Vegetable and Pork Wontons in Spicy Oil

Name: Vegetable and Pork Wontons in Spicy Oil
Yield: serves 4 as a snack, 6 to 8 as a starter
Ingredients: 1/4 pound tender leafy greens, such as mustard greens, baby bok choy, or spinach; 2 ounces ground pork, fattier kind preferred, coarsely chopped to loosen; 3/4 teaspoon minced fresh ginger; 1 small scallion (white and green parts), finely chopped; Generous 1/8 teaspoon salt; 1 pinch of white pepper; Scant 1/4 teaspoon sugar; 1 tablespoon plus 1 1/4 teaspoons light (regular) soy sauce; Scant 1 teaspoon Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry; Scant 1 teaspoon sesame oil, plus more for sauce; 24 small square wonton skins (page 64); 1 to 2 tablespoons chile oil (page 216); 2 tablespoons canola oil; 1 small clove garlic, minced and crushed into a paste; 3 to 4 sprigs cilantro, coarsely chopped

December 9, 2011

Most people think of wontons as being fried and in soup broth, but they may also be served like Italian ravioli in a light coating of splendid sauce. Here, the sauce is nutty, spicy chile oil punctuated with fresh garlic and soy sauce. Feel free to dial the heat up or down by varying the amount of chile oil. The full amount is definitely not for the faint of heart. If you have semi refined, cold-pressed peanut oil on hand (the kind employed for making the chile oil on page 216), use it instead of the canola oil for an extra roasty dimension. These wontons make a terrific snack or an elegant, eye-opening starter. If you can, substitute the greens below with 1/4 cup thawed and well-squeezed shepherd’s purse, a mild vegetable that’s sold frozen at Chinese-American markets.

Recipe notes

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