Wontons with Hot and Sour Sauce

Martin Yan's satisfying wontons are a win for dumpling newbies and pros alike.

- Breana Lai Killeen

THERE ARE FEW FOODS that bring me as much joy as dumplings. They're the first dish I learned to make as a kid and always the first to disappear at a party-the moment I put out a platter, guests come swarming and eat every last one. In my house, we have a saying: "There is no such thing as too many dumplings."

Chef Martin Yan shares my affection for dumplings. Since the launch of his show Yan Can Cook in 1978, he's been teaching audiences across the world how to make them, along with other Chinese classics. Yan inspired cooks who had never seen Asian ingredients before, as well as those of us who'd grown up with soy sauce and ginger in the pantry but never seen an Asian chef on TV. It's impossible to know how many Chinese American households have a copy of the Yan Can Cook cookbook on the shelf, but mine certainly does.

Yan recalls that when Food & Wine first published his recipe for Wontons with Hot and Sour Sauce in 2007, many people were still hesitant to make dumplings at home. The shrimp-and-pork-filled wontons were a way for Yan to show people that dumplings come in many different forms and don't have to be difficult to make. "Dumplings are universal. Every cuisine across the world has a dumpling, but the Chinese fillings are the most adventurous," he says.