Delicate cat-ear wontons from Anqing named after their founder's nickname. Paper-thin wrappers enclose a filling of mountain black pig, tiny shrimp, and pickled mustard greens, served floating in clear, golden chicken-bone broth.
Jiang Qingfu, a street vendor near Anqing's Xiaonanmen gate during the Qing Guangxu reign, had a distinctive white patch of hair on his neck and was nicknamed Jiangmao ('River Tuft'). His wonton cart became a local institution, and in 1914 (Republic of China Year 3) his family formally opened the Jiangwanchun shop, which has operated continuously for over a century. The dish is now recognized by Anhui's cultural and tourism authority as an officially listed regional heritage snack.
A spoonful of the broth arrives first — clear, golden, lightly sweet with rendered collagen. Then the ghost-thin wrapper dissolves almost before you register it, and the filling bursts with pork-shrimp sweetness and a bright, salty tang from pickled mustard greens.
The wrappers are hand-rolled to under one millimeter, stretching the gluten network into a near-translucent sheet that gelatinizes almost instantly in hot broth, yielding silk rather than chew. The filling's pork is rich in free glutamate while the shrimp supplies inosinate; these two flavor compounds synergize to amplify perceived umami far beyond either ingredient alone. Pork and chicken bones simmered for hours convert collagen to gelatin, giving the broth its body and characteristic glossy lip-coating.
Variations
A red-oil winter variant adds chili oil and sesame to the bowl base before ladling broth. An autumn edition substitutes crab roe for part of the shrimp filling. The Jiangwanchun brand now sells frozen wontons nationwide through e-commerce.
On the Palate
Where Jiangmao Wontons sits in the Chinese flavor cloud
Ingredients
Serves 4
How it's made
7 steps · 30 min
- 110 min
Make the filling: finely mince black pig hind leg pork, fold in chopped shrimp and pickled mustard greens; season with salt, white pepper, a splash of soy sauce, and sesame oil; stir vigorously in one direction until sticky and cohesive.
Watch outStir the filling in one direction until it turns sticky and clings together in a mass — that's when it holds juice and won't fall loose in the wrapper.
- 215 min
Prepare the dough: combine flour and a pinch of salt with warm water; knead until smooth and pliable; cover with a damp cloth and rest for 20 minutes.
- 310 min
Roll the dough out very thin (under 1 mm) and cut into 5 cm circles or squares.
Watch outRoll the wrapper under a millimeter, thin enough to nearly see through — too thick and it stays chewy instead of turning to silk in the broth.
- 415 min
Place a small pearl of filling (about 5 g) in the center of each wrapper; fold and press into a cat-ear shape, sealing the edges firmly.
- 55 min
Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil; lower the wontons in small batches to prevent crowding.
- 63 min
Ladle hot chicken-pork bone broth into each serving bowl; season with soy sauce, white pepper, and a few drops of sesame oil.
- 72 min
When wontons float and wrappers turn translucent (about 2 minutes), scoop them into the broth bowls and serve immediately.
Watch outScoop them the instant they float and the wrappers turn translucent, about two minutes — overcooked skins tear and lose the silky slip.
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