Deep-fried little money-bags: squares of thin wonton or spring-roll skin gathered up around a savory minced pork-and-shrimp filling and tied at the neck with a blanched strip of pandan leaf or spring onion, then fried until the gathered top flares into crisp golden ruffles. The drawn-up purse shape and the gold color give the dish its name — thung thong means golden bags or money pouches — and make it a lucky, festive starter often served at New Year and celebrations. It is eaten hot with a sweet plum or sweet-chili dip.
Thung thong sits in the same auspicious gold-named family of Thai party and palace-style appetizers as the golden cups krathong thong, where thong, gold, signals fortune and the little parcels are made to look like tied bags of money — a meaning that makes them a standard of Thai New Year, weddings, and celebration tables. The wrapper-and-fry format is Chinese-Thai in technique, built on the thin wheat wonton and spring-roll skins brought south by Hokkien and Teochew cooks, while the pork-and-shrimp filling and the pandan or spring-onion tie are the Thai signature. There is no single inventor or firm date to claim; it reads best as a decorative banquet snack that grew out of the Chinese-Thai pastry repertoire and the Thai love of shaping festive food into lucky forms.
Two textures in one bite. The gathered, ruffled top fries up shatter-crisp and almost lacy — the thinnest, crunchiest part — while the body of the bag, padded by the filling, stays a little more tender and chewy. Inside is a small bouncy plug of pork and shrimp, savory with garlic, white pepper, and a touch of fish sauce, the shrimp giving it a sweet snap. The pandan tie is fragrant and edible, lending a faint grassy-vanilla note. Dipped in sweet plum sauce, it is salty-sweet, crunchy, and gone in a bite or two.
The filling is bound the way a dumpling or fish cake is: minced pork and shrimp are mixed with a little salt and fish sauce and stirred or pounded in one direction until tacky, which draws out the meat's myosin and gives the cooked plug its springy, cohesive bounce rather than a crumbly mince. It must be fairly dry, because trapped moisture inside a sealed parcel turns to steam and can blow the bag open in the oil. The pandan or spring-onion strip is blanched for a few seconds first — heat softens it so it bends into a knot without snapping, and the wilting also brings out the pandan aroma. Frying is done at a moderate heat: the thin gathered top, with the most surface area and least filling, crisps fastest, so the bag is lowered top-down or basted to color the ruffle evenly while the body cooks through, and pulled when the frill is golden and the seam set.
Variations
Pork-and-shrimp is the classic mix; chicken, crab, or all-shrimp fillings are common, and a vegetarian version uses minced mushroom, taro, or water chestnut for crunch. Some cooks use square wonton skins for a flatter ruffle, others spring-roll skin for a bigger flare; the tie may be pandan, blanched spring onion, or chive. The dip is usually sweet plum sauce or sweet chili, and a few kitchens add a little curry powder or coriander root to the filling.
On the Palate
Where Thung Thong sits in the Thai flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
8 steps · 35 min active + 10 min waiting
- 14 min
Blanch strips of pandan leaf or spring-onion green for a few seconds until pliable, then drain.
- 28 min
Mince pork and shrimp together; mix with garlic, white pepper, fish sauce, and a little sugar.
- 36 min
Stir the filling in one direction until tacky and cohesive, then chill briefly to firm.
Watch outStir the filling in one direction until it turns tacky and clings together — that stickiness is the myosin drawing out, and it's what gives the plug its springy bounce.
- 45 min
Place a small spoon of filling in the center of a wonton or spring-roll wrapper.
- 58 min
Gather the wrapper up around the filling into a pouch and tie the neck with a softened pandan or spring-onion strip.
- 68 min
Heat oil to about 160-170°C and fry the bags until the gathered tops are golden and crisp and the filling is cooked through.
Watch outFry at 160–170°C until the gathered tops are golden and crisp — keep the oil moderate so the ruffled neck browns without the filling blowing the bag open.
- 73 min
Drain on a rack, taking care not to crush the ruffled tops.
- 83 min
Serve hot with sweet plum sauce or sweet chili dip.
