Wontons in Chili Oil

Honestly, I'm still sore from last week's snowstorm. Not only was there a lot of snow, because the first few hours of the snowfall were a bit warmer, it was that dense, kind of melty snow on the bottom which meant shoveling was an extra intense workout. I also got a physical last week and the doctor told me that I seem pretty fit, which was a great compliment since I only started my gym membership in January. It's great motivation to keep it up.

Like I shared last week, I went wonton crazy a few weeks ago. I used the leftover wontons from my spicy chicken wonton soup-making adventure and decided to prepare them Szechuan style with lots of spicy chili oil, black vinegar, and garlic.

Ingredients [serves 4 as an appetizer, 1 as a meal]:
1 dozen spicy chicken wontons
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon canola oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ teaspoon grated ginger
½ teaspoon crushed pepper flakes
1 tablespoon soy sauce
½ teaspoon black vinegar
1 scallion, chopped

This is a super easy recipe. It's not even really a recipe; it's just a preparation. Basically, start with oil, garlic, and crushed chili in a pan and heat over low until the oil goes red and the garlic is sizzling.

While the chili oil is going, boil the wontons until they're cooked through. You can tell they're done when they're floating and the skins look a bit translucent and wrinkly. Frozen wontons take just a minute or two longer than fresh. When the wontons are cooked through, drain them.

Turn the heat off of the oil and stir in the black vinegar and soy sauce.

Add in the drained wontons and toss in the flavorful oil.

Serve the wontons immediately with a generous garnish of scallions.

This is definitely my favorite preparation of wontons. They're indulgently flavorful. The spicy kick, the sharpness from the black vinegar, the decadent nuttiness from the sesame oil, the fragrant garlic, it's just a flavor explosion and it makes for a great appetizer or snack or dare I say it: meal.

Here's the recipe page: