Shrimp Wonton Recipe in a Spicy Sichuan Sauce • Steamy Kitchen Recipes Giveaways (2024)

This Shrimp Wonton Recipe in Spicy Sichuan Sauce is from My Asian Kitchen Cookbook by food writer, stylist and cooking teacher, Jennifer Joyce. This is her 11th cookbook! The photo and recipe are reprinted with permission from Murdoch Books.

Making wonton from scratch may seem like a daunting project, but really only takes 30 minutes and 2 special ingredients. If you can find wonton or potsticker (gyoza) wrappers and Chinese hot chili sauce, you’re golden!

Wonton Wrappers

You can use with wonton or potsticker dumpling wrappers. What’s the difference?

Wonton wrappers are square and a little thinner than potsticker wrappers. These wrappers are can be found in refrigerated or frozen.

Potsticker (or gyoza in Japanese) wrappers are round. They are used to make recipes like these:

Chinese Potstickers (my Mom’s recipe)

Mushroom Tofu Potstickers

Pan Fried Pork and Shrimp Potstickers Recipe

Japanese Gyoza Recipe

Dumpling Wrapper Tips

• If you are buying frozen wrappers – do not open the package until you are ready to wrap. Defrost the package of wrappers in the refrigerator overnight, or leave them on the counter for an hour or so.
• Do not defrost in water. The water will ruin the wrappers and you’ll end up with a goopy mess.
• Once you open the package, the wrappers will dry out very quickly. When this happens, the edges crack and it will be very difficult to use. If you have cracked edges, use a paring knife and cut off the dry edges. To keep the wrappers moist and pliable, cover all the wrappers with a barely damp kitchen towel at all times.

What do I do with extra wonton wrappers?

Each package of wrappers usually includes 50 or so wrappers. This recipe calls for 30-35 wrappers….and while I’ve re-printed the recipe as is from the book, I would suggest increasing the recipe 1.5x so that you can use the entire package of wrappers.

You can re-freeze any leftover wrappers. Or, with a bar of chocolate, makeChocolate Wontons for dessert (yum!).

Chinese Chili Flakes in Oil

You can find this at most Asian supermarkets, Amazon. It’s basically crushed Asian chili flakes and oil. I once made this sauce from scratch and my house smelled like chilies for days. The chili oil is combined with sugar and vinegar to create the most addicting dipping sauce ever.

It covers the “Five S’s” of flavor:

• salty
• sweet
• sour
• spicy
• savory

The balance of all these components (Five S’s) is what makes your tastebuds sing.

How to Fold Shrimp Wonton

There are so many ways to fold wonton – the key is to squeeze out all the air (air pockets make the dumplings float and burst during cooking) and sealing tightly with water (the wontons fall apart if they aren’t sealed properly).

The best way is to show you! In my recipe for Pork and Shrimp Wonton – I’ll show you how to fold in a quick video.

My Asian Kitchen Cookbook

My Asian Kitchen Cookbookby Jennifer Joyce is such a fun book to explore. Through her travels in Asia, Jennifer has collected her favorite recipes to help you master simple dishes with authentic flavor.

Because Jennifer is a cooking instructor and professional recipe developer for outlets such as BBC Good Food, Jamie Oliver’s magazine, and The Guardian, she understands that recipes not only have to taste delicious, but they also must be easy to create for the home cook.

Here are some of the recipes that I’ve tried and loved from the book:

Grilled Honey Soy Salmon with Citrus Soba Noodles: I didn’t have soba noodles on hand, so I used regular ‘ol thin spaghetti noodles. In place of yuzu juice (hard to find), I used lemon juice.

The book features traditional classics like shrimp wonton…and also modern takes on Asian food: Korean Grilled Steak Tacos with Kimchee Slaw: I used flank steak (just remember to thinly slice the steak AGAINST the grain). I’ll use the kimchi slaw recipe again and again….love.

Prawn Cakes with Peanut Chili Sauce: This Vietnamese dish is a great party finger food. Wrap the shrimp cakes in crisp lettuce cups. I’m making this for again for a party I’m hosting this week. Super easy to make.

Thai Chicken Stir Fry with Cashews and Chili Jam Sauce: I made this non-spicy by leaving out the chili peppers and substituting the nam prik sauce for a sweet, store-bought Thai Sweet Chili Sauce (not spicy at all). I also added canned straw mushrooms.

Did you try this recipe? Please leave a star rating in the recipe card below and leave a review in the comment section! I always appreciate your feedback and I know other readers do, too!

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