Pork Wontons in a Spicy Red Sauce — Culinary Seasons
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Pork Wontons in a Spicy Red Sauce is a delicious recipe and can be easily put together in just a short time. The most time you will spend is actually filling and forming the dumpling.
As a variation, the wontons for this recipe can be filled with a mixture of shrimp and pork. See notes at the bottom for instructions on altering the recipe to make them Pork & Shrimp.
Wonton Wrappers a Cousin to Pasta
The dough used to make wontons wrappers (or skins) is made up of flour, eggs and cornstarch. This mix allows for the wonton skins to be pliable and stretchy.
Pasta dough usually has more eggs and does not include cornstarch. Both are rolled out in a similar fashion to make them the desired thickness. Wonton skins are rolled thin to allow for a quick cooking time.
Aren’t Wonton Skins and Dumpling Skins the Same Thing?
Typically wonton skins are round where dumpling dough (or skins) are thicker and round. The main difference is, dumpling skins generally do not include egg. Usually just flour, water and salt.
Dumpling skins are used for forming potstickers, shu mai or various other shapes of dumpling. Generally, wonton skins are used to make a filled wonton.
Traditional Fillings
Traditionally wontons are filled with just meat and seasoning. Usually the filling is small in the wonton skin to make cooking quick for soups and in this cast an appetizer served with red sauce. Wontons are usually boiled or steamed and can be fried.
Dumplings can have a variety of fillings from meat to seafood to vegetables or any combination in between. Dumplings can be steamed, pan fried or deep fried.
The thicker wrapper and increased filling compared to a wonton will take longer to cook but the outcome will be a delight. There are generally more variety and versatility with dumplings than wontons.
Wonton’s Origin
Historically the wonton has been part of the Cantonese culture. During the late 1800s to early 1900s, was when the wonton popularity grew. It was a favorite with the Chinese upper classes where wontons were served in soup with a clear broth.
This is what most of us are probably accustomed to seeing it. As immigrants made their way to the U.S. they brought their cuisine with them. It didn’t take long for wonton soup to become a favorite here as well.
Wontons in a spicy broth comes from the Sichuan culture. Sichuan region’s love of spicy foods was a natural pairing for the wonton. Serving the pork and shrimp wontons with a spicy red sauce.
Martin Yan – Yan Can Cook
Martin Yan of Yan Can Cook has a television series called Spice Kingdom where he showcases the regions recipes in Chengdu in the Sichuan province. I highly recommend you check out his this series. It gives great history of the region and the region’s love for spicy chilis.
Making the Pork Wontons in a Spicy Red Sauce
Assembling the filling is easy to make. I recommend that the filling be refrigerated for an hour to overnight to allow the flavors to combine and firm up the filling. This will make it easier to use when you are forming the wonton.
It is not a hard fast rule but if you are not familiar with forming the wonton chilling the filling may make it easier to handle.
Coming soon…
I will have a video coming soon that demonstrates how to form the wonton. It is easier than you may think! I have a great way of explaining. In the recipe below I have it written out but if you are like me, if i see it I pick it up a lot faster.
I hope you Enjoy the Pork Wontons in a Spicy Red Sauce!
Pork Wontons with Red Sauce
Servings: 6 people
Author: Chef Tony Zentgraf
Pork and Scallion filled Wontons served with Spicy Chili Oil Sauce
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Adjusting Spice Level
- As with many recipes, the ingredients can be varied. If you want to have it less spicy, just reduce the chili oil or chili paste.
Making Shrimp & Pork Wontons
- To make this recipe a Shrimp & Pork filling, use the same ingredients except take out 1/3 of the pork weight and replace it with shrimp.
- Chop the raw shrimp into small pieces and add to the pork filling mix and proceed as the recipe states.