Wontons with Sweet-Sour Sauce

February. Valentine's Day round two. This year I told Megan I'd cook her whatever she wanted. She said, "Surprise me." This is either the best or worst thing a girlfriend can say to a cook, because "surprise me" means "do something I didn't know I wanted," which means I have to be both creative and psychic.

I made her a Polish tasting menu. Five small courses, all inspired by Babcia's recipes but adapted. First: mushroom soup served in a small cup, concentrated, intense. Second: miniature pierogi — three fillings, three pierogi, arranged like a flight. Third: a smoked kielbasa with mustard and pickled onion. Fourth: a small plate of golabki, deconstructed — the cabbage leaf wrapped around the filling but served like a little package with a drizzle of tomato sauce. Fifth: makowiec — poppy seed roll — sliced thin, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

The table was set with candles and the nice plates (we bought nice plates; cohabitation changes you) and the wine Megan likes (a pinot noir from Oregon that she discovered at a tasting and now considers her personal wine). She sat down and looked at the five courses laid out and said, "Jake." Just my name. The way she said it contained everything — surprise, gratitude, love, the realization that someone had spent hours thinking about making her happy.

She ate every course. She rated them. (She is a teacher; she cannot help but rate things.) The pierogi flight won. "The flight format is genius," she said. I said, "Three pierogis is not a flight." She said, "Three of anything is a flight." She is wrong, technically. But she is right, emotionally, and in this relationship, emotionally right beats technically right every time.

We slow-danced in the kitchen after dinner. No music. Just us, slightly tipsy, swaying in a kitchen too small for dancing. The best kind of Valentine's Day.

The pierogi flight won the evening, but it also reminded me how much I love any filled dumpling you can arrange on a plate in threes. These wontons with sweet-sour sauce have become my go-to when I want that same magic — little parcels of filling, a bright dipping sauce, and the satisfaction of watching someone you love eat three in a row and call it a flight. They’re not Babcia’s pierogi, but they carry the same spirit: something small, handmade, and worth slow-dancing over.

Prep Time: 30 minutes | Cook Time: 15 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes | Servings: 6 (about 36 wontons)

Ingredients

For the wontons:
1/2 lb ground pork
1/4 lb raw shrimp, peeled, deveined, and finely chopped
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
36 wonton wrappers
Vegetable oil for frying
For the sweet-sour sauce:
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Instructions

Make the filling. In a medium bowl, combine ground pork, chopped shrimp, green onions, soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, and white pepper. Mix until well combined.
Fill the wontons. Place about 1 teaspoon of filling in the center of each wonton wrapper. Moisten the edges with water, fold into a triangle, and press edges firmly to seal. Bring the two bottom corners together and press to form the classic wonton shape.
Prepare the sweet-sour sauce. In a small saucepan, combine rice vinegar, sugar, ketchup, and soy sauce over medium heat. Stir until sugar dissolves. Mix cornstarch with water, add to the pan, and cook until sauce thickens slightly, about 2 minutes. Stir in red pepper flakes and set aside.
Fry the wontons. Heat 2 inches of vegetable oil in a deep skillet or pot to 350°F. Fry wontons in batches of 6 to 8, turning once, until golden and crispy, about 2 to 3 minutes per batch. Drain on paper towels.
Serve. Arrange wontons on a platter — in flights of three, if you’re feeling romantic — with the sweet-sour sauce for dipping.

Nutrition (per serving)

Wontons with Sweet-Sour Sauce — The Dumpling Flight That Won Valentine’s Day