Wontons with Yuzu Mayo Shrimp
These Wontons with Yuzu Mayo Shrimp are crunchy, savoury, creamy, spicy and tangy all in one incredible bite. The filling features succulent shrimp, creamy mayonnaise, spicy chili garlic sauce, tangy rice vinegar and aromatic brightness of yuzu juice. I’m in love with the flavour combination!
If you’ve ever had or heard of Nobu restaurant’s famous rock shrimp appetizer, these flavours are loosely inspired by it. I serve these with an easy and delicious dipping sauce which makes them even better — with just 4 ingredients of mayo, honey, soy sauce and yuzu juice. Sooo good. For a festive presentation for Lunar New Year, I wrapped the wontons like little money bags — tied with a piece of chive — to resemble pouches used in ancient China to hold coins. Whether you celebrate LNY or not, these CRISPY WONTONS WITH YUZU MAYO SHRIMP is an appetizer or snack that everyone is guaranteed to love!
Eat well and be well,
🎥 Watch video for Crispy Wontons with Yuzu Mayo Shrimp
Ingredients for wontons with yuzu mayo shrimp (scroll down for full recipe card):
Wonton wrappers - Look for 3” square wonton wrappers that contain egg in the ingredients list. They are Cantonese-style wonton wrappers versus Shanghai-style wonton wrappers which contain no egg. Although any wonton wrapper will work, I prefer Cantonese wonton wrappers (which are slightly yellow from the eggs) for this lunar new year dish so they fry up golden. Some wonton wrappers (typically the kind containing no eggs) are 3.5” square. These can be used as well for fewer, larger wontons.
Chives - Conventional chives are slender and perfect for tying these small wontons. Chinese chives are too coarse for an elegant presentation. I can usually cut the chive into two pieces long enough to tie a single knot on each wonton.
Large shrimp - Shell-on shrimp retain more flavour and freshness versus already peeled shrimp. The extra time needed to peel them is well worth its for better tasting, succulent shrimp imo. That said, the shortcut that does make sense to me is buying shrimp that have been butterflied and deveined (digestive track removed). Shrimp size is expressed as number of shrimp per pound. For example, “25-count” size means there are 25 shrimp in a pound. That is considered “large shrimp” and the size I most often use. The higher the number, the smaller the shrimp because there are more smaller shrimp per pound.
Mayonnaise - Gives the filling creamy, rich flavour.
Chili garlic sauce - For a spicy depth of flavour. I used a Chinese preserved garlic chili garlic sauce. You can also use Sambal Oelek, gochujang (Korean fermented chili paste), Thai sweet chili sauce, sriracha or any chili sauce you enjoy.
Yuzu juice - Yuzu is a citrus fruit that resembles a large bumpy lemon. It has a lovely, almost herbal aroma and flavour that is distinct from lemons, limes or grapefruits. While it is difficult to find fresh yuzu in North America, it is not overly difficult to find 100% pure yuzu juice at East Asian grocery stores, online, and at specialty cocktail establishments since it is a popular ingredient for cocktails. If you can’t get yuzu juice, substitute with lemon or lime juice in this recipe.
Rice vinegar - Lends a clean, sharp tang to balance the richness of mayonnaise.
Honey - Used in the dipping sauce to balance flavours.
High heat neutral oil for frying - I use avocado oil but you can also use any neutral-flavoured oil that stands up to high heat.
Salt N pepper!
Make in advance and reheat:
can these be made in advance and reheated?
Freshly fried is always the best but luckily these wontons reheat pretty well. Lay them on a baking sheet, preferable with a wire rack so bottoms stay crispy. Place in a preheated 350f (175c) oven for 10-12 minutes or when heated through.
can these be frozen and cooked later?
Yes! These wontons can be assembled and frozen raw/uncooked. To freeze, lay them not touching on a parchment lined baking sheet and freeze for 1-2 hours until frozen solid. Transfer into ziptop bag or freezer-safe container — make sure not to crush them in the freezer! To cook, follow the same instructions for deep frying from frozen.
You May Also Be Interested in these other Lunar New Year recipes:
Wontons with Yuzu Mayo Shrimp Filling
This recipe was sponsored by Hellmann’s®. Thank you for supporting the brands that enable me to share free content like this with you!