This is the end result (the 37 others were out of view or already eaten) of Chinese Chili Pork Wontons. They were amazingly delicious on my 1st attempt! But, channeling Paul Harvey now, here is, the rest of the story...
Pam and I love good Chinese food. The problem is, not many places are good. We were spoiled to great Chinese food in OKC by 'Mike', which owned and operated a little hole in the wall Chinese restaurant at I-240 & Penn for almost 40 years. Pam and I first ate at his restaurant in '91, and did so with great regularity until '97 when we moved to Tulsa. And then, at least 3x a year until 2011 when Mike retired, we would travel to OKC to eat at his restaurant.
We finally found a restaurant in Tulsa that is good. It is Chop Sticks at 61st & Sheridan, and they willingly cook to order our meals without MSG. One of my favorite items on their menu is an appetizer. Chili Pork Wontons. They are incredible.
After my 4th purchase of these morsels of explosionary flavored tenderness; I realized that there was no way that I could not make these myself. There is just nothing to them, and besides that, the cost of $1 a piece was always quite high. They are one bite, five chews, and swallow. Well, there goes a buck. I told myself that I could eat 30 of these gut bombs, but would never pay $30 for them.
Having procured a recipe that sounded almost exactly like the ones that I enjoyed eating, I ventured into the land of Nam Hai.
My big bad Ford 250 lumbers into the parking lot of Nam Hai in the little China area of Tulsa; and as I survey the area for a spot worthy enough to park, my first thought is, 'wow, even these parking spaces are smaller'. Not being able to find an end to my pleasure, I do what I do, and take up two.
Opening the door of my truck, and stepping onto the running board, I immediately see evidence that this grocery store is not going to be 'normal'. Normal as in; the only window placards shouting at me to come in are written in Chinese, and they are over-layered onto the glass so thick that you can't really tell which decade they came from. Imagine, at one time in this life, you could actually see glass. Now all that could be seen were 100's of old layer upon layer of 'specials' and 'sales', all written in Chinese.
Further evidence to support my initial impression is solidified as I amble my girth towards the entrance. To me, the customers walking in with me looked like midgets getting out of midget cars. The parking lot was filled with versions of the Ford Fetus (see an earlier blog by that name) that my truck could have squashed with one tire. These 'humanoid' creatures ranged in height from 3'10" to 4'8", and none of the ones walking into the store with me could have exceeded 85 lbs. My right leg probably weighs close to 85 lbs!
I hadn't even made it to the grocery door, and three fellow customers had eyed me down like "I" was the foreign creature; that or some kind of a giant. That day I just happened to be wearing my cowboy boots which make me stand at 6' 2". Together with the heft of my 222 lb. body, and a really good looking white cowboy hat and black wrap around sunglasses, I'm sure that to them it was I that truly did look out of place. It was my normal look. Imagine what they might have thought had I chose to be wearing my 9mm Ruger on my hip that day, instead of carrying one in my pocket.
One of the little female minions burst through the door ahead of me; and all I was trying to do was to be courteous and open the door for her...
One step through the front door, and I was immediately transported to China (or at least what a typical grocery store in China must look like). My senses shifted into hyper-drive as I was visibly stunned by the sights of this store. Cram packed shelves from floor to ceiling, 2' wide aisles, cash registers from 1957, with Mom at one, and Dad at the other. And the smell. Oh my land, the smell, it was overpowering; in a nauseating way.
Fresh seafood, flown in weekly from all across the world. Seafood that previously I only thought existed in New York City or San Francisco; but yet, here it was, right here in Tulsa. Amazingly, the seafood counter had customers lined up several deep. Fish with names that were written in English, but that I had never heard of. To go along with fresh mussels, live blue crab by the 1,000's, live lobsters, and Octopi in heaps that were many feet high. Plus, local catfish, local bass, local perch, and local Koi (carp).
I was more enamored by the 'meat' section though.
I have not run across a recipe calling for any of these culinary delights; but if I do, I think I'll pass. My palette is not nearly as discriminating as it once was; but those three items just do not sound like something that I would ever want to eat.
I know I'm eating all those parts, and many more, when I consume pork hot dogs in mass quantities, but ground up with 100's of other parts somehow tastes great. It's the individuality that doesn't appeal to me.
I've heard of duck head soup, but I have never had any. But, I've never heard of a dish with duck feet. Here though are ample supplies of each in case you have that on your menu for this weekend.
It boggles my mind trying to imagine a meal prepared with pork uterus. Why uterus? And even pork heart? I've never seen that in a cookbook either. This must be the reason that Chinese buffets are "Americanized". I wonder how busy they would be with a festoon of sautéed uterus, a plate of fried heart, and skewers of alternating pig ears and pig kidneys.
I just don't think that would go over too well here in Tulsa...
Ground pork, which I needed for the Wontons, positioned next to chicken feet. I passed on the chicken feet; though I can think of two grandsons that would think it pretty cool if their Pappy were to cook something with chicken feet.
Back at home now, kitchen set up and prepared for my first experience at trying to duplicate the best wontons I have ever eaten in my life.
Ground pork, eggs, salt, black pepper, sichun pepper, wonton wrappers, black vinegar, chili oil, garlic, sugar, scallions, and soy sauce. Check. Let's begin.
The batch yielded 40 wontons, at a food cost of .125c a piece. Having worked in the restaurant business for 16 years; I know how to calculate food cost to the penny. And I also know that any food cost below 30% is gravy train money for the restaurant. And to have these wontons with a food cost of 12.5% is major money gravy train for Chop Sticks.
They were more labor intensive than I expected, but still not too bad.
The pot of boiling water was ready. Plop plop they went, and after 4 minutes were ready. Skimmed onto a platter, drizzled with chili oil sauce, and garnished with scallions. These sure looked good, just like the restaurant. How did they taste? Amazing. Delicious. Success!
One final note though. I had over estimated 30 as to how many I could eat. I was bloated and stopped at 24! And bloated in pure high carb happiness (yes, these have a carb count of 5 grams each), so don't eat them unless you are on your 'binge' day, as these are not low carb!
Ge Bao! (That is Bon Appetit in Chinese).
- Pappy
