Indonesian chicken wontons/ pangsit ayam

Chicken wontons are very popular snacks that one can never get tired of having. These are dumplings made with minced meat and wrapped with thin flour pastry. The wonton pastry feels light and the fillings are delicately delicious. 

And they are very versatile as well. You can enjoy them boiled in a clear soup or have them fried for finger foods. 

This post may contain affiliate links. Please check our disclosure policy.

In East Asia, every country and region has its own version of chicken wontons. And they are all root in the original Chinese won-ton/ hûn-thun. In Vietnam, it is called Hoành Thánh. In Japan, they call it Gyoza. Thai people call it Kiao. And in Indonesia, you can find Pangsit. 

Most of the wontons are made with pork mince. But in Indonesia, they use chicken mince. Hence, the popular name for it is Pangsit Ayam which literally means Chicken Wontons.

And you often get it as one of the street foods (Jajan Pasar) choices, as this is a type of food that people don’t really make in their households. It is more well-known as Jajanan Pasar which literally means things to buy at the market, but it suffices to translate it as street food.  

Ways to enjoy Chicken Wontons

The recipe that I’m sharing here is very easy, and the wontons that you create out of it are quite versatile. I mean, you can boil the wontons to cook and have them in a clear chicken soup. Or, you can deep fry them and enjoy them as crispy snacks. 

Whichever way you want to eat them, I promise you will love these chicken dumplings.

If I may suggest, try to make these chicken wontons in bulk and freeze them. Because they’ll become handy for when you want some light lunch or snacks on busy days.

This recipe is based on the popular pangsit ayam from Indonesia. Most Indonesians will enjoy the wontons to go with chicken noodles in soup called bakmi Ayam. But many like to enjoy them as they are with a clear soup.

In this post, I’m sharing with you the one with clear soup. But feel free to fry your wontons if you like. 

Key Ingredients

As I mentioned above, most of the wontons outside Indonesia are made with pork mince. And the majority of Indonesia’s population is Muslims who are not allowed to eat pork. So, the Indonesians’ wontons use chicken mince instead.

Therefore, one of the key ingredients for this recipe is chicken mince. And the other is wonton pastry/ wrappers.  

For the latter, you can buy ready-made wonton wrappers from Asian (Chinese) shops. They have a selection of good wonton pastries. The basic choices are egg pastries that have a yellow color, or plain flour pastry which is white in color. 

If you feel like making the pastry yourself – which can be done easily but with a little bit of labor of love – you can check my tutorial on how to make the pastry here. 

When choosing the chicken mince, you can get ready-minced chicken from your butcher/ supermarket, or you mince the chicken yourself using a food processor or meat mincer. If you decide to make your own chicken mince, I suggest you use boneless chicken thighs. Because they have a little bit of fat that can give more flavor to your dumplings. 

The rest of the ingredients that you need are equally basic. You will need tapioca flour, plain flour, eggs, spring onions/ scallions, ginger, garlic, light soy sauce, sesame oil, black or white pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. 

How to make Chicken Wontons

Get your chicken mince ready. Then finely chop the spring onions/ scallions, and mince the ginger and garlic into a paste.

In a mixing bowl, place the chicken mince and all other ingredients then mix them well until all blended. 

Then take a wonton pastry and fill it with a teaspoon of the chicken mince. Fold the pastry and seal it tight. You can check how I fold my pastry in this video. 

Next, boil 1.5 liters of water in a large pot. Once the water reaches boiling point, add a teaspoon of cooking oil. This will help the wontons not to stick to each other.

And then place the folded pastries in the water. When the dumplings emerge and float on the water surface, let them cook for another 2-3 minutes to ensure they cook fully. You can then pick them out of the water with a slotted spoon. 

For the soup, you can use any base stock that you like. I personally prefer chicken stock though I use beef stock and vegetable stock as well sometimes. You can make your own stock to use for the base. Check this clear soup recipe that you may like. Or you can use stock cubes/ stock powder that you love.

Whichever stock/ broth you decide to choose, you can prep it as follows.

Fry the finely chopped onion and the sliced spring onion/ scallion in a tablespoon of butter. When they release the aroma, carefully add in the stock/ broth. And season it with salt and pepper according to your taste. Let it cook until it reboils.

To serve, you can place a few dumplings in a small bowl, pour in the soup, and sprinkle the fried onion or sliced spring onion/ scallion if using. 

How to store

If you make the chicken wontons in bulk, you can keep them in the freezer for about 2 months. A little tip before you pack them in the freezer bags, place the wontons on a tray with a little space between one another. Put the tray in the freezer until the dumplings are hard-frozen. Then quickly take them off the tray and put them in the freezer bags. Don’t forget to write or label the bag so you won’t forget the due date to enjoy your wontons.

When you want to eat them, you don’t have to thaw them before you boil and cook them. But make sure you boil them thoroughly so that it will take longer than you boil the freshly-made wontons.

If you want to enjoy them as crispy fried wontons, I suggest you boil them through first and then fry them. 

More Indonesian snack recipes

Thank you so very much for reading this recipe. I hope you’re now wanting to try it out. If you do, please share what you think about this Chicken Wonton/ Pangsit Ayam in the comments (leave a reply box) below. I really appreciate it. 

And please follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and/or Pinterest to sneak a peek at what’s cooking in my kitchen.

Lastly, don’t forget to check my other Indonesian snack recipes that you may equally love.

• Indonesian sweetcorn fritters/ perkedel jagung.
• Indonesian mung bean fritters/ perkedel kacang hijau.
• Indonesian vegetable curry from Jakarta/ lontong sayur Betawi.
• Indonesian salad with peanut sauce/ gado-gado Jakarta.

Thank you and all the best.