What it is
Wontons in chilli oil (紅油抄手, hong you chao shou) are boiled pork wontons dressed with chilli oil rather than served in broth. The dish comes from Sichuan, where wontons are called 抄手, literally "crossed hands". In Taiwan, wonton shops such as Hei Chien (黑乾) in Kaohsiung sell it alongside plain wonton soup.
Where it came from
The dish began as a Sichuan snack. It grew out of the ordinary wonton and is now treated as a food in its own right. The Sichuan name comes from the fold. The wrapper is folded into a triangle, then each end of the long side is pressed towards the middle of the opposite side, which looks like a pair of crossed arms. Sichuan wrappers are thinner and smoother than usual, and the wontons a little smaller. Chengdu's Long Chao Shou (龍抄手) is the best-known name for the dish.
Wontons go by many names. Cantonese speakers write 雲吞, and in Taiwan and Fujian they are 扁食, pián-si̍t in Hokkien, meaning "flat food".
How it is made
The wontons are filled with fresh pork, boiled, drained and dressed in the bowl. Chilli oil is the base, and spring onion, egg strips, seaweed or sesame paste may join it. Taiwanese shops add their own touches. At Hei Chien the bowl gets house chilli, vinegar, pickled mustard tuber (榨菜), shredded ginger, spring onion, sesame oil, lard and a little broth.
How to eat it
It works as a snack or a light meal. Hei Chien will leave out the chilli on request, and a little black vinegar cuts the richness.
Around Taiwan
- Kaohsiung
- Yancheng has three long-running wonton shops: Hei Chien (黑乾), Zhiweicun (知味村) and Jin Wenzhou (金溫州). All three are said to come from the same master, so their wontons taste much alike.
