Lucky Peach’s Shrimp and Chive Wontons

Adapted from Lucky Peach 101 Easy Asian Recipes by Peter Meehan and the editors of Lucky Peach. We reviewed the book in 2016.

There’s something incredibly satisfying about assembling wontons, and the payoff is great. Meehan's instructions say that if you find garlic chives to use in place of the regular chives, "so much the better." I tested the recipe using regular chives. Be sure to use just a single wonton wrapper for each dumpling. The thin skins can stick together, and two or more wrappers can look like one. If you want to make them in advance and use them later, once you have them all on the baking sheet (sprinkled with corn starch to prevent them from sticking), wrap the baking sheet in plastic film and store in the fridge for a day or two. If you want to keep them longer than that, put it in the freezer, and once the wontons are frozen, transfer them to a zip-top bag and keep them frozen that way.

Makes about 48 wontons, 8 servings.

Ingredients

1 pound shelled shrimp, minced

1 cup finely chopped chives 

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

1 egg, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine

1/2 teaspoon sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon white pepper

1/2 teaspoon salt

cornstarch for sprinkling on a sheet pan

48 square wonton skins

1 recipe dumpling dipping sauce, for serving

Instructions

1. In a large bowl, stir together the shrimp, chives, ginger, egg, soy sauce, wine, sesame oil, white pepper and salt. Sprinkle cornstarch lightly over a large baking sheet. 

2. Working with a small bowl of water next to you, use your fingertip to moisten the edges of a wonton wrapper.  With its moist edges facing up, place a scant tablespoon of filling in its center, and fold the wrapper into triangle, enclosing the filling, as shown (bring the opposite points together). Press the edges together to seal it completely. Now bring the two bottom points (along the fold) together, pressing so they stick together. That's it -- you've made a wonton! Place it on the baking sheet, and fill the rest in the same manner.

3. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Boil the dumplings for about 4 minutes each in batches that don't crowd the pot too much; if you use a very large pot, you can probably cook them in two or three batches. As they're done, use a slotted spoon or spider to transfer them to a serving platter. 

4. Serve them with Lucky Peach's dumpling dipping sauce on the side, or spoon the sauce onto the dumplings and serve.