This fried wonton recipe makes the most munchy, addictive snacks that are perfect for a party. They're also really easy to make, especially if you've got people to help you wrap them! Hey, how about wonton wrapping party? This recipe is a classic street food you can find at many outdoor markets in Thailand.
While you might think of fried wontons as something you get at a Chinese restaurant, they're actually quite popular in Thailand. The flavour of Thai wontons are slightly different from Chinese ones, and the dipping sauce that we use is also different - spicier, more sour, as one would expect!
Ingredients
Here are ingredients you'll need to make fried wontons:
- Garlic
- White peppercorns
- Cilantro roots or cilantro stems
- Ground pork, preferably not lean
- Soy sauce
- Oyster sauce
- Cornstarch
- Sugar
- Green onion, finely chopped
- Toasted sesame oil, optional
- Wonton skins, store bought
- Sweet chili sauce for serving, store bought or homemade
- Sriracha for serving
How to Make Fried Wontons
Here's a brief overview of the steps for making fried wontons, but be sure to watch the full video tutorial to ensure success, and follow the detailed recipe card below when ready to cook!
- Pound the garlic, peppercorns and cilantro stems or roots into a paste.
- Combine the herb paste with the pork, soy sauce, oyster sauce, cornstarch, sugar, and sesame oil.
- Once mixed well, stir in the green onions.
- Wrap the wontons, following the steps shown in the video.
- Heat frying oil to 325 °F (160 °C) and deep fry the wontons for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.
- The wontons should be golden brown, keeping in mind they will darken every so slightly once they come out. The bubbling of the oil should start to subside, which tells you they're crispy. Fish them out using tongs or a spider strainer.
- Let the wontons cool slightly, and in the mean time mix up the Thai-style dipping sauce by stirring the sweet chili sauce and the sriracha together, or you can try another sweet and sour sauce, such as plum sauce.
- Enjoy warm or recently room temp.
Dipping Sauce for Fried Wontons
You can simply use Thai sweet chili dipping sauce to dip by itself, which you can make or buy, but I recommend stepping it up a notch by combining it with sriracha hot sauce. It'll be spicier, more tart, less sweet, and better at cutting the grease of these deep fried snacks.
You might already have both sauces in the fridge, which makes it easy, but if not, they're easy to buy or you can also make them using my recipes:
See Also: Thai Sweet Chili Dipping Sauce Recipe and Thai-Style Sriracha Recipe
Fried Wonton Wrapping Tips
- If you've seen the 5 Ways to Wrap Wontons Video, I do not recommend "The Ruffled Purse" for frying because that leaves the filling exposed to the oil, and if using "The Pyramid" do not make them fat and chubby like the one I showed in the video, keep the filling to 1 tsp!
- Do not overstuff (no more than 1 teaspoon of filling per piece) as the wrappers only take 30 seconds to 1 minute to fry, so there won’t be time to cook a big ball of filling.
- When you fold wontons, get out as much air as possible before sealing them otherwise you will get big bubbles when you fry them! (See video for an example)
Changing up the filling
There are many fried wonton recipes, but if you look them up in the context of Thai cuisine, they're most likely going to be pork.You can also do a combination of pork and shrimp, which is quite common in Thailand as well. If you want to use chicken instead, just make sure you use ground chicken with some fat mixed in so you get a moist filling (or grind your own using thigh meat). Beef and other red meat fillings are not usually done in Thailand, and if you want to make something similar to the original, don't go with beef as beef has a strong flavour. This is not to say that it won't be good, but it will be significantly different from the classic version.
Tips for making wontons in advance
Fried wontons are perfect party food, but nobody wants to be wrapping wontons day of the party! Well the good news is you can wrap them the day before, and even upto 2 days as long as your pork was fresh. Wrap them well in the fridge, and comes time to serve you simply need to fry them, which takes a mere minute!
Can you freeze wontons?
Yes, frozen wontons cook up perfectly. The only thing to keep in mind is when wonton wrappers are frozen, especially thin ones like the one I like to use, they become super brittle and the edges will break off very easily. So be careful how you store them in the freezer. Place them carefully in a container, maybe add some bunched up paper towel in it to provide some cushioning. And don't toss the box around once they're frozen!
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! If you don't want to fry them all, you can simply blanch the rest in boiling water for a couple of minutes and add them to a nice broth. I recommend checking out my wonton soup recipe also.
Yes, while I have not personally done it, there is no reason why these couldn't be air-fried. I recommend finding a good recipe for air-fryer wonton on the internet and follow their frying instructions. Keep in mind that air-fried things are never quite the same as oil-fried things.
All wontons are dumplings but not all dumplings are wontons! Basically, wontons are a type of dumplings that uses a very specific type of wrapper - the wonton wrapper, which is thinner than most other dumpling wrappers. The filling is not the defining feature as they can be very similar or even the same.
Crab rangoons are just a very specific type of fried wontons with a creamy filling involving crab meat and cream cheese, but in the US, it's people's first introduction to wonton wrappers, hence the confusion. Crab rangoon isn't a traditional Asian dish, however, but rather an Americanized version of traditional fried wontons.
The takeaway here is that once you learn how to make fried wontons, you can change the filling to anything you can dream of!
A fried wonton is made from a seasoned ground meat mixture wrapped in a wheat-based thin wrapper (a "wonton wrapper), and then deep fried.
Most commonly, wonton meat is made of ground pork. It's the "original" if you will, though a pork and shrimp mixture is also a classic. Nowadays you can make wonton out of any kind of finely chopped or minced meat or seafood. Chicken is a good substitute for ground pork, but be sure to use dark meat chicken because white meat tends to be too lean.
Aside from the meat and seasoning, wonton filling often includes starch to help bind the mixture and absorb liquid, and an egg can be added for a more tender texture.
Watch The Full Video Tutorial!
All my recipes come with step-by-step video tutorials with extra tips not mentioned in the blog post, so make sure you watch the video below to ensure success - and if you enjoy the show, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel. You can also watch this video on YouTube. Thank you!
Fried Wontons Recipe - เกี๊ยวทอด
Dipping Sauce
You can simply dip them in the Thai sweet chili sauce (store bought or use this recipe here), but for something a little tangier, spicier, and less sweet, try this combo!
Instructions
- Using a mortar and pestle, grind garlic, peppercorns and cilantro stems or roots into a fine paste.
- If your mortar is big enough to mix everything in, you can continue the recipe in the mortar, otherwise transfer the herb paste into a mixing bowl.
- Add the pork, soy sauce, oyster sauce, cornstarch, sugar, and sesame oil (if using) and mix thoroughly.
- Once mixed well, stir in the green onions.
- Wrap the wontons, following the video instructions above, or try other shapes as shown in my 5 Ways to Wrap Wontons video. I do not recommend "The Ruffled Purse" for frying because that leaves the filling exposed to the oil, and if using the "pyramid" do not make them fat and chubby like the one I showed in the video, keep the filling to 1 tsp! Wonton wrapping tips: Do not overstuff (no more than 1 teaspoon of filling per piece) as these only take 1 minute to fry, so there won’t be time to cook a big ball of filling. Make sure you get out as much air as possible before sealing the wontons otherwise you will get big bubbles when you fry them! (See video for an example)
- Heat about 1.5-2 inch of frying oil in a pot, heat the oil to 325 °F.
- While you wait for oil to heat, mix up the dipping sauce by stirring the two sauces together. Taste and adjust the flavour by adding more of either sauces—more sweet chili sauce for a sweeter sauce, and more sriracha for something spicier and tangier.
- Fry the wontons for about 30 seconds to 1 minute or until the wrappers are golden and the bubbling starts to subside (a sign that the wrappers are crispy.) Keep the heat low, if your oil temp is too high the wonton wrappers will burn before the filling cooks.
- Serve immediately. Enjoy!
Notes
- Different brands of sriracha vary in terms of spiciness and tanginess, so start with 2 tablespoon and go from there. If you find the dipping sauce too strong, you can also thin is out with a little water.
Keywords: wontons, appetizer, finger food, fried, party food, street food
