Chicken wontons spiced with a Hong Kong style XO sauce made with scallop, fish, garlic and chilli, served chilled.

Ingredients

Wonton filling

• 1 kg of minced chicken (or minced pork with some fat)
• 1/2 cup of garlic chive, finely diced
• 1 tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 tsp chicken bouillon powder
• a few slices of ginger, minced
• salt and white pepper,  to taste
• 6 small Chinese mushrooms, soaked in hot water for 30 minutes and finely diced
• 6 water chestnut (from tin), finely diced
• 2 tbsp. finely chopped coriander
• 2 tbsp. finely chopped green shallot (scallion)
• about 100-120 wonton wrappers
• cooking oil for cooking the dumplings in water

For the salad

• 2 tbsp. XO sauce
• 1 tbsp. dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp. sesame oil
• 1 cup of coriander, leafy part only, washed, roughly chopped

Method:

Filling

Add all ingredients to a mixer, process them for about 10 minutes to form a smooth paste;  place the mixture in the fridge for at least 1 hour or overnight as the flavour will develop.

If you don’t have a mixer, stir the mixture with a pair of chopsticks, one direction only, until the meat forms a smooth paste, approximately 10 minutes.

Wonton dumplings

• Put some filling in the center of a wonton wrapper; fold the wrapper diagonally, at the same time squeeze the wrapper inward loosely to form a dumpling shape; squeeze the edge firmly to lock in its shape
• The wontons can be frozen until ready to use. To freeze, place wontons on a tray as a single layer. Once frozen, transfer the dumplings to a snap bag
• If some of the wontons are stuck together after frozen, lightly tap them on a hard surface to separate

Cooking the wonton dumplings

• Bring a large pot of water to boil, add plenty of (2-3 tbsp.) of cooking oil. Once the water is boiling, add a batch of wontons to the pot (do not overcrowd). Once the wontons float to the top of the water, allow them to cook for further 2-3 minutes (may be longer for larger wontons) before scooping the wontons out with a sieve or strainer; drain off all the liquid and place the wontons on a smooth flat surface (for example, a granite benchtop lined with baking paper) to cool in a single layer, not touching each other. Repeat the process with the rest of the wontons

For the salad

• Once the wontons are cool, transfer them to a large mixing bowl, add XO sauce, dark soy sauce, sesame oil and coriander, mix well (use your hand, wear gloves, you may need to give the XO sauce a bit of a squeeze as it is a thick sauce)
• Served slightly chilled or at  room temperature.