Beef wonton recipe

A recipe image shows ground beef wontons served with wonton sauce in a big round plate.

5 from 2 votes

This beef wonton recipe is made with tender beef and pan fried to crisp at the bottom and tender juicy after steaming. Serve with wonton sauce.

Prep Time1

Total Time1 6

Course: Appetizer

Cuisine: Chinese

Keyword: Beef wonton, Ground beef wontons

Servings: small wontons

Author: ChihYu Smith

Ingredients

For beef wontons:

12 tbsp warm water
2 whole spring onions divided (Half of one whole white scallion part, lightly pounded and roughly chopped to add to the water; the remaining ones finely chopped to add to the meat)
2 whole star anise
1 tsp Whole Sichuan peppercorns
0.25 oz ginger julienned
1 lb ground beef 80% lean; 20 % fat
1 whole egg white
1 tbsp oyster sauce or coconut aminos
1 tbsp light soy sauce or coconut aminos
½ tbsp dark soy sauce or coconut aminos
½ tsp coarse sea salt
⅛ tsp White pepper
1/2 tsp Takii Shiitake mushroom seasoning or chicken bouillon, optional
2 tsp toasted sesame oil
1 tbsp olive oil
45 pieces wonton wrappers square shape, either yellow or white colored

To cook and garnish the wontons:

1 tbsp avocado oil
Garnish Chive chopped, garnish
Garnish Cilantro chopped, garnish
Wonton sauce

US - Metric

Instructions

To season the ground beef:

Heat up the water in a kettle to warm temperature. In the meantime, take one spring onion and separate the white and green parts. Roughly chop the white part and transfer into a small bowl. For the remainder of the spring onions, finely chop them. Set aside to use later.
Add the star anise, sichuan peppercorns, and ginger to the small bowl with the roughly chopped white scallion part. Add the warm water to the bowl and use your hands to gently squeeze and massage the aromatics for 1 minute so the flavor can soak into the water. Set it aside to cool to room temperature. We are going to discard the aromatics and save the flavored water only. Strain the water through a sieve and discard the aromatics.
In a large mixing bowl, add the ground beef and egg white. Gradually add-in the flavored water, divided to 4 times, while stirring the beef in one single direction. Each time as you pour in a small amount smooth, the ground beef will absorb the liquid. Continue to stir in one single direction until all the water is poured in and absorbed.
Then, add the seasonings - dark and light soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt, pepper, mushroom seasoning, and sesame and olive oil. Keep stirring in the same direction until the mixture is well combined and feels a bit sticky with some elasticity, about 2-3 minutes. The oil will help seal in the moisture.
Finally, add the chopped scallions both green and white parts. Stir and mix again then cover the bowl and set it aside in the fridge. TIP: You can do this up to a day in advance or a few hours the same day.

To wrap the wontons (Pyramid fold):

Start with a square wonton wrapper and add 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of the ground beef filling into the center. Dap the wrapper with a small amount of water along the edge then take two opposite corners of the wrapper and lift them up to meet above the filling. Pinch just the tips of these corners together, leaving the rest unsealed for now.
Next, grab the remaining two corners, lifting them towards the pinched point. Gently seal these corners with the already pinched tips, forming a gathered top. This creates a unique, four-pointed star shape.
Set them aside in a large lined baking sheet pan.

To cook the wontons (Pan sear and steam from fresh):

In a large, ideally 12-inch wide, nonstick pan, preheat over medium-low heat until it feels warm.
Add 1 tbsp oil, carefully add the wontons with flat side down and leave some space between them. Pan fry over medium heat until the bottom turn crisp brown, about 2- 3 minutes then, add ¼ cup room temperature water and immediately cover the pan and lower heat to medium-low.
Steam the dumplings until the filling is cooked through at the center, about 3 minutes. You can also test the internal temperature with a meat thermometer. It should read at least 160F (70C) when inserted near the center where the filling is.
Uncover, and cook for 1 extra minute to evaporate the moisture in the pan.
Carefully transfer the wontons, using a spatula, to a large serving plate. Drizzle with wonton sauce and garnish with chive and cilantro, if using. Serve with extra sauce on the side.

Video

Notes

To make ahead: Prepare your wonton filling a day in advance. This will cut down your prep time. Just cover the container or bowl tightly with saran wrap and pop it in the fridge overnight.
Storing and Freezing uncooked wontons: Once wrapped, Spread them out on a large lined sheet pan, leaving some space between each one. Freeze them like this for 2 hours or until they're solid. After that, just transfer the frozen wontons to a freezer-friendly bag. You can cook them straight from frozen, no defrosting is needed!
Reheating Cooked Wontons: Place the wontons in a microwave-safe bowl, add half a tablespoon of water (this helps to steam them), and cover. Heat them on medium in the microwave for about 1 minute or until they're warm all the way through.
To cook the wontons from frozen: Pan sear over medium heat for 3 minutes, then add ¼ cup water. Steam for 5 minutes. Open the lid and pan sear them further until the moisture in the pan evaporates about 1 minute. You can also test the internal temperature with a meat thermometer. It should read at least 160F (70C) when inserted near the center.
To steam wontons without pan frying: Place the wontons in a large lined bamboo steamer and steam over medium-high heat for 10 minutes. The ground beef filling will be tender moist delicious.
To boil the wontons: you can also boil the wontons and serve with my wonton sauce and a touch of garlic chili sauce. I recommend wrapping the beef wontons in a different shape that’s more suitable for boiling. See my how to fold wontons for 6 different styles of folding.

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