Sweet and salty. Rich and savory. Juicy and tender. Spicy and tangy. Packed with garlic. Simply exquisite.
That is exactly what comes to mind when you tuck into a bowl of Suanla Chaoshou, Sichuan dumplings cloaked in an intensely fragrant sauce of vinegar, garlic, and chili oil.
Wontons are a cornerstone of Chinese cuisine; you will find them in countless forms: steamed, fried, in wonton soup, simply boiled… and in this article I will introduce a version that is not only eye catching but also downright delicious.
The Importance of the Spicy Sauce
Like many Asian dishes, Suanla Chaoshou is as much about contrasting textures as it is about bold flavors.
The wrapper should be smooth and tender, almost neutral next to the delicate sweetness of the pork filling (sweet but never cloying as some versions can be).
The dumplings themselves are still mild when stacked against the sauce. That sauce delivers a dramatic punch, its sweet black rice vinegar, soy sauce, and generous pools of chili oil studded with crisp flecks of fried dried chilies. It is the same dressing used in many chilled Sichuan appetizers and is well worth mastering.
The Wonton Ingredients
For the filling I use a simple mix of fatty ground pork (ask your butcher for extra fatty pork belly or look for the palest, most marbled meat you can find at the supermarket) seasoned with scallions, soy sauce, a touch of garlic, white pepper, salt, sugar, a splash of Shaoxing wine or dry sherry, and scallion infused water.
As with gyoza, keeping a tidy dumpling station is the key to working quickly and cleanly.
Set up a cutting board to work on, a stack of dumpling wrappers (choose the thinnest pre made skins you can find) covered with plastic wrap so they do not dry out, a small bowl of water for sealing, a bowl of filling, a towel for wiping your fingers, and a plate or tray for the finished dumplings. In the recipe at the end of the article I include my video showing how to fold wontons.
The Chef’s Trick for an Out-of-This-World Filling
Want to give the filling an even more luxurious mouthfeel? Gather:
- 50 g pork rind
- 200 ml water
- 1 pinch of salt
Then:
- Simmer for 1 hour, keeping the 1/4 water-to-rind ratio intact.
- After that, blend the mixture for 3-5 minutes
- Return it to the pot and cook for a few more minutes
- Pour into a container and let it cool overnight in the fridge
- When making the filling, mince or even grate the jelly and fold it in
Making the Spicy Sauce
Suanla literally means sour hot, and the sauce is exactly that: a blend of vinegar and chili oil.
In reality it is a bit more complex, though not by much. You can start with a good store bought toasted chili oil (look for jars with plenty of chili sediment suspended in deep red oil at your local Asian market), but you will get better flavor and more control if you make it yourself.
The simplest Sichuan chili oils are made by toasting small dried chilies until they release their aroma, crushing them, then infusing them in hot oil until the oil turns a dark red. For this version, I also like to add Sichuan peppercorns for their citrusy fragrance and numbing properties (mala). Sansho pepper can be used as well.
The easiest way to toast chilies is actually in the microwave. Just a few seconds on full power on a suitable plate will do.
Once the chili oil is ready, the rest of the sauce is very simple: Chinkiang black rice vinegar and soy sauce are mixed with sugar until it dissolves, then a bit of fresh garlic and sesame oil finish the flavor.
Like many Sichuan dishes, the sauce is fairly oily, yet it lightly coats and perfumes the dumplings. It is downright divine.
Wontons in Spicy Sauce – Suanla Chaoshou
Ingredients
Wontons
- 40 wrappers store-bought wonton wrappers
Filling
- 300 g ground pork
- 2 stalks green onions, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine
- 0.25 salt
- 1 pinch white pepper
- 3 tablespoons scallion-infused water
Scallion-infused water
- 1 stalk green onion finely sliced
- 1 thin slice of ginger
- 9 tablespoons water
- 1 pinch salt
Spicy sauce
- 4 dried red chilies stems and seeds removed
- 2 teaspoons Sichuan peppercorns
- 60 ml vegetable oil
- 15 ml sesame oil
- 3 tablespoons black rice vinegar
- 30 ml light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Garnish
- sesame seeds
- green onions
Instructions
Scallion-infused water
- Let the green onion, ginger and salt steep in the water for at least 15 minutes.
- Strain, then refrigerate.
Wonton filling
- Combine all the filling ingredients except the pork and let them infuse for 10 minutes.
- Add the pork and stir in one direction until the liquid is absorbed and the mixture becomes sticky.
Folding the wontons
- With a fingertip, moisten the edges of a wrapper with a little water.
- Place a small spoonful of filling in the centre.
- Fold the wrapper in half to make a rectangle.
- Press firmly to seal the edges.
- With the folded edge facing you, wet one corner and overlap it with the opposite corner.
- Press to seal (see video below).
Cooking the wontons
- Bring a large pot or wok of water to a rolling boil. Gently drop in the wontons, stirring so they don’t stick. Cook in batches if needed.
- When the wontons float (about 6–7 minutes), boil for 1½ minutes more.
Spicy sauce
- Place the chilies and Sichuan peppercorns on a microwave-safe plate and microwave on high until fragrant, about 15 seconds.
- Transfer to a mortar or food processor and crush to the texture of red-pepper flakes.
- Tip the crushed spices into a heat-proof bowl with the garlic and sesame seeds.
- Heat the vegetable oil over medium heat until it shimmers, then carefully pour it over the spice mixture—it should sizzle.
- Let stand for 5 minutes, then stir in the sesame oil.
- In a small bowl, stir the sugar, vinegar and soy sauce until the sugar dissolves.
- Whisk in the chili oil. Set aside until needed (the sauce keeps up to 2 weeks in the fridge).
Serving
- Arrange the wontons in a shallow bowl and spoon the spicy sauce over the top.
