{"id":42528,"title":"Wontons in Spicy Sauce – Suanla Chaoshou","modified":"2025-06-29T10:35:53+02:00","plain":"Sweet and salty. Rich and savory. Juicy and tender. Spicy and tangy. Packed with garlic. Simply exquisite.\n\n\n\nThat 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.\n\n\n\nWontons 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.\n\n\n\nMy delicious wonton soup recipe\n\n\n\nThe Importance of the Spicy Sauce\n\n\n\nLike many Asian dishes, Suanla Chaoshou is as much about contrasting textures as it is about bold flavors.\n\n\n\nThe 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).\n\n\n\nThe 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.\n\n\n\nMy Sichuan chili oil recipe\n\n\n\nThe Wonton Ingredients\n\n\n\nFor 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.\n\n\n\nAs with gyoza, keeping a tidy dumpling station is the key to working quickly and cleanly.\n\n\n\nSet 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.\n\n\n\nThe Chef\u2019s Trick for an Out-of-This-World Filling\n\n\n\nWant to give the filling an even more luxurious mouthfeel? Gather:\n\n\n\n\n50 g pork rind\n\n\n\n200 ml water\n\n\n\n1 pinch of salt\n\n\n\n\nThen:\n\n\n\n\nSimmer for 1 hour, keeping the 1\/4 water-to-rind ratio intact.\n\n\n\nAfter that, blend the mixture for 3-5 minutes\n\n\n\nReturn it to the pot and cook for a few more minutes\n\n\n\nPour into a container and let it cool overnight in the fridge\n\n\n\nWhen making the filling, mince or even grate the jelly and fold it in\n\n\n\n\nYou can even add aromatics to the jelly; just make sure to remove them before blending\n\n\n\nMaking the Spicy Sauce\n\n\n\nSuanla literally means sour hot, and the sauce is exactly that: a blend of vinegar and chili oil.\n\n\n\nIn 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.\n\n\n\nThe 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.\n\n\n\nThe easiest way to toast chilies is actually in the microwave. Just a few seconds on full power on a suitable plate will do.\n\n\n\nOnce 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.\n\n\n\nLike many Sichuan dishes, the sauce is fairly oily, yet it lightly coats and perfumes the dumplings. It is downright divine.\n\n\n\n\n\n\tWontons in Spicy Sauce \u2013 Suanla Chaoshou\n\t\t\n\t\tPlump Sichuan wontons nestled in a bold, tangy-spicy sauce.\t\n\t\n\t\t\t\n\t\n\t\tWontons40 wrappers store-bought wonton wrappersFilling300 g ground pork2 stalks green onions, finely chopped1 tablespoon light soy sauce1 teaspoon Shaoxing wine0.25 salt1 pinch white pepper3 tablespoons scallion-infused waterScallion-infused water1 stalk green onion (finely sliced)1 thin slice of ginger9 tablespoons water1 pinch saltSpicy sauce4 dried red chilies (stems and seeds removed)2 teaspoons Sichuan peppercorns60 ml vegetable oil15 ml sesame oil3 tablespoons black rice vinegar30 ml light soy sauce1 tablespoon sugar3 cloves minced garlic1 tablespoon sesame seedsGarnishsesame seedsgreen onions\t\n\t\n\t\tScallion-infused waterLet the green onion, ginger and salt steep in the water for at least 15 minutes.Strain, then refrigerate.Wonton fillingCombine 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 wontonsWith 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 wontonsBring a large pot or wok of water to a rolling boil. Gently drop in the wontons, stirring so they don\u2019t stick. Cook in batches if needed.When the wontons float (about 6\u20137 minutes), boil for 1\u00bd minutes more.Spicy saucePlace 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\u2014it 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).ServingArrange the wontons in a shallow bowl and spoon the spicy sauce over the top.\t\n\t\n\t\tFor the juiciest filling, use pork that\u2019s roughly 30 % fat. If possible, ask your butcher to grind fresh pork belly.\n\t\n\t\n\t\tEntr\u00e9e, Plat principalChinoiseHuile de s\u00e9same, Porc, Sauce soja light, Vin shaoxing","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=42528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/42528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/marcwiner.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=42528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}