Additional salt to taste

For the toppings

Fermented black bean chili sauce

OR

Chili crisp*

1–2 scallions, thinly sliced

White sesame seeds

Directions

1. Combine the ground pork, cooking wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, ginger, garlic, and white pepper together.

2. Beat the egg into the two tablespoons of water and add it to the ground pork mixture. Combine for a few minutes until its lighter in color from the egg mixture. If you want, microwave a bit of the pork mixture and taste it before deciding if it needs more salt. Depending on the brand of soy sauce, you could need more. Rest in the fridge for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

3. Fill a small dish with water. Lay a wonton wrapper on a piece of parchment paper or cutting board. Scoop 1 tsp. of the mixture onto the wrapper using the wide end of a chopstick.

4. Run a wet finger around the edges of the wonton wrapper. Close the wrapper on a diagonal edge so you get a triangle. My grandmother always preferred the “hugging wonton” shape. With freshly wet fingers, cross the arms of the wonton and pinch in the middle so it looks like it’s sleeping on its back, like a vampire.

5. Lay on a pan with a light sprinkling of flour so they don’t stick. If you intend to freeze, let them chill completely in the fridge separately before placing them in a freezer bag.

6. When ready, boil the fresh wontons in salted water for 2–3 minutes or until they float to the surface. If frozen, it should take about the same amount of time.

7. Water down a bit of the tahini with a pinch of salt, use as a sauce to top on the wontons along with the chili crisp (or fermented black bean chili sauce), thinly sliced scallions and white sesame seeds.

Serves 4–6 people

*Note: This is a magical condiment. I found a couple of brands that I like from specialty shops, here are my top three:

1. Lao Gan Ma
2. 2. Chile Crunch
3. 3. S&B Fried Garlic and Chili Oil

I would also recommend checking out some of your favorite Chinese restaurants. A lot of times, they package and carry their sauces as a second stream of income. Hon’s Wun-Tun has an amazing fermented black bean and chili sauce.