Ingredients

Method

• 1 kg prawns
• 500 g fresh lotus roots
• 100 g chopped spring onion
• 25 g chopped ginger
• A pinch white pepper
• ¼ cup light soy sauce
• ¼ cup shaoxing wine
• 2 T sesame oil
• 35 wonton wrappers
• oil for frying
• chilli oil, for serving

Method

Ingredients

1. Peel the prawns and cut them into small pieces. Peel the lotus roots and use a food processor to crush them into tiny pieces. Mix the prawns and lotus root with the remaining ingredients (excluding wonton wrappers, oil and chilli oil).

2. Fill and fold the wontons according to the folding instructions below. Wontons can be stored in the refrigerator for a maximum of 2 hours before cooking (to avoid the wonton wrappers becoming moist from the filling, which will cause them to stick together).

3. Fry the wontons in oil at 160°C until they are nicely golden. Serve with chilli oil.

Wonton folding: 

1. Make the filling

2. Place a wonton wrapper in your hand with one corner facing up.

3. Put 25 g filling in the centre of the dough, forming a rectangle spread out more along the length than the height.

4. Using the tip of your finger, draw a line of water along the wonton wrapper, just above the filling.

5. Take the bottom of the wrapper and place it up to the water mark, then roll the filling upwards so that the filling is almost aligned with the top of the wrapper.

6. Lightly wet one end of the wonton, then bring the other end back over by wrapping it around your fingers. Place the wet end on the other dry end and pinch until both are sealed together.

Extract reproduced with permission from Bao Family by Céline Chung. Published by Murdoch Books. Photography by Grégoire Kalt.

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