Wontons with Spicy Peanut Sauce (VIDEO)

Ingredient Tips

Refer to the recipe card for the full list of ingredients and measurements!

• ground pork – I like 80% lean ground pork. The 20% of fat will help with the flavor and juiciness of the wontons! Use what you prefer.
• shrimp – use any size raw shrimp; it doesn’t matter the size because you’ll be roughly chopping the shrimp into a paste that will go inside the dumpling filling.
• Shaoxing wine – If you cannot or do not want to use wine, you can sub with sherry, mirin, or chicken stock!
• wonton wrappers – I like to use store bought wrappers because they’re so consistent in shape and texture. My go-to brand is ‘Dynasty’ – I find these in the refrigerated section of my local Chinese grocery (99 Ranch).
• creamy peanut butter – I prefer a creamy peanut butter (for the smoother texture) that is no sugar added (so I can adjust the sweetness of the sauce to my own preference).
• chili oil – you can use store bought or make my homemade chili oil!
• rice vinegar – if you don’t have rice vinegar, you can also use apple cider vinegar instead.

How to Make Wontons with Spicy Peanut Sauce

Make Wonton Filling – Mince the shrimp into small pieces, about the size of coffee beans, and add them to a large mixing bowl with the ground pork. To the bowl add garlic, ginger, scallions, white pepper, kosher salt, sugar, sesame oil, shaoxing wine, and light soy sauce. Mix the filling in one direction until the filling is combined and you can see streaks of proteins along the edge of your bowl. Pick up the filling and throw it down a couple times (Da Xian) to create additional springiness and texture in the filling.

Fold Wontons – To fold the wontons, place a 1/2 tbsp of filling in the center of your wrapper. Wet two adjacent sides of your wrapper with water, then fold the dumpling wrapper over into a triangle and seal the wrapper, making sure all air escapes from the inside of the wrapper. Then wet the two long corners of your wonton and connect them together to form a tortellini-esque shape.

Cook Wontons – Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add the desired amount of wontons to the water and cook for 3-4 minutes on a high simmer (medium high) until the dumplings float. If cooking from frozen, add 2-3 minutes of cooking time. You do not want a rapid boil, otherwise the dumplings wrappers may break.

Make Sauce and Serve with Wontons – To make the sauce, combine creamy peanut butter, chili oil, soy sauce, rice vinegar, sugar, grated garlic, and hot water in a bowl and mix until smooth. Add more hot water as necessary to create a smooth consistency. Serve with your freshly boiled wontons and enjoy!