Steamed wontons in chilli broth

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These steamed wontons in chilli broth from Jeremy Pang can be made ahead of time and frozen, making them perfect for a dinner party. Try folding them into the traditional gold ingot shapes to bring your friends and family wealth for the years ahead.

First published in 2016

When it comes to learning about Chinese pastries, wontons are the best starting point. The pastry
 comes ready-made, either fresh or frozen in most
 Oriental supermarkets, and is very much like an egg
 pasta – made from egg, a medium- to high-gluten
 wheat flour (similar to plain flour), hot water and oil. The method of folding below creates a shape much like a gold ingot (pre-20th century Chinese currency) and it is said that if you can fold your wontons in such a shape, you are giving your friends and family plenty of good wealth for years to come!

Tip: Dumplings like these can be kept in the freezer once made. They must be cooked from frozen for 
2 minutes longer than the recommended cooking time when cooking fresh, rather than allowing them to thaw out and lose their shape.

Recipe from Chinese Unchopped by Jeremy Pang (Quadrille, £20)

Photography by Martin Poole.

Ingredients

Metric

Imperial

Wontons

Chilli broth

  • 200ml of chicken stock
  • 1/2 tbsp of oyster sauce
  • 2 tsp chilli sauce, preferably chilli oil

Method

1
Finely chop the garlic, spring onion, coriander, Chinese chives, soaked shiitake mushrooms and Chinese leaves and place in a mixing bowl
2
Finely dice the prawns (if using) and add to the mixing bowl along with the soy sauce, sugar and sesame oil. Mix everything together
3
To make the wontons, place 1 teaspoon of filling in the centre of each pastry. Using the tip of your finger, wet all sides of the pastry with cold water
4
Fold the bottom corner over the filling to the top corner and press the pastry down to seal all sides (to form a triangle)
5
Holding the base of the filling with your thumbs, pull the 2 corners of the triangle towards each other
6
Overlap the ends and press together to form a 'gold ingot/trough' shape. Set aside and fold the rest of the wontons the same way
7
Place all the wontons in a large, deep bowl. Bring the chicken stock to a simmer in a saucepan, then stir in the oyster sauce and chilli oil. Pour the broth ingredients over the wontons
8
Set the wok up with a steamer stand and fill with boiling water to a third of the way up the sides
9
Put the wonton bowl into the wok, cover with a lid and steam for 6–8 minutes, until the wontons have shriveled slightly and are cooked through
10
Remove from the wok and serve garnished with a little chopped coriander
First published in 2016

School of Wok founder, author and TV chef Jeremy Pang comes from three generations of Chinese chefs. Being surrounded by food connoisseurs, Jeremy developed his passion for food and soon realised the importance and correlation between basic cooking skills and eating well.

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