Shanghai Style Wontons 上海菜肉雲吞

Step 1

In a mixing bowl, add 600 g ground pork, 1 ½ tsp salt, 1 ½ tsp sugar, 2 tsp cornstarch, ½ tsp white pepper powder, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp oyster sauce and 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine. Mix well and set aside

Step 2

Wash bok choy, blanche in boiling water for 1 minute and strain

Step 3

Once the bok choy has cooled, wring out some of the water and chop into small pieces

Step 4

Take a handful of the chopped bok choy and squeeze out excess water. Put into the mixing bowl

Step 5

Chop up green onions and add to the mixing bowl

Step 6

Mix the filling together. Using your hands to mix will increase adhesion of the filling.

Step 7

Add 2 tsp of sesame oil and mix well again

Step 8

Prepare a small bowl of water for sealing the wonton wrappers and take your filling out of the fridge

Step 9

Prepare a large plate with 1 tsp cornstarch rubbed on it so that the wontons will not stick to the plate If you’re freezing the wontons, use a plastic container that can go into the freezer. Just be sure that the wontons don’t touch each other when freezing. After they are frozen solid, you can store them in a freezer bag. They should be good for a couple of months

Step 10

Lay one piece of the wonton wrapper on a flat surface

Step 11

Use your finger to wet 3 edges of the wrapper, avoiding the edge furthest away from you

Step 12

Put some filling at around the off-centre position, leaving approx. 1 cm space between the edge closest to you

Step 13

Bring the edge closest to you over the filling and paste it to the space just past the filling leaving a gap on the opposite edge

Step 14

Fold the opposite edge towards you. It will rest loosely on top of the wonton

Step 15

Flip the wonton over so that the loose edge is now on the bottom

Step 16

Wet corners “A” and “B”

Step 17

Now wet the 2 folded corners “A” and “B”, bring them together and stick them to one another

Step 18

Now you should have a gold bullion looking wonton (yuan bao)

Step 19

Repeat until you finish using all the filling or the wrappers Unused filling tastes great in a fried rice!

Step 20

Bring water to a boil in a pot. For reference, use 4 litres of water to cook 30 wontons that are at room temperature. If you’re cooking frozen wontons, 4 litres of water for 20 wontons. If there is not enough water, the temperature of the water will get too low, resulting in longer boiling time, resulting in a soft or mushy wrapper and over-cooked filling.

Step 21

Add wontons to the pot, stir for 1 minute and cover with a lid Stirring it for the first minute will prevent the wontons from sticking to the bottom of the pot

Step 22

When the water starts to boil, add 1/8th more water(room temperature) to the pot. So, if you used 4 litres of water, then add 2 cups more water. Cover with lid

Step 23

If your wontons were frozen, repeat step 3 one more time. Otherwise, you’re wontons should be floating and should be done. However, check for doneness before consuming

Step 24

Serve with any of your favorite sauces or in a broth