Lao Caiji Wontons 老蔡记馄饨
Lao Caiji Wontons is featured among the local specialties of Henan.
Lao Caiji Wontons (老蔡记馄饨) are the chicken-shred wontons of Cai Ji (蔡记), the house whose steamed dumplings are one of Zhengzhou's (郑州) three old names, and the wontons are sold alongside those dumplings as a pair.
How it is made
The Zhengzhou city government's heritage page, from the city culture bureau, says the Cai Ji chicken-shred wonton (鸡丝馄饨) puts particular weight on the soup: pork leg bones and a fat hen go into the pot in set proportions.
The filling is two parts fat pork to eight parts lean, beaten with cooking wine, sesame oil, salt, MSG and water until it binds into a juicy filling. The wrapper is a cold-water dough mixed with egg, rolled again and again until a sheet laid on a newspaper lets the print show through, then cut into squares of two cun (寸) a side. Each wonton must be folded into a cat-ear (猫耳朵) shape, and the finished wontons are described as looking like lanterns.
Flavour and texture
The bowl is finished with shreds of chicken, zhacai pickle (榨菜), laver seaweed and coriander. The culture bureau describes it as thin-skinned, with a fragrant filling and a fresh-tasting soup.
Where it comes from
The founder, Cai Shijun (蔡士俊), came from Changyuan County (长垣县) in Henan and worked as a kitchen hand in the Beijing imperial palace in the late Qing dynasty. With help from friends he opened a small restaurant outside Qianmen (前门) in Beijing, created both the steamed dumplings and the wontons, and sold them together.
Cai Ji steamed dumplings (蔡记蒸饺) are now a provincial intangible cultural heritage item, and Chinese Wikipedia names them with Heji braised noodles (合记烩面) and Geji braised flatbread (葛记焖饼) as Zhengzhou's Lao San Ji (老三记), the three old houses.
More dishes to compare
Explore related local specialties and compare their names, preparation notes and ordering guidance.
Caiji Steamed Dumplings 蔡记蒸饺 →
The pleated, soup-filled steamed dumplings of the same Cai Ji house, created by the same founder and sold together with the wontons.
Sources & reading
Written from the linked sources and fact-checked against them on 2026-09-24. Recipes and servings vary between kitchens.
Image credits & notes (1)
- Reference photo of a similar dish · 同类菜品参考照片A similar preparation is pictured; the local version may differ. 同类菜品参考照片，当地做法可能不同。Photo: Dennis Wong from Hong Kong, Hong Kong · CC BY 2.0Resized for the web; the photo itself has not been edited. Thumbnails may show a cropped view.
