Dumplings in chili oil (紅油抄手)

(chili oil recipe + original recipe from Omnivore's Cookbook)

Sauce:

• 1/2 cup chili oil + 4 tsp flakes/sediment
• 3 tbsp soy sauce
• 0.5-1 tbsp sugar
• 1.5 tbsp Chinkiang vinegar
• 2 tsp garlic, grated/minced
• 1 green onion, chopped

Assembly:

1. Boil wontons and reserve hot water.
2. Put 7-8 dumplings in a bowl.
3. Pour 2 tbsp sauce, 2 tbsp hot water (from boiling wontons).

This is another late post. I actually made this dish several times (sometimes with premade dumplings, always with homemade chili oil) over 2020, but it wasn't until the end of the year that I actually took the time to follow this particular wonton recipe + take some proper photos. Verdict: I think it's OK to go with premade wontons/dumplings haha, but the chili oil is absolutely worth it to make at home!

I might've first heard about 紅油抄手 from my friend Li. Li and I were both in CCF committee during our last year of university, and our whole group spent a lot of time during 4A and 4B terms cooking and eating dinner together before committee meetings. During those dinners, Li would teach us a ton of things about pure/applied math and physics (lol that was his major), ridiculous puns and jokes (often combining math and Chinese), and stories about Kunming (his hometown) and how the food there was extremely good. I remember some of his favourite dishes that he introduced to us were 紅燒牛肉麵 (red-braised beef noodle soup) and this dish, 紅油抄手 (I remember it was two dishes that had the word "紅"/"red" in it haha). I don't think I got around to eating very good beef noodle soup until later that summer 2013 and this dish until like 2015, but when I did, oh man was Li right—both dishes were indeed extremely delicious!

Lastly, how to fold wontons:

1. Place wonton wrapper as a diamond in your left palm.
2. Place a small amount of filling in the middle, then dab water across the top 2 edges of the diamond. Take the bottom corner of the diamond and fold up (into half) to seal.
3. Dab water on the left and right arms of the now-triangle, and bring them both downwards, one on top of the other, and pinch to hold in place.
4. Done! :)