This easy appetizer recipe combines cheese wontons with homemade hot sauce. You could use store-bought hot sauce but where’s the fun in that?
Now cheese is certainly not a Chinese staple, which is why it is never seen on the menu in authentic Chinese food restaurants, but wonton skins go so well with cheese that not including a few cheese wontons recipes would be sinful!
Yes these cheese wontons with homemade hot sauce do include dairy, which isn’t found in much Chinese cuisine or Asian cuisine in general, but try it and see. It works nicely.
Cheese Wontons: Which Cheese to Use
This cheese wontons with homemade hot sauce recipe calls for Monterey Jack cheese, but use whichever cheese you like. A sharp Cheddar would be good. Mozzarella would give a stringy texture and soft taste. Even brie cheese could be good with this one.
It is important to let these wontons cool for 10 or 15 minutes before serving them. The cheese will still be melted but it will not be molten and mouth-burning!
When people eat beef wontons or pork wontons or another type of wontons when the filling is solid or tightly packed, that is one thing. But biting into a hot cheese wonton means you might get cheese dripping down your lip or chin, and that can burn.
The hot sauce is very simple to make and you can make it as hot and spicy or mild as you want, or you can even purchase bottled hot sauce and use that instead if you are short of time. The spiciness of the sauce will contrast with the melted cheese inside the crunchy wontons.
This flavor-packed dish makes such a great appetizer. Ensure you make plenty though, since one of these tasty cheese wontons is never enough.
PrintCheese Wontons with Homemade Hot Sauce
Cheese is not an Asian ingredient but it works so nicely in cheese wontons! This recipe shows you how to make these mouthwatering wontons and also how to make a hot sauce to go with them.
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 5 mins
- Total Time: 20 mins
- Yield: 6 1x
- Category: Wonton
- Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients
- 4 oz (115g) Monterey Jack cheese
- 24 wonton wrappers, 2 inch (5 cm) diameter
- Vegetable, canola or peanut oil, for frying
Hot Sauce Recipe:
- 1/3 chopped onion
- 1 tablespoon chopped canned jalapenos
- 1½ tablespoons white vinegar
- 8 oz (225g) canned tomato sauce
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 minced garlic clove
- ¼ teaspoon each dried oregano, salt and ground cumin
- ½ cup (120g) seeded chopped tomato
Instructions
- First make the hot sauce. You need to cook the onion and garlic in a pan, then add the other ingredients and cook until hot.
- Serve this sauce warm with your cheese wontons, for dipping.
Making the Cheese Wontons
- Cut the cheese into 24 cubes and put one cube in the middle of each wonton wrapper.
- Moisten the wonton wrapper edges with water and fold the wonton wrappers up to seal them.
- Pour 1½ inches (3½ cm) of oil into a pan and heat it to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Fry the wontons, 6 at a time, for 30 seconds on each side or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels and serve with the hot sauce.
The picture makes it clear just how golden and crispy these cheese wontons with homemade hot sauce are. Crispy wontons are always really popular in Chinese buffet restaurants, as well as other kinds of Chinese restaurants and take-outs.
If you have wonton skins (gyoza wrappers) you can make deep-fried wontons, and filling them with your favorite cheese guarantees an appetizer to remember.
The kids will love this recipe, as well as the grownups, because what kid doesn’t love a crunchy exterior and a gooey cheese interior? They might not be so keen on the spicy sauce though, so offer something else for the kids to use as a dip.
This cheese wontons with homemade hot sauce recipe is sure to impress everyone at the dinner table.