Hong You Chao Shou — Ground Pork Wontons in Chili Oil

Ingredients

• 10 oz Ground Pork
• 30 square wonton wrappers
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 3 tbsp cold water
• 3 tbsp Sichuan chili oil with plenty of sediment
• 2 tbsp soy sauce, for the sauce
• 1 tbsp Chinkiang black vinegar
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, grated
• 2 scallions, sliced
• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Method

1. Beat the Ground Pork with Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, ginger, and a pinch of salt, then add the cold water a spoonful at a time, stirring in one direction until the filling turns tacky and springy. That water is what makes the filling juicy instead of dense.
2. Put a scant teaspoon of filling in a wrapper, wet two edges, fold into a triangle, then bring the two long corners together and pinch. Keep them under a damp towel as you work.
3. Whisk the chili oil, soy sauce, black vinegar, sugar, and garlic in the bottom of a wide serving bowl. Taste — it should read spicy, sour, and faintly sweet in that order.
4. Boil the wontons in a big pot of gently bubbling water until they float and the wrappers turn translucent, 3–4 minutes; cut one open to confirm the filling is opaque throughout.
5. Lift them out with a spider, letting a little cooking water ride along, and tumble them through the sauce. Finish with scallions and sesame seeds.