Cheng Du Wontons (healthy recipes)

My very first Chinese meal after I moved to Minnesota 6.5 years ago was at this Szechuan restaurant. I literally fell in love with Szechuan cuisine since then. We go there so often that the waiter and waitresses know us. We’ve even claimed a spot at that place ha! We always sit at the same table, our favorite table near the window that my husband said it’s brighter and not too dimmed. Now two kids later, they even know our kids 🙂 and we always order the Crispy Skin Duck because the kids are obsessed with that dish.

I learned of Cheng du Wontons from this restaurant. They are named as Cheng du wontons mainly because of where these wontons originated from, Cheng du, the capital of Szechuan province in China. We had never ordered it before and we went there pretty often and decided to try something different.


The wontons are sitting on top of the sauce which consists of chili oil, sesame oil, garlic, black vinegar, soy sauce and sugar. It tastes rather spicy (if you put lots of chili oil), a little tangy from the black vinegar and sweet at the same time. I really like them. I think I like this version even better than the one at the restaurant. Theirs are good too, but the fillings only uses pork and the sauce are mainly chili oil. The filling in this recipe uses shrimps, which imho just makes the wontons taste so much better. The sauce in this recipe has more flavor: spicy, sweet and sour at the same time.

CHENGDU WONTONS (about 30 pieces)

What you will need:

• About 30-35 pieces of store-bought wonton wrappers

Filling:

• 6 oz ground pork
• 6 oz of shrimps (shelled, deveined, and finely chopped)
• 1 Tbsp of corn starch
• 1 egg (beaten)
• 1 Tbsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp salt
• ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Chili sauce:

• 1 Tbsp finely chopped garlic
• 4 Tbsp finely chopped spring onion
• 3 Tbsp soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp sugar
• 1 Tbsp chili oil
• 2 tsp Chinese black vinegar
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:

1. Combine the pork, shrimps, corn starch, egg, sesame oil, salt, and pepper in a large bowl and mix well
2. Then, using a teaspoon, put a small amount of the filling in the center of each wonton skin. Bring up the opposite two sides, dampen the edges with a little water, and pinch them together to seal and you get a triangle shape. Bring the two corners together to form a "tear-drop" shape and use a little water to pinch and seal. Continue until you have used up all the filling or wonton wrappers
3. In a large serving platter, combine the garlic, green onion, soy sauce, sugar, chili oil, vinegar, and pepper. Stir to mix well
4. Prepare a large pot of cold water (this is to "freshen" your wontons after they are cooked) Bring another large pot of water to a boil. Put in the wontons and bring to a rolling boil. When it seems like it's about to boil over, pour about 1 cup of cold water into the pot. Bring it back to a rolling boil and the wontons should be done at this point. Remove them with a slotted spoon and gently dip them into a cold pot of water you prepared earlier to stop the cooking process and then remove with slotted spoon. Transfer to a serving platter. Mix gently with the sauce and serve at once