Sichuan Spicy Wonton In Chili Oil

Spicy wonton in chili oil, also known as Hong You Chao Shou (红油抄手) in Chinese, is a traditional dim sum from Sichuan. It features small wontons with a simple pork filling, served with a rich and thick sauce that uses chili oil as the main ingredient. If you’re looking for red oil wontons like you’d eat in a small hole-in-the-wall diner in Sichuan, you’ve come to the right place. After my gourmet trip to Chengdu, Sichuan, I was hooked on this dish and determined to recreate it at home. This recipe is different from many spicy wonton recipes out there. There are no shortcuts used. And it guarantees maximum satisfaction with that real-deal Sichuan flavor.

Ingredients for wonton in chili oil

A good chili oil

It is the number one ingredient in Sichuan cooking and probably the most commonly used homemade ingredient. I always recommend the homemade one because it’s the most fresh, and you can find my recipe here. It requires a mere 10 minutes to make and will last practically forever in your fridge. Once you make this ingredient, you can start to cook Dan Dan Noodles and Bang Bang Chicken like a pro. If you prefer to purchase your chili oil rather than make it, I highly recommend the Chili Crisp Oil from The Mala Market. It tastes fresh, contains no additives or preservatives, has a good ratio of oil and chili crisp, and a balanced flavor without being too spicy.

Seasoned sweet soy sauce

Seasoned sweet soy sauce is another ingredient that makes the wonton in chili oil taste authentic. In this recipe, I use my homemade soy sauce. It is a thick, rich sauce reduced from soy sauce, sugar, aromatics, and tons of spices. It is much more fragrant than the type you purchase from a store. If you prefer to use a bottled sauce, Lee Kum Kee Sweet Soy Sauce is a good choice. It is not as aromatic as the homemade version but it’s a good replacement. Another option is to use regular soy sauce plus sugar. But note, in this case, the sauce will come out thinner and have a slightly different flavor. NOTE: the Chinese style sweet soy sauce is different from Kecap Manis (the type of sweet soy sauce usually used in Southeast Asian cooking), which is much sweeter. If you use Kecap Manis for this recipe, reduce the amount by half.

The type of wonton wrapper to use

I used Shanghai Wonton Skin wrappers in my recipe, but you can use any wonton wrappers that use wheat flour and water as the main ingredients.

How to make spicy wonton in chili oil

Make the wonton filling

NOTE: Instead of chopping aromatics to be included in the filling, using aromatics-infused water will create a silky texture with no risk of accidentally biting into a piece of ginger or garlic. It is simple to make and makes your wontons taste much better.

Fold the wontons

If you’re not familiar with making wontons, make sure to check out my video below the recipe to see the folding in action!

Cook and assemble

Once you finish wrapping the wontons, all you need to do is to boil them. Then add the wonton sauce to the wontons and mix them together.

How to store and reheat

Uncooked wontons freeze well and you don’t need to thaw them before boiling. This recipe makes quite a few servings. So I highly recommend freezing the portions that you won’t consume immediately, so you can enjoy them later. To cook frozen wontons, simply follow the same steps. The frozen wontons require a bit longer to cook through, but not by too much.