Shanghai Style Wontons 上海菜肉雲吞 ( shàng hǎi cài ròu yún tūn) is one of the many styles of wontons eaten in China. Since the wonton dates back over 2,000 years, it’s certain to have many varieties in different regions of China. There are a few different stories to how the wonton emerged, but here’s the one I like:
The Wu Kingdom Emperor married the renowned ancient beauty, Xi Shi, back in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States Period. The Wu emperor disregarded his royal duties and spent most of his time drinking and womanizing. Xi Shi was loyal to the Yue Kingdom and eventually gained the Wu Emperor’s trust. She played a significant role in toppling the Wu Kingdom.
One day, the Wu emperor fell ill and lost his appetite. Xi Shi, in an attempt to gain his trust, goes to the kitchen and wraps some meat in some flour wrappers and boils them in broth. She presents this to the emperor and he loved it and regained his appetite. He asked her “what’s the name of this dish?”. She quickly made up the name, 渾沌 “hui dun”, which means “chaos”. People believe that she made up this word to mock the emperor, but at the time, she explained that her dumplings were wrinkly and looked chaotic, hence the name, "hui dun". (To hear more about Xi Shi and the chaotic emperor of Wu, check out my Easy Chinese New Year Rice Cake 年糕 post)
This name eventually evolved to 餛吞 (hún tún). In Cantonese, it is 雲吞 (wun ton), which means “swallowing a cloud”. In Sichuan, they call it 抄手 (chāo shǒu) and in Fujian, they call it 扁食 (biàn shí). The most popular would be the Cantonese wonton, which are smaller in size and usually contains shrimp, pork and fish powder. They serve it with wonton noodles and wrap it in a very thin lye water wrapper. The Fujian wontons are small and also use a very thin wrapper but the filling is a pork paste. Lastly, the Sichuan wonton has a hot and sour sauce with a pork filling inside.
My favourite are the Shanghai Style Wontons 上海菜肉雲吞 because they are big with just pork and vegetables. I’m not a big fan of shrimp in dumplings. Most wontons, with the exception of the Sichuan wonton, are usually served in a broth. And for some people, the broth is the most important part of a bowl of wonton soup. Many people in Northern China eat a bowl of wonton soup for breakfast because it’s hearty, nutritious and warming. For people who need some extra calories, add some glutinous rice balls or noodles, which is common in Northern China. Half the time, I don’t put my wontons in soup, I just add some sesame oil and soy sauce to it and eat it like a dumpling.
Don't forget to eat your wontons on the second day of Chinese New Year. It's the day to worship the God of Fortune. So we eat wontons in the shape of a gold bullion. To learn more, check out my Chinese New Year 101 page.
If you enjoy Shanghai cuisine, you can try my Pan-fried Pork Buns 生煎包 or Steamed Soup Dumplings 小籠包.
Shanghai Style Wontons 上海菜肉雲吞
Ingredients
- 600 g Ground pork
My pork to vegetable ratio is approx. 1:2 - 1200 g Bok choy
- 3 stalks Green onions
- 1 tbsp Light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Oyster sauce
- 1 ½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp White pepper powder
- 1½ tsp Sugar
- 2 tsp Cornstarch
- 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 2 tsp Sesame oil
- 2 packages Shanghai wonton wrappers
there were 30-32 wrappers in my package
Instructions
Instructions for filling:
- 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
- Wash bok choy, blanche in boiling water for 1 minute and strain
- Once the bok choy has cooled, wring out some of the water and chop into small pieces
- Take a handful of the chopped bok choy and squeeze out excess water. Put into the mixing bowl
- Chop up green onions and add to the mixing bowl
- Mix the filling together. Using your hands to mix will increase adhesion of the filling.
- Add 2 tsp of sesame oil and mix well again
Instructions for wrapping:
- Prepare a small bowl of water for sealing the wonton wrappers and take your filling out of the fridge
- 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 - Lay one piece of the wonton wrapper on a flat surface
- Use your finger to wet 3 edges of the wrapper, avoiding the edge furthest away from you
- Put some filling at around the off-centre position, leaving approx. 1 cm space between the edge closest to you
- 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
- Fold the opposite edge towards you. It will rest loosely on top of the wonton
- Flip the wonton over so that the loose edge is now on the bottom
- Wet corners “A” and “B”
- Now wet the 2 folded corners “A” and “B”, bring them together and stick them to one another
- Now you should have a gold bullion looking wonton (yuan bao)
- Repeat until you finish using all the filling or the wrappers
Unused filling tastes great in a fried rice!
Instructions for cooking:
- 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. - 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 - 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
- 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
- Serve with any of your favorite sauces or in a broth
Frank
Shanghai style wontons taste just like the ones made at home by our mamas (mothers). the authentic Hong Kong/Guangzhou style is hard to make perfect in taste as you will need some good flounder fish bone and powder for the soup and pork/shrimp filling
the Shanghai wonton made of watercress or wild vegetable with pork filling is very great tasting
i prefer the Cantonese shiu jiao (boioee dumpling) more than the wonton. it is similar to the wonton but often don't require shrimp and use wood ear fungus instead
Auntie Emily
Hi Frank, thanks for trying out my recipe! Telling me that it tastes like your mom's is the best compliment! I also have a Cantonese wonton recipe that you might want to try out. I don't know where you're located, but I was able to find dried flounder at my local Chinese herbal store. Happy cooking!
Zan
Please tell me? What is the best 'style' of wonton wrapper to buy for frying? I want to make Crab Rangoon. Thanks. Also, to make ahead, is it better to fry ahead and reheat, or make and raw, and just freeze 'raw' and fry later?
Auntie Emily
Hi Zan, I have never made crab rangoon so I can't say for sure. But from the pictures I've seen, I believe they use egg wonton wrappers which are the thin yellow ones. All wrappers that I know of can be fried. Frying ahead and reheating is done with a lot of frozen foods from supermarkets, but there are extra steps done at factories to prevent excessive ice from forming. I think your best bet is to freeze them in raw state and then frying later. Having said that, I'm basing my recommendation on regular wontons and not crab rangoon. Sorry, I couldn't be of more help!